Cooking with Kids: Simple Hamburger Recipes-Kid Friendly Favorites

Cooking with kids is a real joy, no matter their age. My youngest daughter cooks with me just about every single morning, and she's barely a tiny toddler. She sits in her Baby Björn chair up on a kitchen counter, and is a part of the action from start to finish. I decided to get her involved in cooking in the kitchen at a very, very early age, and in some respects she's already pretty advanced. Generally, cooking is simple, so getting kids started early with simple tasks and simple recipes is a cinch. What I'm including in this article is a couple of simple hamburger recipes for cooking with kids that are kid friendly favorites.

Cooking with Kids: Simple Hamburger Recipes-Kid Friendly Favorite Recipes

My smallest fry and I like to cook our hamburgers on a grill over natural wood charcoal, so if you're not into cooking outdoors or it's someone else in your house who does all of the outdoor cooking, you may want to pass this simple hamburger recipe onto whomever it is that will use it. But the next simple hamburger recipe after this one will be one for cooking with kids in the kitchen.

Dada's Grilled Baby Hamburgers

Simple Hamburger Recipe Ingredients:

• One pound organic ground Piedmontese Beef (Black Wing)
• Ten drops of Colgin Gourmet Worcestshire with Liquid Smoke
• ¼ lb. Adams Reserve New York Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• Rudi's Organic Hamburger Buns, White or mini-hamburger buns

Let the children helping you cook get the recipe ingredients together and divide and shape the ground beef into ten little hamburgers. Add one drop of worcestshire/liquid smoke to each hamburger. Let older kids grate the cheddar cheese. That's part of what makes this a kid friendly favorite recipe. The fire of the BBQ pit is a kid friendly attraction, too.

Note: Because the hamburgers are so small, have your tongs, plates, and all things ready at hand. You'll be in constant motion, because the cooking is going to be fast and furious and all done in a matter of a few short minutes-from first hamburger on to last hamburger off.

Once the wood charcoal is hot, and wood charcoal gets real hot, tell the smaller kids to stand back and watch as you place the hamburgers on the grill as close to the wood as you can get them. That's so you cook the underside of the hamburgers as quickly as possible, thus sealing in the juices.

Once you see the bottom of the hamburgers are cooked so that there is nice crust on them, which is only going to be a minute or right about the time you finish putting the tenth hamburger on the grill the first one you put on will be about ready, go ahead and flip them, trying to keep them as close to the wood as possible, so that the other side gets a nice crust cooked onto it, as well.

As soon as you finish flipping the hamburgers, put the cheddar cheese on all of them, starting with the first hamburger you put on. That's, obviously, so the cheese will start melting. Again, because the cooking goes so fast, only a few minutes total, the cheese won't fully melt-that's OK. It'll still pick up some of the woody smoke along with the hamburgers and the bread you're about to throw on for a few seconds. Plus, Cheddar cheese hamburgers taste better when some of the cheese is melted and some of it isn't. Now, go ahead and throw those hamburger buns on the grill for a quick (woody) toast. Let whatever kid(s) cooking with you handle the finished food when serving this kid friendly favorite.

Cooking with Kids: Simple Hamburger Recipes-Kid Friendly Favorite Recipes

Simple Hamburger Recipe Ingredients:

• one pound organic ground Piedmontese Beef (Black Wing)
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 2 tsp organic chili powder
• 3 tsp organic chopped whole oregano
• 1 tsp organic cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp organic garlic powder
• organic black pepper corns and pepper grinder
• one medium organic yellow or Spanish onion
• ¼ lb Adams Reserve New York Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• Rudi's Organic Hamburger Buns, White

If you have a cast iron griddle or skillet and gas burners in your kitchen, get it out because we're going to use it with this recipe. If not, it's not a big deal. Just use whatever favorite pan or indoor electric grill you have for cooking hamburgers.

Again, since you're cooking with kids let them collect together, measure out and combine the recipe ingredients in a large mixing bowl-except for the black pepper, cheese, and of course hamburger buns. If the child is old enough let them carefully dice the onion and shred the cheese. Even the small kids cooking with you can divide the seasoned hamburger meat into 3-6 hamburger patties, and just before cooking grind some black pepper onto each side of the hamburger.

Again, you may want to cook the hamburgers fast at first, so as to seal in the juices. Then, because these hamburgers are anywhere from a 1/3 lb to 1/6 lb a piece, you or an older kid can turn down the heat after searing each side, and more slowly finish cooking the hamburgers. If the child cooking with you is in their teens, go ahead and let them do it all while you just hang over their shoulder, helping when and where they ask or need it. (Who knows: at some point your teenager may be enjoying themselves to a point where they turn to you one day while you're letting them do most of the cooking and say this is my favorite recipe.)

Don't forget to get that cheese onto the hamburgers right after you flip them. If they can, have a child grill or toast the buns in or on whatever appliance available. Remember to let the kids you're cooking with serve the finished food. The sense of accomplishment for them cannot be overstated. May you enjoy cooking with kids, even these simple hamburger recipes that are kid-friendly favorite recipes.