The common burger made from ground beef.
One of the most versatile meats is ground beef, which can be the primary ingredient in a variety of main dish recipes. Ground beef can be crumbled and quickly fried, formed into patties and cooked on the barbeque grill, baked as a loaf or rolled into little balls to be cooked up as an appetizer or an addition to a savory sauce.
Crumbled and Fried
When crumbled and fried, ground beef can be used in a variety of dishes. It can be the meat filling in a taco, enchilada, burrito or tostada. Cooked and crumbled ground beef can be added to a can of spaghetti sauce and poured over pasta for a quick and nutritious dinner. Added to a pan with several cans of whole pinto and kidney beans, chopped tomatoes and spices it becomes a pot of simmering chili. For a quick meal enjoyed by small children, add it to warm cooked egg noodles and shredded cheddar cheese. Blend the cooked crumbled beef with warm barbeque sauce and serve on hamburger buns for sloppy joes.
Blended With Bread Crumbs
Raw ground beef can be blended with seasoned bread crumbs, tomato sauce, raw egg and diced vegetables to make a meatloaf. The meatloaf can be baked in a loaf pan, or the raw mixture can be stuffed into a hollowed-out (parboiled) bell pepper or wrapped in cooked cabbage and steamed or baked. Take out the tomato sauce, add a little milk, and roll the raw mixture into small balls for meatballs that can be baked or fried. The meatballs can be added to sauces, such as stroganoff, or eaten separately.
Shaped Into Burgers
Burgers are easy and versatile. Once the patties are formed they can be grilled, broiled or fried. There are countless ways to customize a burger. For example, before cooking, you can sandwich a piece of cheese or other filling between two thin raw patties and close the seams to create one large burger patty. Experiment with toppings and breads. Or abandon the sandwich concept altogether and fry up plain patties, make gravy from the drippings and serve with mashed potatoes.
Tags: ground beef, baked loaf, ground beef, tomato sauce