Hamburgers and Potato Salad

Oldies but goodies! The hamburgers are a recipe from Pampered Chef's Casual Cooking. I used the Mexican Burger Bar recipe, but changed up the toppings. I will give their recipe and my alterations in the tips. They also use their burger recipe as the base for several other ethnic burgers which I will list as well. Serve it up with Brenda's Potato Salad and you've got a winning All-American dish! Many many thanks to Brenda (my mom-in-law) for taking time to measure out this "by looks" recipe! It turned out so well! I did only do about 1/3 the recipe since it was just Matt and I.

MEXICAN BURGER BAR
Prep/Cook time: 45 minutes. Serves 8.

Burgers
2 lbs 80% lean ground beef
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
8 slices Cobly Jack cheese
8 hamburger buns, split

Mexican Sandwich Spread
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 tsp chili powder

Mexican Toppers
2 medium tomatoes, sliced
1 large avocado, peeled and sliced
1 cup pickled jalepeno pepper slices, drained

1) For burgers, crumble ground beef into large bowl. Finely chop onion. Add onion, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and black pepper to ground beef; mix gently but thoroughly. Form mixture into 8 round patties, 1/2 inch thick. Refrigerate, covered, until ready to grill/cook.

2) For Mexican sandwich spread, combine mayonnaise, sour cream, and chili powder in small bowl; mix well until blended. Cover and refrigerate.

3) For Mexican toppers, slice tomatoes and avocado. Place toppers in individual serving bowls; cover and refrigerate.

4) When ready to grill/cook, prepare grill for direct cooking over medium coals or heat pan to medium. Place patties on grill/pan. Cook for 11-13 minutes, turning once with a spatula. About 1 minute before burgers are done, place cheese slices on top.

5) Meanwhile, place bun halves, cut side down, on grid of grill. Grill 1-2 minutes or until buns are lightly toasted. If using a pan, grill buns BEFORE cooking burgers. Place burgers on buns. Serve with spread and toppers.

Tips:
~I just put tomato, lettuce, and the spread on mine since I am not a fan of avocados or jalepenos.
~For juicy burgers, avoid pressing or flattening ground beef patties with spatula while cooking.

Variations:
~American Burger Bar - American cheese, BBQ seasoning instead of chili powder in the spread, lettuce, tomato, pickle slices, red onion.
~Italian Burger Bar - mozzarella or provolone cheese, Italian seasoning instead of chili powder in the spread, tomato, green bell pepper rings, mushroom slices, olive slices
~Greek Burger Bar - omit cheese, use pita bread pockets instead of buns, lemon pepper seasoning instead of chili powder in the spread, crubmled feta cheese, fresh spinach leaves, tomato, red onion, cucumber slices, olive slices

BRENDA'S POTATO SALAD
Prep/Cook Time: approx. 2-3 hours. Serves: Alot.

9 medium-large russet potatoes
3 eggs
water

2 stalks celery, diced
2 Tbs dill pickle relish (or pickle finely chopped)
1/2 tsp celery seed (optional)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup diced onion (optional)
2 cups salad dressing or mayonnaise
1 cup ranch dressing
1/2 cup dill pickle juice

1) Scrub potatoes and place in a large pot with eggs and cover with water. Cook on medium-high heat until potatoes are tender when stuck with a fork (about 1 1/2 hours). As water evaporates, be sure to add more water so they are covered at all times for consistant cooking.

2) While the potatoes are cooking, make the dressing to pour over the potatoes when they are done. In a large mixing bowl, add all the dressing ingredients; stir until well mixed, cover, and refrigerate.

3) After potatoes are tender, remove from heat and pour into a large strainer to drain and cool. After cool to the touch, remove skin from potatoes and eggs. Cut potatoes into cube size pieces and place in a large mixing bowl. Dice the eggs and add to the potatoes. Pour dressing over the potato mixture. GENTLY fold dressing into potatoes (so you don't end up with mashed potato salad).

Tips:
~I left out the onion because Matt and I do not prefer it and added more celery seed becaue I had no celery.
~I used mayo instead of salad dressing because...I had no salad dressing. :-P
~This is not a "chunky" potato salad. It is creamy and delicious! I think the secret ingredient is the pickle juice!

Sorry, Nonie. Brenda's wins out over yours. ;-)