Swiss Cheese Burger Recipe

Summer is Cheeseburger grilling time. Usually I like melted American or Cheddar cheese on my burgers, but lately it's Swiss Cheese. 

Swiss cheese is more pungent than American cheese. I get it cheaply from my local Latin grocer, Superior. With its distinctive holes, Swiss cheese is easy to spot. It takes a little longer to melt than American cheese.

Swiss Cheese originated in Emmental, Switzerland. It's said that the larger the holes, the more pungent the cheese. The cheese colors are pale yellow to almost white. Don't feel cheated by the holes since it's usually sold by weight.

I add Swiss cheese to my Pastrami and Corned Beef sandwiches. Try it in a Grilled Swiss Cheese Sandwich.

I've been getting discount ground beef from my local supermarket, Ralphs Grocer. These days anything around $5 per pound is a good deal. If the ground beef is red in color, I'll take a chance on discounted ground beef. I won't buy grey or browning beef. I have, on occasion, bought nice bright red ground meat at a doscount, only to find that it's brown in the middle...ugh. 

I like my burgers not too big, so I form the patties into 1/4 to 1/3 pounds - make your burgers as large as you like.

Try not to press on the meat too much, keep it a little loose. You can make the meat patties thick or thin. Of course, the thinner the patty, the quicker it will cook. I add salt and pepper to the raw hamburger patties before grilling. I tend to add more pepper than salt, but season the hamburger any way you like.

What do you like on a summertime grilled Hamburger? When I invite the neighbors over for a patio party, I have to remember to put out ketchup. I like typical mustard and mayo on mine. My local Dollar Tree has these condiments for the right price.

Lettuce, sliced tomato, and pickle are my other hamburger toppings. I also add sliced onion if I have it in the crisper. All these ingredients still come cheaply.

My method of grilling hamburger is to cook one side until it is charred, then flip it over and cook it to the desired doneness, usually in a reduced amount of time. Cooking time will vary depending on the heat of the grill. I use a gas grill set to medium heat - it usually takes about 7 to 10 minutes total for a medium-done hamburger, with a little pink in the middle. Increase time for a well-done hamburger.

I add cheese right when I flip the burger so it melts all the way. In my video recipe, I leave the barbecue grill top open for filming, but normally the top is down when I add the cheese so it melts quick enough. It's up to you how you grill a hamburger.

Anyway you grill it, try my tasty cheeseburger version with Swiss Cheese for a change of flavor.

Swiss Cheese Burger - Recipe Video            Play it here, video runs 2 minutes, 23 seconds.

Ingredients

• Ground Beef - I bought a one-pound package and divided it into 4 segments, about a 1/4 pound each. Make the hamburger patties any size and shape you like.
• Swiss Cheese - One slice per hamburger patty is enough for me. You can add more if you like.
• Salt & Pepper - to your taste. Add any favorite seasonings.
• Lettuce, Tomato, Pickle - add any combination, or all three. It's up to you; add what you like, or have on hand. I sometimes add sliced onion, too.
• Mustard, Mayonnaise - or any favorite condiment, like ketchup. 

Directions

Form hamburger patties any size you like. I make mine in the 1/4 pound range. Salt and pepper to taste.

Fire up the grill. I use a gas grill set to medium heat. Use any grilling method you like.

Let the grill heat up for a couple of minutes, then add the hamburger patty(s). You may want to spray the grill with cooking oil if your grilling grates are wide. With thin grates the hamburger patty is easy to flip without sticking.

While the hamburger grills, I will slice the tomato and pickle (if needed). Shred lettuce. Get out your favorite condiments, like mayo and mustard.

My grilling technique is to cook one side of the hamburger until it is darkly charred and brown, then flip it over for a shorter cooking time, until it is done the way I like it. Cooking time will vary, but usually 7 to 10 minutes total is enough time. Keep the grill closed during part of the cooking time for more smoky flavor.

If you try to char each side of the hamburger, it can easily dry out, unless that is the way you like it. If the patty is a fat one, then you can probably char each side. 

I like my hamburger patty with a pink middle, but not too raw.

Add the Swiss cheese when you flip the burger so it has time to melt. This is when I close the grill for a minute or so.

I have a water spray bottle handy for flare-ups. If your hamburger has a high fat content in the 70% to 80% lean meat range, the extra fire flare-ups may burn the patty.

