Our Version of Junk Food
Bacon, Swiss and Carmelized Onion Burger
Junk Food Thursday
Ok, admit it, we all like the occasional junk food, some of us more than others admittedly. Hubby and I grew up eating burgers and still have an affinity for them today. Unfortunately the ones you get at most burger places make you wonder what is actually in that patty you are consuming. With all the re-calls that have been done over the years of all the food products we eat daily it makes one wonder every time we put something into our mouths. It is said that if you grind your own meat from a whole piece that the chances of bacteria in it are lessened, I am not a scientist nor have I done a lot of research on these things but I do know that whenever I buy a whole fresh beef brisket I trim off the top cap from it and put it aside to grind up for burgers and to use in soups. These burgers tonight were made with just such brisket meat, the only thing added to them were some salt, pepper and rib boullion to up the beefy taste a little more. The rolls were some of the ones I had made and stashed in the freezer. Hubby stopped at the store on the way home and picked up some swiss cheese and I carmelized a batch of onions to have on hand. We just finished eating and we are both stuffed, actually I didn’t even make it thru my whole burger so the dogs got to enjoy a little of it too and that made them happy campers. We had some Tater Tots with the burgers tonight and they bring back lots of memories of the boys being young and sitting around the table counting how many each one had on their plate, they had to have an equal number or a fight would break out as they would try to steal them off each others plate……….lots of memories there and smiles too.
The meat tonight was about a pound of the top flap off a large brisket, most of the fat was trimmed off, you do need to leave some of the fat on the meat for moisture as if you trim it all off, your burger will be like trying to chew thru old boot leather. Cut the meat into smaller cubes and place it in a food processor or a Ninja, you may need to do this in small increments if your processor isn’t a large one. Now pulse the machine, do not run it continuosly as you will liquify the meat, you want it chopped into distinct fine pieces. Remove it from the processor and add about 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper and mix it well. I also added about 1 tablespoon of Maggi Rib Boullion and mixed that into the meat along with about 2 tablespoons of rehydrated dried onion. Mix it all together very well and form your burgers. Place the burgers on a heated grill and cook to the doneness you like, place on a toasted bun with your favorite toppings and enjoy some better fast food than you can get outside.
Mushroom, Swiss, Carmelized Onion Burger
Tonight hubbys burger had carmelized onions, swiss cheese and bacon on it, mine had carmelized onions, sauteed mushrooms and swiss cheese on it, we were both quite happy with our burger.