Culinary
Secrets with
The Hills
By Maralyn Hill and Brenda Hill ‘The Tandem Tasters’
This month’s recipes include:
Brenda’s Cheeseburger
Corn on the Coals
Maralyn’s Burgers
Bone Suckin’ Ribs (in
the oven)
Austrian Beer Ice Cream
Peach Perfect
Sweet Cider Sips
Brenda’s Cheeseburger
Sometimes you
just have to have a burger. For the perfect Cheeseburger in
Paradise, either make your own or see below for two versions.
For the Hill team, to be truly satisfying, we make our own –
simple, but just right.
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Ingredients:
For the burger, only fresh ground from my butcher
will do. Some like sirloin, but I love the juicy
result of chuck. Cheese is a must –cheddar, Swiss,
Gouda, but mozzarella, plain or smoked, melts fast.
Maralyn’s and my favorite cheese is a walnut size
hunk of Rogue Valley Oregon Blue Cheese, placed in
the center of the burger before grilling. Even in a
medium-rare burger, the only kind I will eat, it is
still cooked enough so the blue cheese melts and
oozes into the center. This touch makes it a gourmet
meal.
Directions:
Form 3/4 inch patties very gently with freshly
ground chuck. Handle as little and lightly as
possible.
When charcoal or gas is medium hot, place your
burgers on grill. Turn only once and NEVER press out
the juice while grilling. I cringe just writing
this. Add the cheese, if it is not the blue nugget
inside. As the cheese melts for one to two plus
minutes, place burger on warm, toasty, buttery bun.
Those are the basics. Additions are a matter of
taste – onions, tomatoes, lettuce and catsup. Go
nuts, but without the basics, you will still be
longing for that Cheeseburger in Paradise.
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 Corn
on the Coals
My
favorite side to grill with burgers is sweet, fresh corn
on the cob. This recipe goes way back to summers on Cape
Cod. Corn on the coals was also my first published
recipe for a food column I wrote in the 70s. Hot grilled
fresh corn on the cob – still crunchy – with grill marks
and no foil is perfect for the grill.
Ingredients:
Shucked corn on the cob
1/3 cup soft butter (I use unsalted or European butter)
3 teaspoons of a quality soy sauce (Kikkoman)
Dash of Paprika and/or garlic
Ground pepper
Directions:
Slather the ears with a mixture of soft butter, soy
sauce, paprika and/or garlic blended together.
Top the buttery corn with fresh ground pepper and savor.
If making burgers, use the extra butter-soy blend to put
on the buns before grilling. It’s best if buns are from
a bakery, not pre-packaged. |
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Maralyn’s
Burgers
My burgers are
a little different than Brenda’s. I use ground chuck, a
combination of ground chuck and ground turkey or a real
favorite, bison, when it is available. When my children were
toddlers, a long time ago, I started adding vegetables and have
continued this practice.
Ingredients:
2 lbs. ground
chuck (or ½ chuck and ½ turkey, or bison)
1 large onion, chopped fine
2 carrots, shredded
1 green pepper (optional), chopped fine or shredded or 1 small
can of drained green chilies
2 eggs, beaten (or eggbeaters)
½ teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon minced garlic
Cheese—use any kind of cheese. Like Brenda, I’m partial to the
Rogue Valley Blue Cheese.
Directions:
Mix all the
vegetables and seasoning together with eggs.
Now lightly take the mixture and blend it with the meat.
Form into ¼ to ½ inch patties (this is when you would put cheese
inside if you don’t want it on top).
Grill 4-5 minutes on each side, depending on thickness (for
medium).
Only turn once and do not press out juices of meat, especially
with bison, as it has a low fat content.
Place cheese on top if not inside
Have your buns warm or toasted and ready for the burgers as they
come off the grill.
Note:
Unlike Brenda, I freeze. When I make these burgers, I take the
extra and put them each in a baggie or cling-wrap and then an
air tight bag, quick and easy to pop out when you need them.
Bone Suckin’ Ribs (in
the oven)
Maralyn and I
love home cooking. We once made many dishes "from scratch".
However, sometimes there is a product so good that we say - why
bother? Bone Suckin’ Sauce is one of those better than
grandmother's sauces. (Please note that the Tandem Tasters are
not paid by any manufactures, nor are they aware of our
compliments. We simply want to pass our fabulous finds on to our
readers).
Ingredients:
Bone Suckin
Sauce 16 oz jar
12 ounces Orange Juice
Baby back pork ribs - about 5 pounds
Directions:
Preheat oven
to 300 degrees.
Mix a jar of Bone. Suckin’ Sauce with orange juice.
Put ribs in shallow pan (on a rack is good) and baste with
sauce.
Cover with foil. Cook 3 hours in 300 degree oven.
Raise oven temp to 350. Cook 30 minutes uncovered at 350
degrees.
Baste again after 15 minutes.
Serves four.
We love this dish with a large bowl of crunchy cole slaw. It is
a good do-ahead company or family meal. Your kitchen will smell
delicious.
Austrian
Beer Ice Cream
Since we are
talking about beer in this column, it seems appropriate to bring
in the Beer Ice Cream recipe we feature in
Our Love Affairs with Food &
Travel. We were able to get this recipe from Karl &
Rudolf Obauer while Norm and I were in Austria.
Ingredients:
6 eggs
1 teaspoon honey
3 ½ ounces of sugar
2 generous cups dark beer
½ cup fresh cream
Directions:
Separate eggs.
Mix the egg yolks well with honey and sugar in blender until
creamy.
Boil the beer. Quickly mix 1 ladle of beer with the egg yolk
mixture and put it into the remaining beer and heat to 175
degrees F.
Put the pot in cold water and allow cooling.
Stir in cream and freeze in an ice-cream maker.
Chef’s Tips:
This goes well
with prunes or baked apples.
If no thermometer is at hand, do the wooden-spoon test: Dip a
wooden spoon briefly into the egg mixture and blow the cream
stuck to it. If it flows apart like a rose, the cream is ready.
Do not heat too much or the eggs will set.
Drinks
- A drink does not have to contain alcohol to be
interesting and delicious. Here are some healthy and refreshing
combinations. The Hill Team lives in warm climates – Arizona and
Florida. These smoothies are a fast and perfect lunch break at
the desk or by the pool. We have not added exact ingredients
because we use what we have on hand and combinations are a
matter of taste.
Peach Perfect
Ingredients:
Orange juice
Fresh pineapple cut in chunks
Ripe peaches, pitted and cut
Vanilla, plain or fruit yogurt
Orange sherbet (optional for a refreshing touch)
Directions:
Combine
everything in a blender.
Add some ice.
Blend and serve.
Sweet
Cider Sips
When in New
England, I loved fresh pressed cider, straight from the orchard.
Ingredients:
Fresh cider
Apple slices
Honey
Directions:
Add crushed
ice to a large glass or pitcher of fresh cider.
Add some apple pieces and honey to taste.
Blend and serve as a smoothie or as a refreshing drink.
This goes great with a supper of grilled pork or barbequed spare
ribs.
Maralyn was a co-host on Eat, Drink & Be Merry! foodies radio on
May 11, 2009. To listen meet the rest of the guests and listen
to the show, please
click here.
