Labor Day Burgers and Pie, Oh My!

Labor Day...the last hurrah! Not really, but let's squeeze all we can out of those grills this season. This summer we discovered the grinding attachment for our Kitchen Aid mixer. All I can say is wow. Yes you can have an extraordinary gourmet burger at home. Luckily we also discovered Clancey's Meats in Linden Hills, and now that we found this mecca of meat we will never be satisfied anywhere else. They offer the finest quality products with helpful and employees passionate about meat, all of which make you want to go back for more. They have many interesting specialty food items as well. One visit we found some wonderful pickled ramps that added that special something to a family picnic.

I'm going to let David write this next few paragraphs because this is really his department.

Buy Meat with a fat content of about 15% - sometimes at Clancy's they have lean cuts. You can get a lean cut and som fattier cuts and grind them together. Just tell the butcher what I want to do, and he will help you get the right cut and fat content. Butchers are some of the most helpful people on the planet.

I just followed the directions on the grinder. I also put the fresh meat into the freezer about 20 mins to 1 hour before grinding. This will keep the meat moving through the grinder cleanly. warmer meat will smear and clog up the machine.

The grinding is so satisfying. You can tell why butchers get into the business.

Once the meat is ground - you can choose to grind it again, if you want. I choose not to. I then form the patties with minimal squeezing and pressing. our son dan formed the ones in the pics. he made sure they were perfect in shape - I think his pottery skills were showing. I like the edges of my burgers rough. How will you make yours?

Salt and pepper - liberally.

When grilling, leave the meat on the grill longer. There's a higher moisture content in the freshly ground meat, so you can and should leave it on each side longer to get the proper char. I still haven't perfected this. The meat can take the heat without being over cooked. I have to fight the urge to call it done, as it doesn't compare to cooking average ground beef.

Thanks, Kelli for letting me add a paragraph! Can I do it again sometime? I'd like to share my journey in making the perfect french omelet.

Let them rest a bit :) Find the best buns you can and butter and toast/grill them. This makes a huge difference, do not skimp on your buns!

These burgers are so good they don't need much to dress them up. We added a nice slab of heirloom tomatoes and some pickled onions.

Now for one of the BEST pies for this time of year. This is a "go to" recipe I got from a "Rosie" magazine. I'm not usually a recipe clipper, but this one I saved and passed on the old fashioned way, with a pen and paper. I made this pie for years then lost the tattered clipping. Recently I called a good friend that I KNOW I shared the recipe with. She says, "oh my Mom's blueberry pie recipe?" no, I say it's mine, well actually Rosie's which actually caught my eye because it was from Minnesota's very own Marjorie Johnson of State Fair Blue Ribbon baking fame. You might have seen her on the talk show circuit. She's a tiny person with a huge personality!

Blue Ribbon Blueberry Pie

(adapted from Marjorie Johnson)

Crust for a 9 inch pie

Use your favorite recipe I like this one from Melissa Clark. Here's a cool video to show you how easy it is to make your own crust. http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/18/video-how-to-make-the-perfect-pie-crust/ or go ahead an just get a ready made dough and blind bake it.

Filling:

1 cup sugar

2 Tbsp. + 1/2 tsp. corn starch

1/8 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. water

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

3 cups blueberries* (divided)

2 Tbsp. butter

Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, salt

Stir in water and lemon juice until smooth

Add 1 1/2 cup blueberries*

Bring to full boil over medium heat. Boil 1 minute.

Stir occasionally until smooth and shiny.

Remove from heat

Stir in butter.

Put in bowl - refrigerate 1 hour.

Stir in 1 1/2 cup blueberries*

Pour into a baked pie crust

Chill 3 hours.

Top with whipped cream fresh blueberries and raspberries.

This pie would be good with any berry...blackberries, raspberries, or hey, what about fresh peaches?? YUM.