Firecracker Burger with Kick

        Spicy Crunch Burger (recipe below)    

What's a Burger without Grilled Corn?

Our daughter made this sign years ago when we bought our lake home and it is tradition to place it on the mantle each 4th of July

 To honor the 4th of July, we're making an awesome Spicy Crunch grilled burger recipe sure to please those who love a burger with a spicy bite!  This is a favorite of mine and one of the most delicious burgers I've ever had.  It is a 1/2 lb. fresh 100% certified premium beef burger made up of a special blend of sirloin and chuck.  Smothered in buffalo sauce, and then topped with crushed crispy kettle chips.  My personal favorite crunch chips are capecodchips.  Served on a fluffy sesame seed bun with lettuce, sliced tomato a dill pickles.

 ** To add more richness to your burger patty, mold your meat around a small pat of salted butter and it melts into the meat as it cooks.YUM!

***For more kick, skip the butter and cube pepper jack cheese.  Stick a couple of cubes of pepper jack inside your meat patty and form around around the cubes.  Melts as it cooks...adds a fun twist.

Top your finished burger with buffalo sauce spread over the top of the patty and top with crushed Kettle Potato Chips.


     ~Wishing you a happy and safe 4th of July holiday with family and friends~                                                                         

Grilling Burgers

Photo Lakehouselyn

Here's one of my favorite burgers topped with Swiss cheese, sauteed mushrooms, slice of fresh tomato and lettuce.  Most of the time I serve healthy sides but sometimes you just have to indulge in home style french fries and a sliced pickle! Have you noticed how much better food tastes when eaten "alfresco"?  

Here's a tip from MichaelSymon from ABC's TheChew..  When you have formed your burger patty, make an indentation in the middle of the burger with your thumb to contain the juiciness in the burger while it grills. 

Also, spread a little mayonnaise onto the inside of the top and bottom of the bun before serving and place on grill for a couple of minutes to add a nice crispness to the bun before serving.  

What's your favorite burger? 

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