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News, Views, and Miscellaneous from the Middle-earth Minutes Podcast
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Yesterday we posted a picture on our Facebook page of Micah mixing up some hamburger by hand. I was passing on my famous recipe to the next generation. It was time. We recieved a request for the details, and so we're sharing our secrect World-Famous Hobbit Hamburgers recipe with you, our friends. But, as Gandalf would say, "keep it secret; keep it safe!"
Why are they called Hobbit Hamburgers, you ask? Well, read on.
Mix together by hand. Take a goodly size portion of hambuger (about 2/3 the size of a tennis ball) and roll gently into a ball. Form into a patty. But, here is the important thing - do not smash the patty! Remember, when cooking hamburgers you want to leave as many small air-pockets as you can in the patty. This allows for the juices to run around in there like a group of Hobbits evading a Nazgul. These hamburgers are going to be huge when cooked. The raw patties should cover your palm, and be about a 1/2 thick. They'll be over an inch thick when cooked! Be gentle when forming the patty.
For an added treat add crumbled-up Bleu Cheese in the very center of the patty. They are wonderful that way!
Grilling (because these are meant to be grilled): If you are cooking with gas, pre-heat the grill on high. Adjust to medium just before laying the burgers on. Grilling, of course, is an art. I firmly believe that you have to feel when the burger is done, but generally about 5 minutes per side will do it. And, as with any beef, rare - medium rare is preferred. No use is ruining good meat :)
These will be the softest, fluffiest, juiciest, and tastiest burgers you've ever had! No condiments needed.
Enjoy. And let us know what you think of this recipe.
P.S. Micah's version of these burgers were even better than mine!
We were doing so well with our every-two-week schedule, too!
Micah and I had to skip Middle-earth Minutes this last weekend (we like to record on Sunday afternoons) due to the youngest Hobbit taking part in the local Community Theater's production of Peter Cottontail. She's been rehearsing for 6 weeks and had three performances this weekend. The kids' grandparents drove down to the Middle Farthing to enjoy the Sunday matinee, too. So we apologize for missing the show. We should be recording this weekend. And pretty soon Middle-earth Minutes will be heard LIVE on Middle-earth Network Radio if I can fit that into the Sunday radio schedule.
We had planned on discussing Morgoth (Melkor) and Sauron this time, but that is too much to cover in one episode so we'll end up spreading it over a couple shows. Also, we will acquiesce (that's not the correct word!) to listener requests to include more Lord Of The Rings Online (LOTRO) discussions into the show. We're still brain-storming on exactly how to do that, but it'll be fun.
Thanks for listening, and we'll talk to you soon.
Last week Micah and I were invited on episode 13 of the Secrets Of The Hobbit podcast with our friends Father Roderick and Dave Kale. We had an absolutely wonderful time! Father Roderick produces some of our very favorite podcasts on his SQPN Network, including Secrets Of Middle-earth and Secrets Of Harry Potter. What an honor to be a part of this amazing program. You can listen to, and download the episode here. And don't forget to subcribe to this and all the "Secrets Of" podcasts in iTunes.
We will have both Father Roderick and Dave on an upcoming episode of Middle-earth Minutes, so listen for that soon.
A quick news report on the LOTRO update coming May 23rd. Micah offers his opinion in this special audio report posted only on our Posterous Blog.
As Station Director at Middle-earth Network Radio I guess it behooves me to give you folks with smart phones and IOS, Android, and Blackberry devices a heads-up that we are now available through one of the most popular and feature-rich mobile applications, TuneIn Radio. Now, I am only familiar with the IOS platform, so I can't comment on the others, but I was recommended the app by a friend that uses an Android OS phone, and he said it was the proverbial "bee's knees". For IOS there are two versions: the free version, which has a small banner ad at the bottom, and a premium .99 cent version with no ads. I use the free app and couldn't be happier. I especially love the sleep timer feature! The app is great on many levels not the least of which is that a simple search for "Middle-earth Network Radio" will allow you to listen wherever you have a connection to the internet. Added bonus is that it runs in the background for devices that incorporate mulit-tasking so that you can continue reading up on all the Tolkien related news while listening.
For those of you who don't have any of these devices you can always use the TuneIn Radio website in your favorite browser.
As an added bonus for this blog post, Micah and I just finished recording a new station ID for Middle-earth Network Radio. It will go in to rotation tomorrow, but I'm so proud of him that I thought I'd post it here for anyone that may be interested. I love my partner!