Most years my little family stays home on July 4
th.
We like to have a nice family day that includes some fireworks, fun and (hopefully
Great) food. I try my best to cook our main meal over our fire pit especially
since we built what I affectionately call my “redneck” grill.
Our menu looked like this:
Loaded baked potato salad
Green salad
Simple I know that’s why I try to bring something special to
the table and this year I tried something new with our Burgers.
To start I diced about
1/3 of a red onion to yield about ¼ cup
Add salt and pepper about ½ teaspoon of each
Then I added some shredded cheddar I had in the freezer.
(Note:
in some of the pictures it shows a white cheese. That is because I forgot to
take pictures of all the steps when I made them with Cheddar and When I made
them the other day to freeze ahead all I had was mozzarella so I said what the
heck, let’s give it a go!)
When you have all this mixed up add 1.5
pounds of ground beef
(Approximately an 80/20 blend.
(I cannot tell you a specific fat content because we now get our beef from a
local farmer and I do not know for sure the ratio at which the butcher grinds
the meat/fat)
To make the patties more uniform I enlisted the help of my
large stainless scoop.
I scooped 1 portion, made a small patty then added a
thin slice of butter, yes butter.
This was a new one for me but I had heard the
tip from a friend so I said “OK, why not” I mean its butter how could it be
bad? The slice was about a teaspoon worth, or as thin as you can get from a
cold stick of butter. Then add another scoop and continue to form your patty.
Now the best part… wrap your patties with 2 slices of bacon.
Mine is thicker and super smoky because along with the beef we just got our
first whole pig so my bacon does look a bit more “rustic”
Now throw them on the grill!
When they are just about done top your burgers with your
favorite cheese.
Don’t forget the buns! I splurged and got really nice buns
and buttered them up and grilled them slightly before building our burgers.
Top however you like!
We were very hungry by the time they were done so I do not
have a good picture of the finished product :)
Ingredients:
Red Onion
salt
pepper
shredded cheddar cheese
1.5 pounds of ground beef
1 stick of Butter (not Margarine!)
Burger buns
Instructions:
Dice approximately 1/3 of the onion to yield approximately ¼
of a cup and add it to a medium mixing bowl. Add ½ a teaspoon of salt and black
pepper. Add ½ a cup of shredded cheese. Mix these all up well then add your
ground beef. Mix well to distribute flavors but try not to over work the meat
as it can make the burgers more tough. I find using my hands is the best way to
mix them well.
Scoop approximately 1/4th of a cup of meat mixture
and make a small patty then added a thin slice of butter. Then add another 1/4th of a cup of meat mixture to
form your patty.
Wrap your patties with 2 slices of bacon.
For best results grill burgers outdoors.
When the burgers are just about done top your burgers with
your favorite cheese.
Butter both sides of the burger buns and grill them till
they are golden.
Top with whatever other toppings you like!
This is a very basic burger recipe that you can easily tweak
to your own tastes.
You could add some Worcestershire, hot sauce, diced Jalapeños
just about anything.
My family loved them and I am making them for my daughter (at
her request) and her friends when we celebrate her birthday tomorrow.
Wait till I tell you about our Desert!
