Hackney Burger Day

hackneys

Spring time in our home means it's time for grilling and burgers are at the top of my list of favorites.  We use our grill occasionally all year long, but there's something about the birds singing and the sun shining instead of snow fall that has so much more appeal while standing at the grill.

  Have you wondered why put the cheese on top of the burger when you could easily form the burger around the cheese?  No more worries about the cheese melting off the top on the grill.  You can use a blend of any of your favorite hard or semi hard cheese.  A couple of my favorites are Parmigiano-Reggiano or Cheddar - Gruyere.

Hackneys opened in 1920 by Jack Hackney and his wife Bebe who began serving beer and burgers on their back porch in Glenview, Illinois during Prohibition.  Three generations and 76 years later, Hackney's remains an icon.  On their menu is an Inside-Out Burger which is a stuffed Hackneyburger with melted cheddar cheese and crisp bacon on the inside.  Hackney's Inside-Out burger is hard to beat, but here is a simple recipe to make your own Inside-Out Burger at home.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup shredded Gruyere cheese, 1 pound ground beef, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Preheat grill to medium high heat.  Combine Cheddar and Gruyere cheese in a bowl (or the cheeses of your choice).  Gently mix beef, Worcestershire, and pepper in a large bowl and mix with your hands.  Shape into 8 thin patties.  Mound 2 tablespoons of the cheese mixture on each of the 4 patties, leaving a 1/2 inch border.  Cover each with one of the remaining patties and seal the edges of the burgers closed with your fingers or a fork

Lightly oil the grill rack or remove the grill rack and gently spray with cooking spray BEFORE lighting the grill.  Grill the stuffed patties over medium-high heat, about 4 minutes per side for medium well.  Do not press the burgers as they cook or they split open and the cheese will come out.  Defeats the whole purpose of the stuffed burger that way.

Let your burgers stand for about 5 minutes after removing them from the grill.  Serve up on your favorite burger buns or my all time favorite is to serve on dark rye bread.  Grilled onions anyone?


                                                 Happy Grilling .........


                                          Lakehouse Lyn