Farewell to Summer

Summer. What does it mean to you, your family, your friends, and your community?
In my community it means no kids on the public busses during morning rush hour. Hooray! It means neighborhood parks filled to brimming with families getting up at the crack of dawn just to get that perfect spot under that huge oak tree. It means we’re to broke to head to the park today so let’s drag the grill to the front of the building and hang an electrical cord out the window for the IPod boom box.
To my friends it means trips to City Island for our favorite shellfish. Oysters for Clarrissa and me, clams for Kisha, all on the half shell ice cold with lemon wedges and Tabasco, yummy.
To my family it means Saturday morning trips to the nail salon with my sister, video games with my brother, and burgers with my mom and dad.
I love to cook; my parents however don’t really love to eat. I’m always calling my sister over for moral foodie support. She’ll at least try anything I put in front of her so long as she doesn’t watch me prepare it (sigh). You know what I mean; she is one of those people who love your dishes until she sees you add an ingredient they swear they cannot stand. Funny, they’ve eaten the dish hundreds of times just fine (straight face). Anyway, so yeah, my parents; they don’t like ANYTHING, haha, but they love my burgers (I should be thankful for the little things). My mom has actually got me up early in the morning to ask for burgers for lunch. So this Saturday as my farewell to summer, on this September 11th as I remember every summer before this one, every September 11th before this one, every sunburn, bleached hair, every oyster, clam, and noisy neighbor, and everyone affected directly or indirectly by this day I stand in my kitchen and on my trusty George Foreman I set out to make not just my usual burger-or signature burger as my mother calls it, I set out to make three; The Chipotle (signature), The All-American, and The Italian. Today I will give you the recipe for the Italian Burger

(from left, Chipotle, All-American, Italian)

What you will need:
1/3 lb. ground beef chuck
½ lb. sweet Italian sausage, removed from casing
1/3 lb. ground sirloin
3 tbsp. Balsamic vinegar
1 small white onion, ½ grated and ½ sliced
¼ tsp dried basil
½ cup Mayonnaise
2 cloves of garlic, minced
¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Mozzarella Cheese, thinly sliced or shredded
Spring mix lettuces
Roma tomatoes
Sesame seed burger buns, toasted (or your favorite bakery roll, mmm, Kaisers might be good here, maybe next time)

1. In a large mixing bowl add the three meats, onion, basil, pepper, and 1 tbsp. of balsamic vinegar. Mix lightly, just until meat holds shape. Lightly shape into equally portioned patties, refrigerate for 30 min.

2. In a small bowl mix together mayonnaise, garlic, the remaining balsamic vinegar, olive oil and a pinch of salt. Refrigerate until ready to use.

3. Grill burger to your liking, I wouldn’t do anything over a medium well here, but to each his own. Add the sliced onion to the grill once you flip your burger.

4. Prep your bun. Generously spread the topper with the garlic mayonnaise, and then layer the spring mix lettuce and tomatoes. On the bottom bun place your cheese, or melt on your burger if you prefer.

5. Assemble your burger once ready by laying it on the bottom bun and topping it off with the grilled onions. Salt and pepper to taste, and manga, baby manga!