The hamburger I purchased was extremely lean, almost too lean for my taste, but it was on sale.

When the hamburger is almost done, I will toast the hamburger buns. You can make your burgers with buns right out of the package.

When the hamburger is done, build your Swiss Burger the way you like it.

I make mine with mustard and mayo slathered on both sides of the bun. I add the hamburger with cheese, then pile on lettuce, tomato, and pickle.

You can't go wrong with a fat, loaded, and grilled  Swiss Cheese Burger.

The Best Turkey Salad Recipe - Video

I love Turkey Salad as much as Chicken or Tuna Salad. It has a milder taste compared to tuna, and the crunchy veggies and mayo/mustard come forward in flavor. My Turkey Salad recipe video will have you coming back for seconds and thirds.

The ingredient list is small. I like a little fine chopped onion and celery for crunch. And those veggies are about the least expensive ones you can find at any grocery store.

I also include a tablespoon of sweet pickle relish. I found it at my local Dollar Tree. You can add more or less veggies and relish to suit your taste. Leave out the veggies for a meatier salad.

I add a little mustard with a lot of mayo for extra creamy Turkey Salad. Again, you can adjust the balance to please yourself and the family. If you don't like mustard, then leave it out.

I use leftover roasted turkey meat from the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. 

Roast Turkey Recipe, click here.

Canned turkey or chicken is fine to use, too - just drain it like you would with canned tuna.

You can often find uncooked turkey legs and breast in the meat department of larger grocery stores. 

Turkey Salad is a versatile recipe that's delish between 2 slices of bread, or as an appetizer, and spread on any favorite cracker. Put a big scoop on your favorite green garden salad for extra flavor and heft.

So next holiday, reserve some Roasted Turkey (recipe) and mix up my latest video recipe of a Turkey Salad. 

And, if you can't wait for the holidays, I have a recipe for Roasted Turkey Breast, just click here. You can roast a Turkey Leg the same way. 

                                                 Turkey Salad - Video                               Play it here. Video runs 1 minute, 52 seconds.

To view or embed from YouTube, click here.

Ingredients

• Roast Turkey - cooked and cubed or shredded. About 2 cups. Okay to use dark or white meat, or both. Okay to substitute Roast Chicken.
• 1/4 cup chopped Onion - okay to add more or less to taste. I finely chopped 1/4 of a brown onion. You can use any type of onion, including red and green onions.
• 1/2 cup chopped Celery - okay to add more or less to taste. I used one celery rib.
• 1 tablespoon Pickle Relish - optional.
• 1 teaspoon Mustard - or Dijon mustard. I've made this salad without mustard.
• 3 tablespoons Mayonnaise - any favorite light or whole mayo. Again, add a tablespoon at a time to reach your preferred creaminess.
• Salt and Pepper to taste.

Directions

I always have leftover Roasted Turkey over the holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas. You can use dark or white meat or both. Slice or cube cooked Turkey into bite-sized pieces.

Chop celery and onion. I like onions in salads (Tuna, Chicken, and Egg Salad), finely chopped. For celery, I like pieces a little larger. Okay to chop veggies any way you like.

Now time to bring it all together. Add chopped turkey and veggies to a bowl.

Mix in a tablespoon of pickle relish. Stir in a tablespoon of mayo at a time to reach your desired creaminess. I mixed in about 3 tablespoons total.

Add a teaspoon of mustard. Okay to add or subtract amounts of mayo and mustard to suit your tastes.

Finally, salt and pepper to taste. Store Turkey Salad in the refrigerator. If you wait a couple of hours before serving, all the ingredients will have time to meld and become more intense.

I like to scoop my Turkey Salad onto a toasted onion bagel. You can serve Turkey Salad with crackers as an appetizer. Add a scoop of Turkey Salad to your favorite salad.

Crab Salad - Chef Matt Video Recipe

 Next to lobster, fresh boiled crab is the most luxurious seafood. My nephew, Chef Matt is back with a simple but luscious Crab Salad.

On a visit to Louisiana to see Mom, we came into a few cooked crabs supplied by another nephew, Zak, who worked with a seafood distributor, so the wholesale price was right. The crab's outer shells are removed along with the insides (lungs, gills, etc.). What is left is called a Crab Cluster which includes legs, claws, and the body.

