Tuesday's Tip: Seasoning Meat

I am a taste-as-I-go cook. I use recipes more as suggestions and tend to go off the beaten path a bit. I know; call me a maverick. My husband can attest that I have a really hard time doing exactly as a recipe states. I add a little, taste a little, add a little, taste a little... you get the idea. There’s one area however, where that gets tricky; meat. Especially with things like burgers. You can take a gander and throw things in there, but you really don’t know how it’s going to taste until all of those burgers are done and off the grill, and by that point it’s way too late to make any changes. So next time you decide to throw something together use this tip:

Add what you want, but before you form that hunk of meat into individual burgers, take a small piece (like small meatball size) and toss it in a heated skillet on the stove. It will take just seconds to cook up and then you can taste it and adjust the seasonings as needed. You can do this several times without making much of a dent in your burger supply. And my friends- don’t, I repeat- don’t pop it in the microwave, because well, that’s just a little bit gross.

Now speaking of meat on the grill, get your grocery lists out because on Thursday I’m going to be posting a wicked burger recipe for you. Yes folks, I just said wicked. I’ll even give you a heads up so you can get the ingredients if you want. They're Italian Sausage Burgers. You can eat them one of two ways. I like them either with a little marinara and melted mozzarella cheese, or with the classic combo of lettuce, tomato, and grilled red onion. Just depends on what kind of mood you're in. Here’s your line-up either way. In addition to 1 lb ground sirloin, you’ll need:

Fresh buns, garlic, oregano, basil, salt, Italian turkey sausage, Tomato-Basil pasta sauce, mozzarella cheese.

Or if you're not in the marinara mood and want a more classic burger:

Fresh buns, garlic, oregano, basil, salt, Italian turkey sausage, lettuce, tomato, and red onion.

If you are not familiar with Italian Turkey Sausage, it’s great thing to start buying. I like Honeysuckle brand, as pictured. There are usually 2 options: “Sweet” and “Hot”. They are both good, but for this recipe I prefer the “hot”. It’s not spicy hot, just sausage-y hot. It’s very lean (for a sausage) and is great in things like soups, pastas, eggs, and pizza. You can find it in the poultry section of your local grocery store.