Cooking with Jane: Teriyaki Burgers!

I don't know what kind of bbq grill you have there at your homestead, all I know is that it is big enough to cook up salmon for guests, and from what I gather those pieces of salmon are mighty big! Me, well, I have had a very large Weber kettle for years and it has served me well. Had a small kettle for awhile, too, until some stole it, then found another and then let it lay fallow. But after my mom passed away I had an extra bit of extra cash laying around and sunk it into a Weber gas grill. The first few times I thought I had been gipped. The flame kept going out and and food never cooked right. But a few seasons out in the weather cured any kind of attitude problem it may have had and now it cooks up just fine.

Last year I put it to the test with Sunset and Nigel Slater recipes, but this year it has been cruising along with basic fare like 'dogs and burgers and simple cuts of meat. Two nights ago I grilled up some pork country ribs marinated in teriyaki sauce and they turned out wonderful. Tonight I did the same with burger patties and the meal turned out to be sublime.

The deal, it seems, is the sauce. I suppose I could make my own, and considering where I am headed I could take that as being gospel. But for the moment I buy my sauce at Trader Joes, which is their take on a pretty tasty sauce they used to carry. No matter, it was good to go, and was loaded with ginger and sesame and the right amount of soy sauce. It flavored up those patties with just the right amount of zing and the rest of burger went along with it. I served mine up on a toasted English muffin, with a dash of that truly grand garlic sauce that can only be found in this part of the world (do I see road trips in my future?) along with red onions, cilantro, tomatoes, grilled pineapple and slices of mozzeralla cheese. What was that phrase from that old movie? "Wowsers"? Okay, that applies, mighty good burger!

So, just know that when I was eating my burger over the sink tonight I thought of you, thought of the day when we made that impromptu visit to Saars and picked up burger fixings and fried a mess of them up in my cast iron skillet. Ate a mess of them over the sink, dripping grease, side by side. Who was to know that that evening would register so high my culinary memoirs, would make me think of you so many months and burgers later? Tonights burger fest was grand. Take that recipe I made tonight and run for the hills. Or maybe to the coast, to a place where pineapples grow. Enjoy, my dear, the fruits of this summer's grand bbq harvest and eat a teriyaki burger tonight!

Your WHMB