Burgers, Meatballs, Tomato Meat Sauce for Pasta or Lasagna

In a last-minute rush on Christmas Eve, I called from the grocery store parking lot and asked Norm what he wanted me to pick up for dinner. He said, "mix up some of your hamburgers and I'm going to BBQ." I wasn't going to argue--this would be easy! Much easier than my family's traditional Christmas Eve fish-and-a-dish-for-each-of-the-twelve-apostles-dinner. There would be no left-overs to refrigerate (a necessity with a big turkey thawing in the fridge.)

If you don't mind cooking outside during the winter wearing your parka and ski gloves, here's my BBQ burger recipe...and adaptations for meatballs and tomato meat sauce.

For tomato meat sauce, use lean ground meat and don't add the crackers or bread. You can add the carrots or zucchini. Use "medium" or "regular" ground beef for BBQ burgers. Lean meat sticks to the grill unless you use a lot of cooking spray, and it also tends to crumble. Medium ground meat will keep its shape better and a little fat in the meat will add moistness and flavor.

Use a non-stick pan when you fry the burgers or heat a little oil in a cast iron fry pan before you add the meat.

Family-sized "club" packs of fresh ground beef or pork save you some money, so buy the club pack and make two batches, then freeze half for another even easier dinner.

To freeze, place formed patties between layers of wax paper, seal in a plastic bag or plastic wrap, and freeze for up to 3 months. Place meatballs, separated on a parchment paper lined tray or baking sheet, in the freezer to freeze individually. When frozen, put them in a freezer bag to store in your freezer. You can freeze them uncooked or cooked but don't freeze meat that has been previously frozen.

Remember to wash your hands thoroughly with soap and warm water before and after handling raw meat. Wear disposable food prep gloves if you dislike working with raw ground meat.

• 1 lb medium ground beef
• 1 lb lean ground pork OR 1/2 lb. ground veal and 1/2 lb. ground pork
• 1 large beaten egg (omit if you are making tomato meat sauce)
• 20 unsalted soda crackers OR a slice of bread dipped in milk or water and crumbled into the meat mixture. (Omit the crackers or bread if you are making sauce.)
• 2 heaping tsp. onion salt 
• 1 tsp granulated garlic or 1 clove finely chopped garlic 
• 1/2 cup grated raw carrot or zucchini (if making meatballs)
• 1 small or medium chopped onion 
• 1 jar/tin spaghetti sauce (if making meatballs or meat sauce.)

1. Heat up the BBQ if you're cooking burgers outside.
2. Place the crackers between two sheets of wax paper or in a clean plastic bag. Roll with a rolling pin until thoroughly crushed. My grandmother used crushed crackers, my great-grandmother used a slice of bread moistened in milk and torn into small pieces.
3. In a large bowl, mix the ground meat and beaten egg, with your clean hands.
4. Add the crushed soda crackers or crumbled bread, onion salt, garlic and onion.
5. If you are making meatballs or meat sauce, add grated carrot and/or zucchini. Norm's mom made the best, biggest meatballs and always added grated carrot, as he tells me every time I make spaghetti and meatballs and don't bother with the carrot.
6. Shape into round patties about the size of your palm if you are making hamburgers. BBQ or fry until no longer pink in the center.
7. To make regular meatballs, shape into balls, about 1" in diameter. This is the best size for freezing.
8. If you're making meatballs for Norm, shape meatballs that are about 2" in diameter and don't forget the carrot or he'll tell you all about how his mother used to make them. And then see the last paragraph below.
9. Depending on the size of your palms and thickness of the meat and the extras you add, one batch will make 7-10 hamburger patties, 20 small meatballs, or 10 big ones.
10. If you do not have time to form the meat mixture into patties, put a little olive oil in the bottom of a pan, brown the meat, crumbling the mixture with a fork as you stir, until the meat is all cooked through. Drain, then return to the pan and add a jar or tin of your favorite spaghetti sauce and you have a very filling, hefty meat sauce to top pasta or to use in lasagna.
11. If you are making meatballs, put about a Tbsp. of olive oil in a pan, and brown the meatballs. If you have made small meatballs, you can cook them through, just this way. Add to heated spaghetti sauce, serve with toothpicks as an hors d'oeuvres, or  serve as a meatball-and-boiled-potato dinner.
12. If you are making Norm's favorite big meatballs with grated carrot, simmer them to cook through after browning. Drain off excess fat (leaving a bit in the bottom of the pan so the meatballs don't stick) then add a jar of spaghetti sauce. Norm would prefer you to simmer homemade tomato sauce all afternoon long, like he says his mom did, but since you haven't done this, use a jar of good tomato sauce. Let the meatballs and sauce bubble together on the stove then turn down to simmer and cover, leaving the pan lid slightly open, to avoid splatters.