Spring Lamb Burgers

The grill called out to me yesterday when it turned out to be a beautiful spring day. Ground lamb was available at the grocery store, so I decided on lamb burgers.

I used my gas grill, but you could broil the burgers or pan-fry them in a skillet.

Curried mayonnaise, lettuce and sliced tomatoes completed the burgers.  It was a delicious spring dinner!

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Lamb Burgers

(printable recipe)

(Serves 2)

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½ pound ground lamb

1 tablespoon minced onion

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

¼ teaspoon curry powder

¼ teaspoon rice vinegar

Dash of cayenne pepper

2 Hamburger buns

Lettuce, washed

Tomato, washed and sliced

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1. Combine the ground lamb with the minced onion, and shape into two patties. (I form them on squares of wax paper which makes the transfer to the grill simple.)

2. Make an indentation in the center of the patties with your fingers. (This is a little burger trick I learned from the cooking scientists at Cook’s Illustrated. Burgers shrink when they cook, making the centers swell up. If you make the indentation, you end up with perfect, flat burgers instead of burger “domes”.)

3. Heat the grill on high for about 10 minutes.

4. Use the broiler to toast the hamburger buns.

5. Combine the mayonnaise, curry powder, rice vinegar and cayenne pepper in a small bowl.

6. Just before grilling, salt the lamb burgers. Turn the grill down to medium and grill the burgers for 5 minutes. Flip them over and grill for 3 minutes more.

7. Serve the burgers with the lettuce, tomato slices and curried mayonnaise.