Charcoal-Grilled Hamburgers & Wilted Spinach Salad w/ Warm Bacon Dressing

I have successfully completed my first meal out of my new cookbook and I have to say that overall it was a success. I chose this meal to start for several reasons: a) I already had hamburger, b) it was a fairly quick meal to prepare, and c) it wasn't all the complicated.

The Charcoal-Grilled Hamburgers were the biggest success. Everyone loved them although my husband did state that his was a little pink. That's ok because I really was shooting for a medium-rare to medium. My burger along with my son's was more on the medium side whereas Anthony's was more medium-rare. All having to do with placement on the grill. He didn't mind and ate the entire burger anyways. When preparing the burgers I did make some changes.

1. I used pre-made patties that I got from the butcher. However I did have to reshape them because that got smashed in the freezer.
2. I did not salt and pepper the meat.
   
3. I only made 3 burgers instead of 4.
4. I do not have a large chimney starter for my grill so I just built a single-level layer using the direct cooking method.
   
5. I did grease the grate, but with grill cooking spray.

The burgers were very juicy and had a lot of flavor. I used Aunt Millie's Classic Hamburger bun that I did toast on the grill while the burgers were cooking.

I thought the Wilted Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing was delicious. It had a really nice, balanced flavor. The large chucks of bacon really made this salad, and it complimented the burgers well. My husband liked it but didn't think that dressing was strong enough (he is a balsamic kind of guy). My son did not like it at all (he usually only eats salads with ranch on them). I personally would make this salad again however I do have one complaint. The recipe called for 3 hard-cooked eggs and I used their "Foolproof Hard-Cooked Egg" recipe. I have heard of this method before but it has just never worked for me. The eggs are always under cooked and they peel very poorly. The "foolproof" method involves covering the eggs with 1 inch of water, bring to a boil, cover and remove from heat and let them set for 10 minutes. Cool in ice water then peel. I always have to hard boil my eggs for a least 5 minutes to get good results. Oh well, I guess I'll just go back to my old way.

So other than the eggs both recipes were good...at least for me:)

I will not be making a meal tomorrow, but on the menu for Sunday August 15, 2010 is:

Simple Pot Roast