A Six Sided Burger

A 6 sided burger - I bet you're askin' yourself "how they do that?". If you're at all like us, you like a lot of meat in your burger so usually you make one that's really thick, right? Well, not this time.

Last night's burger was just the opposite - made up of 3 really thin beef patties and grilled on the flat top, each burger had 6 sides of caramelized goodness when they hit that soft squishy grilled bun. Loaded with caramelized onion, ooey gooey yummy melted gruyere cheese, some chopped up crispy bacon pieces from our most recent bacon makin' exercise, believe me the fixin's were all good. The final topper...ice cold tomato slices and some of the avocado cream we enjoyed on our fish tacos the other night.

It was amazing. Not only did the thin burger patties cook a lot faster than a thick one does, the flavor was simply incredible with the crusty finish on the outside and juicy moist interior.  To be honest, it  reminded me of the old fashioned diner style burgers from the days before everything had to be super sized.  Says a lot for the premise that everything old is new again, doesn't it.

Next time you're cookin' a burger, try doing it this way and see what I mean, OK. Oh, by the way, I'm sure you could grill the burgers on the barby instead of using a flat top, but the Big Guy cooked 'em outside on his big flat top grill along side the onions and bacon so the flavors could kind of run together and believe you me, it was a joy to behold. To save calories, we had our burgers with a nice fresh salad instead of french fries and onion rings. Yes, I agree - it was rather like having a diet beverage on top of a mountain of calories to appease the conscience. In other words, it was pointless, totally pointless, but we enjoyed every bite none-the-less.

Six Sided Burgers  

1 pound lean ground beef

4 slices bacon, diced

1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced

Montreal Grill Seasoning

Course ground black pepper

Slices of gruyere cheese

2 large burger buns (we used foccacia rolls)

Sliced tomatoes

Avocado Cream (see recipe below)

Divide lean ground beef into 6 identical sized pieces and press into flat, very thin bun sized discs each approximately 1/8 inch in thickness. Season each disc well on both sides with grill seasoning and pepper. On flat top grill or in a large pan, cook bacon until crisp. Set aside. Grill onions using leftover bacon fat until onions are soft and caramelized.

Meanwhile place meat patties on very hot grill and cook for 2 minutes per side until caramelized on each side. Place slices of gruyere cheese on 4 of the 6 patties and cover with a lid to melt cheese quickly.

Grill buns until golden then build burgers, layering onions and bacon between each patty. Top with sliced tomatoes and garnish with avocado cream. Makes 2 large burgers.

Avocado Cream (adapted from John Conley, Salsa Brava Cochina)

1 cup sour cream

Juice of 2 limes

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 avocado, pit and skin removed

Salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste

Place all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Store covered in an airtight container in refrigerator.  

Comments

[Lea]

I love bacon cheeseburgers with onions most of anything in the world - and the idea of homemade bacon and 6 sides of caramelized love and goodness - well - my eyes are welling up with tears! October can't come soon enough! HA!

[June]

Lea - why wait till October pray tell?

[Lea]

I am getting the smoker for my birthday and will make the bacon then - HA

[June]

Good for you! You'll love it and will get a lot of use out of it. If you're looking at a Big Chief, try and get one that opens from the front rather than the top. It's a lot easier to load.