Stroganoff Hamburgers

I wanted to re-envision hamburgers with the taste of Beef Stroganoff. Always looking for a different way to fix this staple. Primary was the need to actually taste like Stroganoff and be very good! Secondary was the need to be responsible and healthy as possible to care for my Master.

Ingredients:

1½ lbs 90% lean ground beef or better if you can find

½ cup finely chopped onion divided

¼ cup finely chopped celery

1 egg

1 teaspoon low sodium Worcester Sauce

1 sm envelope no salt beef bullion Herb Ox

1/8 cup Old Fashioned rolled Oats

1 Jar Shiitake Mushrooms

3 cups low salt beef stock divided

2 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard.

3 Tablespoons all purpose flour

1 Cup No Fat, unflavored Greek style yogurt

6 hamburger buns

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Directions:

Chop the onions very fine and divide into two equal parts. Chop the celery fine and mix with one of the parts of onion. Mix that into the ground beef. Add the beef bullion powder and oats, then the egg and Worcestershire. Make sure everything is well blended.

I do this in a large bowl and push it down until everything is roughly the same height. Then I take a regular dinner knife and cut six wedges like I was cutting a pizza. That makes it easier for me to form 6 equal sized hamburgers. Remember press hamburgers when they are raw NOT when they are cooking! WASH your hands well with soap. Trust me: nothing will ruin any mood as quickly as cross-contamination!

Spray a 12 inch skillet with cooking spray and heat to a medium high. In batches of three patties each, brown the burgers about 2 – 3 minutes per side. You are just browning them not fully cooking them. Set aside and repeat for the 2nd batch and set them aside. You should not have very much grease left, if more than a tablespoon, drain but leave anything else in the pan. Dump the 2nd bunch of onion along with the drained Shiitake Mushrooms. Cook for about 2 minutes or until the onions start to become transparent and the liquid is cooked out of the mushrooms. With a slotted spoon remove the mushrooms. BTW what is left in the pan, the French refer to as “fond”. You want that, it will be a major flavoring. If you wish a touch of a wine taste, sprinkle some balsamic vinegar in the pan, otherwise pour in 2 cups of the beef stock. This is called “De-glazing.”

Mix the three tablespoons of flour into the remaining cup of stock along with the Dijon Mustard. Stir this into the pan and make sure it is mixed in. return all 6 burgers to the stock and allow to come to a slight boil. Put the lid on and reduce the heat way down. You want it to simmer (just tiny bubbles) let cook for 15 minutes. Resist the urge to lift the lid and bother them. The burgers will have plumped up and be juicy. Serve with the thickened sauce and a teaspoon of yogurt then top with a spoon of mushrooms.

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While the burgers are simmering you can do your sides. I suggest the clean taste of french style green beans with slivered almonds. I also cooked some macaroni. While still hot I added some no-fat cream cheese. Then mixed in diced onions and celery til everything was just coated.

Please note:

At this point I got some very valuable advice from Master Christopher. He is very much of a “foodie”. He suggested that to liven-up the pasta, add 6 pickled peppercorns: either black or pink.

Master Christopher was kind enough to teach me how to pickle them. Use a cup of white wine vinegar and a cup of water. Add honey and bring to a boil and throw in the peppercorns, they could simmer for a minute, and then remove from the heat and let them steep/poach until they soften. They'll be vinegary and the pepper is always good for you!

Sir: Thank You!

Your Master will be proud to serve this to His guests and they will complement Him. You of course will not need to hear them because you will know by the look in Master's eyes. That will make you feel almost euphoric!

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