Take Your Cookouts From Super-Blah to Super-Ahh
By Talitha Daelemans

Memorial Day. The first official day of grilling season, time to haul the grill out of the garage, dust it off and get it ready for the cookouts. AHH... a time for eating outside while being eaten by mosquitoes, jumping in the pool without waiting thirty minutes, and charcoal burgers people try to pass off as food. This year will be different and here are some tips on how to make it happen.

While there is no solution to stop the kids from jumping in the pool too soon or being eaten alive by bugs there is a solution to the food dilemma. Cookout food can be boring and redundant; it's a set menu of easy to prepare comes-out-of-a-can, -jar, or -bag buffet foods. Sure we all love them but they could use a little sprucing up.

Let's focus on the cookout favorites, hamburgers and hot dogs. First of all, whoever is doing the grilling should not be allowed to leave the grill unattended unless you want to chew some shoe leather on a bun later. Also choose the appropriate griller. Someone who knows that meat does not have to look as though it went through a nuclear explosion to be considered done.

Selecting the meat that will grace your grill is also very important. Good quality meat means good quality burgers, try ground sirloin or my personal favorite ground Piedmontese beef. If you're not into red meat you can get ground turkey or ground chicken, but you'll want to season it because they can end up bland. Make sure when you get the ground poultry that it is all white meat with no skin or "parts" ground in. If you can't get any assurances from your meat counter, grind a breast yourself in the food processor. The hot dogs are a little trickier but read the ingredients and you should be okay. The brand of hot dog is a matter of debate in my house, my mother likes Vienna beef dogs and my brother-in-law stands firmly behind Hebrew National, me I can't tell the difference.

I cannot stress enough that black does not mean done, it means burnt. The griller must watch the food and try not to set it ablaze. Otherwise, said griller might find his or herself dodging flying burnt meat from an angry and hungry mob. Once the meat has been cooked to perfection though, what will you put on it? The average grill-meister would use the same old and tired dressings that we have all had a thousand times before. But you, my friend, are a grill guru. Kick the old condiments to the curb it's time for better things.

For the hamburgers, try topping them with a few slices of avocado and some salsa for a Tex-Mex flavor, or with some low fat pepper jack cheese and your favorite bar-b-que sauce. If you're not feeling that adventurous you can start out small by spicing up the ketchup with a little Tabasco or Franks Red Hot sauce. Put on good veggies like juicy red-ripe tomatoes or try yellow ones for something different and frisse instead of plain old lettuce.

I like variety, so for a fun little get together I made tiny burgers and got little rolls from the bakery for buns and made up a bunch of different mini-burgers for everyone to try. It worked out great and everyone got to try each kind of burger without feeling like they just ate a whole cow.

To spruce up the hot dogs, make them Chicago style. Top the dogs with mustard, screaming green relish, tomato slices (cut in half to fit on the bun), hot peppers (if you like it spicy), onions (none for me thanks), a whole dill pickle spear, a dash of celery salt and absolutely no ketchup. If you must have ketchup, which my mother tells me is a cardinal sin, try the spicy ketchup, some hot peppers and relish. Not everyone is into all that "stuff" on their hot dog so try getting different kinds of mustards to put on them such as spicy, stone-ground, or even a Dijon. You can find all sorts of different relishes and condiments in your local grocery store, be daring and try something new. The hot dogs can also be cut in half so you can try more than one combination of toppings.

So this season go on and try something different and banish those boring condiments to the back of the cupboard or leave them for the four year old tyrant that won't try anything new. There are endless ideas for your cookout, get creative and invent a taste sensation. Just remember to give the napalm burgers to the dog (if he'll eat them).