My Dad (bless his heart) tried to make hamburgers in a basket for our supper tonight and it was a dismal failure. Perhaps dismal is too strong a word. It really wasn't horrible, it just wasn't good but we are apparently food snobs in my family and refused to eat it. Hamburgers in a basket is sort of a 70's fabulous dinner item that is an old favorite of ours. We haven't had it in quite awhile and Daddy thought it was a good idea to break out an old favorite.
The recipe is simple. You put a hamburger patty in a packet made of tin foil and top it with sliced potatoes, onions, carrots and green pepper. Season it all well and put it in the oven for about an hour. The secret is in the seasoning. My Dad always accuses Mamma and me of over salting everything. The secret to the recipe really is in the seasoning though. You have to coat this stuff down with salt, pepper, seasoned salt and Worcestershire.
***We interrupt this blog post with a message from Mamma***
"Why are you putting that recipe in a blog. I've always hated that recipe. It's not good. The potatoes don't cook up crispy enough in that foil," says Mamma.
Well, clearly after all these years Mom has decided to confess her hatred of hamburgers in a basket. I agree with her that the potatoes don't get crispy. However, if it is seasoned correctly I still think this is a fast and easy weeknight menu item. One pot (or packet of foil, as the case may be) meals are always good for busy week nights.
Unfortunately, Daddy seems to have a seasoning phobia and failed to put enough salt, pepper, seasoned salt or even Worcestershire sauce on the burgers in a basket. Flavorless meat and veggies are just a major bummer. If you decide to try burgers in a basket, salt, pepper and season till your heart's content. I promise it will be good. I think some Tony Cachere's would be great on it! Maybe I'll try that next time.
Sadly, tonight's supper was a failure so we ended up eating cheese, crackers, olives and wine for supper.
Really the only downside to having large amounts of wine and cheese as a meal on a Tuesday night is that it may make you feel like crying at random commercials like the University Phoenix of Commercial. Are they really using Amazing Grace as the background music?
You have challenged me to try to make this work without salt, which I never use. Should I replace it with cumin and ancho peppers for a Southwestern twist or maybe basil, rosemary and thyme for a more Italiano feel. Angela used to have a boyfriend from Jordan who did something similar with lamb or chicken but it wasn't individual portions. It was all together. Shafiq called it "making barty." (All of us eating together was making a party.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I don't think the dinner you ended up with was in any way second string. Sounds delish.
Thank you, Bill! I think the southwestern twist sounds fun. Let me know it works out. Maybe you can do a guest blog post for me! And I love any excuse to "barty!"
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