Matt's Turkish Meatball Hamburgers

Memorial Day: BBQs, swimming pools, FINALLY some sunny weather. Memorial Day in Seattle is the official, “Summer is just around the corner” kick off. Most people in other places would say it is actually the kick off of summer. But here, that doesn’t actually happen until after 4^th of July.

So I hopped on a flight for the long weekend. I decided to chase some sunshine find where the real summer lives. Enter in Scottsdale, Arizona. One of my very best friends lives here with her finance. Not only had I NOT met her guy, I had also NOT seen her in over a year. Knowing us, that was far too long.

We danced, we adventured through cactus gardens, and we ate the best Mexican food (in the states) you can ever find. I sat in the pool; I got a tan – a much-needed getaway after some stressful months at work for me.

But like I said, I was also on a mission. I had not met Sammie’s man yet! Though she’s already locked him down for life, I still needed to approve of him... you know how it goes.  There was only one way to find out if this man is worthy of my friend’s heart. We had to DANCE! They took me out to all their local haunts. Believe it or not, Scottsdale has a cool nightlife scene. I had no idea! And on top of that, these folks have high expectations! Sammie says that bars and restaurants will close just as soon as they open. My favorite part? Taking a golf cart cab home. Trust me, these aren't your grandma's golf carts.

Well, long story short Matt didn’t dance. But, he did spend the whole night talking about how much he loves my girl. Yup, I was sold!  So I thought to myself, “okay Sammie, but can this man cook??”

I won’t keep you in suspense…He can.

The day after dancing, we took it easy by the pool. Walked the dogs. Matt watched historic shows on TV.  And then we all made dinner together. I made a pasta salad that I’ll share with you all on a different day. Sammie made brownies. And Matt made hamburgers using his Dad’s Turkish meatball recipe.

YOU HEARD ME CORRECTLY.

Matt’s dad is from Turkey and I guess makes really good meatballs. Simple and straightforward, they thought, “Well we can grill these, right?”  Oh yes you can!

I’m carefully writing this as I sit at the airport and dreaming of the next time I can try these burgers out. So from Matt’s backyard (with a pool!) to your kitchen here are:

 Matt’s Turkish Meatball Burgers.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups ground beef
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, diced finely
• 1 jalapeno, diced finely
• 1-cup breadcrumbs
• 2 eggs
• Salt and Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

•  Mince the garlic and dice the onion and jalapeno. Make sure everything is very small.
• Combine all ingredients and begin to form the hamburger patties. Here’s a good tutorial on how best to do that:
• Let the patties rest in the fridge for 30 minutes (at least!). These are prone to fall apart on the grill, so you want them to be set.
• Fire up the grill and cook until there’s pink, some pink, or no pink in the middle. (To be safe, always cook ground beef to where there’s no pink)
• Grab your favorite veggies, buns, and condiments, and enjoy!

Happy Memorial Day! Eat well, be well! And subscribe below to never miss a beat.