Mmmm... don't forget to wear a bid when eating this one! Brian & I had cheese & toppings raining all over us. lol
After seeing a couple episodes of Diners, Drive-ins & Dives where the chefs used grilled cheese sandwiches as the buns for their burgers... I decided I just had to try this... and I'm glad I did! Wow they were good! We love cheese in this house... so I always put a good hunk of cheese in our grilled cheese... if you don't want molten goodness dripping all over you... go for less cheese. lol
Before I forget, I want to give credit to the Food Network stars, Bobby Flay & Guy Fieri, for helping me improve my burgers. Because of them I learned very helpful techniques & tips that I have implemented in this recipe.
I want to apologize up front for the less than stellar pics... I didn't have the flash on & I was very busy cooking... so they are what they are. lol
Here it is!
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Don't Eat & Drive Killer Cheeseburgers
2 lbs. Ground Beef
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper
1 lb. Bacon
Cheese, sliced (your choice, I used Colby)
1 pkg. fresh or 1 lg. can Mushrooms, sliced
1 med. to lg. Onion
2 + Tbsp. Butter
Texas Toast Bread
Toppings (your choice): Lettuce, Tomato, Pickles, Avocado, Ketchup, Mustard, etc. Whatever you like on your burgers!
Put the bacon in a large pan & begin frying.
While bacon is frying, slice onion & mushrooms (if not sliced). Melt butter in pan & add the sliced onion & mushrooms. I cheated & used the canned mushrooms, so I made sure my onion was at least halfway cooked before I added them. I started out with a couple tablespoons of butter but watched it closely to see if I needed to add any more. Saute over medium heat until done, then keep warm until ready to place on your burger.
Ready your other toppings. Slice your tomatoes, avocados, etc.
Once the bacon is done, remove it to a plate covered with paper towels to absorb the excess grease.
Shape your burgers, making them as big as you desire. I made 1/2 lb. burgers. Remember to NOT OVERWORK your burger meat. When you work it too much the meat becomes more compact & your burgers will be tougher. Next, press slightly down in the center of your patty. Burgers always seem to rise up in the center, so this step will help solve that problem. Lastly, sprinkle your salt (I like kosher) & pepper on one side of your patty before it ever reaches the pan. This will be elaborated on in the next step.
Here you have a decision to make. You can either cook your burgers in the bacon grease, or you can use a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil in a clean pan. Either way, heat the grease up before you put your burgers in the pan. On my stove it's at about a 6 to 6 1/2 on the dial. The purpose of having the grease nice & hot is that when you add your patties to it, salt & pepper side down, the hot grease will seal in the salt & pepper & wonderful hamburger juices. Now you can salt & pepper the top of your burgers that are face up in the pan. I always use a "splatter screen" when cooking anything on the stove that has grease... makes the clean-up easier.
While your burgers are cooking, slice your cheese if not already done. Heat your griddle & prepare your cheese sandwiches to be grilled. At this stage I've seen (on tv) where you can add jalapeno peppers, green chiles, the bacon, ham, etc. Butter the outsides of your bread & place on the griddle. The burgers I saw on tv where between two grilled cheese sandwiches, but I thought that might be way too much for us to eat. I made one grilled cheese & then just grilled a single slice of bread for the top or bottom of the burger. Using Texas Toast adds a wonderful crunchy on the outside & soft on the inside to your sandwich. You can use regular bread if you want.
Flip your patties over halfway through the cooking time. IF you want extra cheesy burgers, you can add sliced cheese onto the patties here. Usually, when using regular buns, I place the cheese on (if using) & then set the buns on top. I take a sheet of aluminum foil & place loosely over the pan. This helps steam the buns & make the cheese melt faster. I don't have a lid for my pan... but if you do that will work just fine. Any way you do it... try to have your grilled cheese sandwich & burgers done at about the same time.
I realize this pic looks gross. The camera could not capture the yumminess that was floating up from the hot pan!
Construction:
Place either the grilled cheese or single slice of grilled bread onto a plate.
Lay on cooked bacon.
Spoon on grilled onion & mushrooms.
Add burger.
Add desired toppings.
Top with either the grilled cheese or grilled bread, whichever you didn't put on the bottom.
When I made these I also made a couple of regular burgers, using buns instead of the grilled cheese sandwiches. Here are a couple pics of those yummy burgers.
PS: I don't add any ketchup or mustard to my burgers, usually no lettuce or tomato either. I like the flavor of the burger itself & don't want to cloud it up. lol I do like avocado though... so I usually add that!
*Good, fresh beef always makes your burgers taste good... but if you are on a budget... or just don't want to spend the extra money on quality beef... you can use what I used - plain 80/20 ground beef from the grocery store.
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