Well, according to my calendar, it is officially Spring! The snow is melting, the little green buds are starting to pop through the sad, ravaged-by-winter gardens, and the sun is certainly starting to poke out from behind the gray clouds of winter. Albeit there is still a biting wind that doesn’t let you forget that we are hardly out of the winter woods yet, but I will take it! There is nothing like a little sunshine to give you a new lease on life. We can only hope that we’ve seen the end of the snow, once and for all! Forgive me all you spring skiers out there… 
I’m sure that fellow parents can relate when I say that you really feel the pain of winter when you have a toddler at home with you. There is nothing more disheartening than a bitterly cold and awful day outside and a rambunctious little one inside crawling the walls. But with all the sun this past week, Jasper and I have spent every single afternoon at the park, and we are both loving every second of it! His obsession with the swings grows stronger by the day, as does his love affair with the slide – my ever growing belly and I are getting quite the work-out chasing him up and down the jungle gym, trying to make sure his newly walking legs don’t take him over the edge. We are both so exhausted by the end of it, after supper we absolutely collapse in our respective beds (& cribs). Aahhh Spring… so good to see you old friend!
And with the warmer weather comes my favourite cooking season of the whole year… BBQ! Actually, to be honest, our barbecuing doesn’t really go on hiatus during the winter – this year in particular, Jeremy was often sent out on blustery nights to shovel out the BBQ because of a sudden and dire pregnancy craving for grilled chicken or (weirdly) ribs. But there is something about the first few days of Spring, when daylight savings has kicked in and it is actually still light out at 6:30 PM, and you catch a whiff of all the barbecues in the neighbourhood firing up for a delectable dinner, that really makes it feel like summer isn’t so far off.
Certainly another big craving for me this time around has been burgers. Big, juicy cheeseburgers with lots of pickles and sweet potato fries on the side. Hmmm… getting hungry already just thinking about it. For some reason, burgers never used to do much for me, I always thought they were kind of bland – certainly an easy dinner, but never all that exciting unless you go over the top with the condiments. That was until I saw an episode of Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares where he berated some poor chef for his bland and dry burgers, and he divulged his secret to success to dress up the ultimate comfort food. The recipe that follows is my own variation on his, and it is always a winner. The key I find is using really good meat, and I often opt for organic lamb, but it also works well with veal or bison, if I can find it. And as always, the condiments play a big part as well… especially the cheese (if you choose to use it). I usually go for a sharp, aged cheddar, or sometimes smoked Gouda to really take it over the top. Caramelized onions, grilled portobello mushrooms, smokey bacon are other serious contenders, but to be honest, you really can’t go wrong with straight up lettuce and tomatoes… and a big stack of crunchy pickles, of course!
Hope you enjoy the recipe, please feel free to let me know what you think. I apologize for the long break between posts, March has been a bit of a whirlwind, but we will be back on track now! Happy Easter everyone!!
Foolproof Lamb Burgers
For the burgers:
1 lb. ground lamb (or beef, veal or bison) – organic, if possible
1 egg yolk
1 Tbsp. ketchup or barbecue sauce
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 green onions, trimmed and finely chopped
2 Tbsp. Italian parsley, finely chopped
2 Tbsp. fresh mint, chopped – omit if you are not using ground lamb
salt & pepper to taste
4 whole wheat pitas, just a little bigger than the burgers
4 slices of cheese of your choice (optional) – aged Cheddar, spicy Monterey Jack, smoked Gouda
Lettuce, tomato, pickles
Condiments of your choice (and I highly recommend good quality Tzatziki)
To make the burgers, combine the ground lamb, egg yolk, ketchup (or BBQ sauce), Dijon, Worcestershire sauce, chopped green onions, parsley, mint and salt & pepper in a bowl and mix very well with your hands, making sure to incorporate all the ingredients together. Form in to 4 equal sized patties and set aside on a plate.
Meanwhile, light your BBQ and let it get nice and hot. Grill the burgers to your preferred temperature, flipping once, about 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. As soon as the burgers are done, add cheese to make sure that it melts and turn off heat on the BBQ. Serve the burgers immediately, stuffed inside the pitas with your favourite condiments, baked sweet potato fries and a nice big salad.
Enjoy!!
Serves 4