Swiss Burgers

I love burgers.  In fact, if you gave me a choice between steak and a cheeseburger, it would be a very tough decision for me.  I’m not quite sure what it is about the burger.  Maybe it’s the juicy, well seasoned beef.  Maybe it’s the melty cheese.  Maybe it’s just because I like dipping things in ketchup.

It could be all three.

No matter what the reason, I made a killer burger the other night.  I recently purchased Balsamic Glaze from Trader Joe’s.  After I had it on some grilled pizza, my brain started churning.  I immediately thought of putting it on a burger of some sort.

After a few minutes of brainstorming, I came up with what I believe to be a truly great burger.  Brace yourself.  Swiss burgers topped with caramelized onions and balsamic glaze on a toasted brioche bun.  *DROOL*

I just gave you an idea for dinner this weekend, right?  You’re welcome.

Swiss Burger with Caramelized Onions and Balsamic Glaze

2 white onions, thin sliced
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 pound 80/20 ground beef*
salt
pepper
1 tbsp Worchestershire
Trader Joe’s Balsamic Glaze
4 Brioche rolls

The onions take about 45 minutes to caramelize fully, so plan ahead and start them in enough time to eat them with your burgers.  In a small pan over medium high heat, add olive oil and onions.  Toss to combine.  Once the onions start sizzling, you can turn down the head to low and let cook, stirring occasionally.  Do not salt them at this point.  Salt will bring out the water in the onions and they will take longer to caramelize.  Once your onions are golden brown and very soft, they are done.

Preheat your grill.  In a small bowl, season your ground beef with salt, pepper, and worchestershire.  Mix to incorporate but don’t over mix or your beef will get tough.

Level out your meat in the bowl and divide it into quadrants.  Now, make each quadrant into a burger.  This ensures even sized burgers.  Grill your burgers over medium heat for a few minutes on each side or until your burgers are cooked to your desired doneness.

A minute or so before your burgers are cooked, throw your buns, cut side down, onto the grill so they toast up.  Now’s the time you can put slices of Swiss cheese on your burgers so they melt.

To assemble the burger, top your roll with the burger, then the caramelized onion.  To finish it off, drizzle the balsamic glaze over the onions.

I had some Alexis Sweet Potato fries in my freezer I cooked to serve alongside.  It was one of the best dinners I’d made in a long time.

*Every chef on Food Network suggests using 80/20 ground beef for the correct ratio of meat to fat.  This yields the juiciest, most flavorful burgers.

Blog Love: Warm Potato Salad

Pinterest is evil.  I can’t even tell you the number of recipes, craft projects, and gift ideas I have pinned in the last few months.  The bad part is, for ever one pin I complete, I pin 10 more!  At this rate, I will never work my way through all those pins!

Carolyn and I did come up with the idea of making a “Ten Pins to Try First” type of board, so I could always have an idea of what I was really looking forward to trying.  I haven’t done it yet, but if I had, I would have had this recipe on there for sure.

I love potatoes and I love salad.  What I don’t love is potato salad, mostly because of the mayo involved.  When I saw this warm potato salad recipe floating around on Pinterest, I knew it was a must try.  I mean bacon, caramelized onions, and potatoes.  What’s not to like??

The recipe comes from Ingrid at The Cozy Apron.  It’s such a delicious recipe and really not too hard to make.  I started with my caramelized onions and while that was simmering, I baked my potatoes and fried my bacon.  The rest was simple!

After your bacon is cooked, you make the warm bacon vinaigrette and then it’s as easy as tossing everything together.  I served our potatoes with some burgers from Dorothy Lane and, I must say, they made a perfect pair!

Jake kept me company while I cooked dinner.  He’s my little sous chef!

Jeff offered to grill the burgers.  What a great guy!  I could get used to this!

So, head on over to The Cozy Apron and show Ingrid a little blog love.  Try her Warm Potato Salad with Warm Bacon Vinaigrette.  I promise you won’t regret it!

What pins on your pin boards are you most looking forward to trying?

Grillin’ Frenzy

Carolyn was here for a visit earlier this week.  On night one, I made my Pistachio Chicken with roasted veg and some fruit.  When I asked her what I should make on night two, she suggested grilled pizza.  When my mom is visiting, she almost always requests grilled pizza.  It was the perfect night for it!

After a quick run through of the ingredients we’d need, we stopped at the store before picking the little guy up from daycare.  Once home, I gave C the task of stretching the pizza dough, a task I really hate doing (don’t as me why).

I had sliced an onion and cooked it down in a little butter so it got caramelized and delicious.  If you have time and like onions, I highly suggest doing this.  It gives your pizza another dimension you can’t normally get otherwise.

After the onions were cooked and the pizza dough stretched, we prepped the other ingredients.  If I can give you one piece of advice when making grilled pizza, it’s to have your ingredients ready to go before you step foot outside.  I also suggest using white dough as opposed to wheat, but that’s me.  I try to use whole wheat ingredients when I can, but honestly the white is just better!

So, when your dough is stretched, your ingredients prepped, and your grill is preheated, you’re ready to start.  I have made the pizza two ways:  taking all the ingredients outside and doing the entire process out there and just taking the dough outside, then bringing it back in once it’s partially cooked.  In my opinion, the second way works better.

I take the dough outside with a little dish of olive oil.  Then I brush the dough with the oil and put it, oil side down, on the grill.  Cook the dough until it’s slightly done and the lines from the grill are golden brown.  Be sure not to over cook the dough.  It will burn quickly.

Once the dough is cooked, take it off the heat and bring it inside.  Add your desired toppings.  That night, we made four different pizzas:

Jeff’s pizza-pizza sauce, large pepperoni, proscuitto, thin sliced tomatoes, basil pesto, crushed red pepper flake, parmesan cheese, thin sliced fresh mozzarella, and sun-dried tomatoes.

My traditional style pizza-pizza sauce, large pepperoni, proscuitto, caramelized onions, basil pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, parmesan cheese, torn basil leaves, and thin sliced fresh mozzarella.

Jeff and I typically have very similar pizzas as you can see.

Margherita pizza-very traditional with tomato, torn basil leaves, and fresh mozzarella.  We didn’t put pizza sauce on this one and I was kind of regretting it.  I think we did put pesto on it.

Peach & Proscuitto pizza-since it’s peach season, C and I wanted to try something with peaches.

We did thin sliced peaches, proscuitto, a bit of goat cheese, a little mozzarella, and a drizzle of the Balsamic Glaze I picked up from Trader Joe’s the last time I was there.  YUM!  C and I decided it was the best one of all of them.

This stuff is seriously good.  They suggest you “Use it on salads, as a drizzle over grilled meat and fish, or as a dessert topping for fresh, summertime berries or vanilla ice cream.”

If you’ve never tried grilled pizza, you need to.  It’s delicious and so much better than oven baked.  The fire gives the crust a nice flavor and crunchy texture.  Jeff and I grill pizza probably once every couple weeks in the summer.  It’s the perfect dinner!