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balsamic bbq garlic burgers w/ bacon

Monday, July 6, 2009

9:03 PM

for fourth of july, we made balsamic bbq garlic burgers with bacon, cheese, and sauteed mushrooms and garlic. i wanted to make my own burger patties, so we bought ground beef and other ingredients for burgers.

ingredients
1 lb. ground beef (use meat with higher fat content--it'll bind better)
1 egg
four cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 lb. mushrooms, chopped
3-4 strips of bacon
cheese
burger fixings (lettuce, tomato, onions--whatever you want)
balsamic bbq sauce (recipe courtesy of giada de laurentiis, food network)

preheat the grill. in a large mixing bowl, mix beef with two cloves of minced garlic, then crack the egg into the mixture and mix it all together. (the egg helps to bind the patties and keeps them from falling apart on the grill.) separate the meat into four 1/4-pound patties, molding them into a rough "burger" shape. brush the balsamic bbq sauce on the patties using a pastry brush, then put the patties on the grill.

how long you leave the burgers on the grill is up to you. it depends on a few things--how hot the grill is, how you like your burgers cooked, etc. however, keep in mind that if you choose to grill your bacon (which we did), you want to keep the heat relatively low because of bacon grease. (also remember that, if you grill bacon, be careful about flipping over the bacon--bacon grease will cause flames to shoot up. we learned this through experience. alternatively, you can pan fry your bacon.)

the mushrooms and remaining garlic can be sauteed with olive oil either before the burgers are grilling or while it's going on. very simple--olive oil in the pan, throw in the sliced mushrooms and minced garlic, and sautee over medium heat for a few minutes. these will go on top of the burger patties.

while the burgers are grilling, continue periodically brushing on the balsamic bbq sauce. if you're grilling the bacon, you can also occasionally brush some of the sauce on the bacon, which is what we did on a whim. once the patties are cooked to your liking, put some of the mushrooms and garlic on the burgers. we also added cheddar cheese on top of the mushrooms and garlic and let it all melt on top. once that was done, we toasted hamburger buns, put some bbq sauce on the buns, and placed the patties on the buns. once the bacon was cooked, that went on top of the cheese, with any burger fixings.

the burgers ended up being more like sliders, but they were absolutely delicious. i'll definitely be trying this again.

Labels: recipes

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