An American Classic Icon

When I think of an American summertime food that is "iconic" for its culture, the first thing that pops into my head is the burger.

This is a food item that has been sold billions of times annually - cue McDonald's slogan of "Over 99 billion served" - which was used back in the early '90s for how many were sold since its establishment. One could only imagine how many have sold up to this point in time. Or even the ones sold at other restaurants, or even ones made at home.

Much like the different types of people that make up America, there are different types of burgers that have been created and served. This includes the numerous types of animal meats that have been used, like at the restaurant, the Thirsty Koala, in Queens New York, where you can get a kangaroo burger. Ones with a variety of toppings, like Mac n’ Cheese, some that use donuts as a bun. Or if a plant-based alternative is more your speed, then you have options like mushroom, black bean, tofu, or even the beyond meat burger for when you have a craving for the traditional meat experience without actually consuming it.

Depending on where you are in the world, can determine the interpretation of what a burger is. During my stay in Taiwan, there was a restaurant I frequented that served a breakfast “burger” that consisted of a fried egg and sausage. Now at the time, this wasn’t what I was used to when it came to burgers, but the experience in flavor gave this dish its rightful place in the line of what it means to be a burger.

For today's story I’m sharing a recipe from one of my ventures into burger making. I call it the double beef and cheese stuffed burger. This burger inspiration was created around Memorial day when a couple of friends and I decided to enjoy the holiday weekend with a picnic and I was in charge of the grilling portion. As a creative individual, occasionally I like to experiment with recipes. In the days leading up to the picnic, I was contemplating what type of burgers I should make. Then I remembered one of the burger creations a friend made for a football game while tailgating during my freshman year in college. This was the first time I had ever experienced a burger with cheese on the inside.

I decided to take that burger up a notch not only stuffed with cheese, but with bacon, garlic, banana peppers, and jalapenos. On the night of picnic eve, I became my own test victim and tried the recipe, to ensure it made sense and to make any necessary adjustments when it came down to the final presentation.

What’s needed for this recipe you might ask?

Ingredients:

1) 2 pound of ground beef

2) ½ onion, sliced into strips

3) 1 pack of bacon, preferably beef bacon, which I get from my local Whole Foods.

4) Shiitake mushrooms, or any other type that fits your preference.

5) 2-4 tablespoons of butter

6) Pickled banana pepper slices,minced; I would recommend to 3-4 slices per burger

7) Pickled jalapeno slices,minced; I would recommend to 3-4 slices per burger

8) 1 avocado, mashed

9) 4 - 5 cloves of garlic, minced

10) 1 Roma tomato sliced, or any tomato of your preference

11)Cheese, I chose to use mozzarella

12) Hamburger buns of choice, I was able to find pretzel buns for this occasion

For the burger’s flavor, I realize everyone’s palette is different, I prefer food with a bit more of a kick, so I would recommend adding them based on individual preference. Or even using whatever spices you think would go well with your burgers. These are not the exact measurements I used, typically I eyeball how much I use, but these are good points of reference.

Spices:

1) Black pepper - 1 tablespoon

2) Cayenne pepper - 3 teaspoons

3) Smoked paprika - 1 tablespoon

Preparation:

First start with grilling the bacon on a medium-high temperature. Depending on your preference, I would recommend a ratio of 2-3 pieces per burger. As a heads up, when cooking beef bacon, you can approach it the same way you would steak, it does not cook to a crisp as much as your traditional pork bacon. But it is possible with enough time. For each burger you make, take one slice of bacon and cook just to the point of browning, then remove it from the grill and let cool before chopping up and adding to your burgers later.

Next, is the preparation of ingredients that go into the burger mix. Combine your minced garlic, banana peppers, jalapenos, black pepper, Cayenne pepper, and smoked paprika into your beef and mix thoroughly. Depending on how big you want your burgers to be, you can get between 3-4 burgers total. Once you’ve decided how many you will make, begin separating the beef into balls, one for each serving. Take the chopped up bacon and mix some into each patty.

Divide the burgers in two and press out until about ¼ of an inch thick. Take a good pinch of cheese and place onto half of the patties. Lay the other halves on top of the ones with cheese and press the edges together, ensuring that no cheese is sticking out. Now the burgers are ready to cook, I typically cook mine on a medium-high temperature for 25 - 40 minutes, while flipping halfway through. Since every grill or stove is different, I would advise the cook time to be at your discretion.

Once your burgers are almost finished cooking, take your bacon and place it on top of burgers and add a nice layer of cheese that covers the bacon - this will also help prevent the bacon from falling off while eating.

While the burgers are cooking, you can start sauteing the mushrooms and ½ onion with the butter. I would recommend roughly 2-3 handfuls of mushrooms per burger. On a medium heat, begin cooking the mushrooms for 1-2 minutes then add the butter and onions, cook until the onions are golden brown, then remove from the heat and cool off. For an Ideal flavor experience, I recommend preparing the mushrooms and onions closer to when the burgers are ready.

As an option, you can toast the buns. For our burgers I used a pretzel bun, I recommend toasting for 4-6 minutes, either in the same pan you prepared the mushrooms and onions, or on the grill while the cheese melts on your burgers.

Once everything is ready, you can take the mashed avocado and add a light layer to both the top and bottom buns, followed by sauteed veggies and a few slices of the tomato. The end result should look like that in the picture below.

Thank you for sharing this cooking moment with me. I hope that the recipe turns out as good for you as it did for me that day. I enjoyed it so much that I would recommend it without any sauce.