…can be really decadent if you add a little ground pork to the ground beef.  Also, grilling is better then frying.

Obviously I’m not a vegan.  But my beef intake these days is way, way down from what it was, simply because my body doesn’t do really heavy eating anymore.  I used to hit the steak houses regularly.  It think it’s been five years or more since I was last in one.  But I still do the local rib joints here in Baltimore.  This town has some fantastically good ones.

So I’m experimenting in the kitchen some today.  Since I stopped going to the fast food joints (except for Subway and Quiznos), I’m missing the occasional hamburger out of my diet.  I like a good burger.  But I don’t trust the meat in fast food joints anymore, and if I want to keep somewhat trim I need to not eat fatty meats so often anyway.  What I’m trying to do now is make my own burgers, from leaner, more wholesomely raised meats, and prepare it in smaller portions that more exactly fit my appetite.  The burgers served at most restaurants are way too big for me.

But I’ve been reading that lean beef is actually not wonderful for making burgers.  On a lark I bought some ground pork and made a burger out of about a quarter pork and three quarters lean beef.  I kneaded it together with some ground pepper, garlic powder, a touch of Cayenne pepper, and a little fresh diced onion (again, from Whole Foods).  Oh…and a pinch of finely ground beef bullion cube.  I made a test patty, flat, because I want it cooked thoroughly in the middle, and about the size of the palm of my hand, which is about the right size for me.  I eat small portions…always have.  My diet problems come mostly from between meal junk snacking, which I won’t do anymore.

I’d bought a Delonghi electric grill some months back, and instead of firing up my trusty old Lodge cast iron griddle, I brought that out instead, because I hadn’t tried it with burgers yet.  It’s an interesting design: the grill grate itself is the heating element, as opposed to a rack of iron sitting just over top the usual electric one.  It does a great job of cooking and searing meat.  The beef/pork burger I got off it was positively decadent.

The nice thing about meat is you can freeze it and it will keep for quite a long time.  I’m going to make myself up as many burger pattys as I can out of the beef and pork I just bought, then put them in the freezer for later use.  I’ll add the seasonings when I thaw them out for use. This is much better then the fast food burgers I’d been buying.

I’m out for a stroll with one of my cameras next.  The weather is getting nice again here in Baltimore now.  Then tonight I want to sit down in my art room, and try to get my drawing bug back.