Normally, raw whole crabs are covered in seasoned water (using a package of Crab or Seafood Boil) and boiled for about 15 to 20 minutes. 

Click on any photo to see larger.

When we picked and cleaned half a dozen boiled Crab Clusters there was about a pound of crab meat to work with.

Before the 99c only Stores shut down this year, I managed to nap a few 6-ounce cans of Crab Meat for $1.99 each. Oh well, this may be the last crab I have for a while unless my ship comes in! 

I am a fan of fake Krab. It has the flavor of cooked crab but at bargain basement prices. So if you are a cheap$kate like me, and want to try your hand at a Crab Salad, why not first try it with Krab? My last recipe using Krab was for a Cerviche, and it was a tasty one I make during warm summer patio parties, click here to see how I do it. 

You could also skip all the hard work of peeling a crab body and crab claws with a container or two of picked and cleaned Lump Crabmeat. 

If you use crabmeat in the shell, it takes work to get the flesh out. Now, the crab claws are not too hard to work with, think of them as a pecan or walnut in the shell, break the crab claws with a nutcracker. Crack the claws close to the pincher or joints so when the shell is pulled apart you will reveal the flesh, then it's fairly easy to remove in a large piece. 

The hard part is removing flesh from the body of a crab. Once cooked and cooled, the body is broken into a couple of segments, and then you probe and scrape the white chambers with a small fork and butter knife to remove the tender and sweet flakes of flesh.  

Zak and the Swamp Chef were the designated crab peelers so we made quick time of it, even the Swamp Chef picked, I mean, pitched in.

Same as a typical Tuna Salad, Crab Salad has chopped celery and onion, pickle relish, mayo, mustard, and a squeeze of lemon juice. The main adjustment is how much mayo you will add. It can be creamy or go lite and add less mayo.

 Crab meat will spoil, so it's best to keep it refrigerated until preparation. Keep the finished Crab Salad chilled. Serve on a salad or as a sandwich. I like it on a cracker.

Join my Cajun family and get out any fave crackers, or toasty grain bread, and spread on Chef Matt's creamy and rich (flavor and moneywise) Crab Salad. 

Chef Matt's Crab Salad - VIDEO     Play it here, video runs 5 minutes, 56 seconds.

My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.

Ingredients

• Crab Meat -1 pound cooked and peeled. If using whole crabs about 3-5 crabs depending on size. Okay to use a container of Lump Crabmeat or a package of Krab (Imitation Crab).
• Onion - half cup chopped.
• Celery - half cup chopped.
• Lemon Juice - from 1 or 2 lemons.
• Sweet Pickle Relish - 2 tablespoons.
• Mayonnaise - 1 cup. Add a couple tablespoons at a time to reach the desired creaminess.
• Creole Mustard - 1 tablespoon, optional. Okay to add any favorite mustard.
• Salt and Pepper - to taste.

*Serve Crab Salad with favorite crackers, carrot or celery slices, on a salad, or in a sandwich.

Directions

Containers of Lump Crab Meat are for sale in cans or plastic containers. Okay to use cooked Lump Crab for an easy version. 

The cheapest Crab Salad is made with fake crab or Krab.

For uncooked fresh crabs, boil submerged in water with Seafood Boil for about 15 to 20 minutes. Crab shells will turn bright orange when they are ready.

Peeling cooked crabs takes time and can be a bit tricky. But as with anything, practice makes perfect. Tools include a nutcracker for the shells, and a small fork and butter knife to remove crab meat from shells.

For this recipe, Chef Matt used Dungeness Crab Clusters that were pre-cooked. The outer shell and internal organs were removed. Claws, legs, and body segments were ready to peel.

Once the boiled crabmeat is removed from the shells, make sure to give the meat one more go-over to remove any small shell pieces. To quote Matt: "Nothing worse than biting into a shell."

Add cooked and peeled Crabmeat, celery, and onion to a bowl. Spoon in sweet pickle relish and mayo. Mix well, but use a light touch so you still have some crab chunks.

Add a little mayo at a time to reach desired creaminess. It's up to you how much mayo to add.

You can add mustard or leave it out. I've had it both ways.

Salt and pepper to taste. I add very little salt, as mayo has some already, but I add plenty of pepper.

Chill Crab Salad until ready to eat. 

Serve Crab Salad on favorite crackers, carrot or celery slices, in half an avocado, on a salad, or as a sandwich.