A BLT Cheddar Burger in the middle of the week? How do I justify that? I usually save such indulgences for the weekend, serving healthier fare during the week.
Justification #1: Serve it with a beautiful Citrus Salad rather than fries.
Early on I was trained that a perfect plated meal included a chunk of meat, a green vegetable and a starch which was either baked or mashed potatoes. And growing up on a wheat farm in the middle of Kansas, there was never a meal without bread and butter. EVER.
These days, more often than not, I’ll plate nothing but a tossed salad next to that chunk of meat. There’s just nothing better than a healthy array of beautiful chopped greens and fruits topped with a flavorful vinaigrette for a side dish. And so many variations available year round with seasonal fruits and veggies. Yum. On the weekends? You bet I’ll take fries with that burger.
Justification #2: Maybe I should take the bacon off and feed it to the dogs, after all it would look better on them than me.
Justification #3, add a healthy chunk of iceberg lettuce and a couple of rings of onions AND, whole wheat hamburger buns. Ok, bacon, you’re back in. Afterall, there’s nothing worse than a fat “little dog”. Don’t you agree?
Justification #4: Leave off the ooey-gooey melted sharp cheddar, (ok, I have to admit, only because I didn’t have any on hand) and add a nice big slice of tomato. Oops that little Devil appeared on my shoulder and I slathered on some mayo based Russian Tarragon Sauce (recipe below).
A burger and a salad on a Wednesday night…I was in heaven, even without that ooey-gooey cheddar. If you’re looking for a delicious twist on a regular burger, you might want to give this a try. I found this over at Food and Wine Magazine, a recipe from BLT Burger in Las Vegas. I learned an interesting technique from this recipe; dip the burger patties in ice water and then brush them with unsalted melted butter while grilling. The natural sugars caramelize making the burger flavors even more delicious.
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup ketchup
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon grated onion
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- 1 tablespoon chopped tarragon
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 12 ounces thickly sliced bacon
- 1 1/3 pounds ground beef chuck
- 1 1/3 pounds ground beef sirloin
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 3 ounces sharp cheddar cheese cut into 6 slices
- 6 hamburger buns split and toasted
- 6 iceberg lettuce leaves
- 6 slices of tomato
- 6 slices of red onion
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Whisk the mayo, ketchup, red wine vinegar, onion, parsley, tarragon and Worcestershire sauce until blended. Refrigerate until ready to use.
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Cook the bacon until crisp.
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Light a grill and fill a large bowl with ice water. Gently mix the ground chuck with the ground sirloin, salt and pepper. Form the meat into patties and submerge in the cold water and let soak for 30 seconds. Immediately transfer the burgers to the grill and brush with some of the melted butter. Grill over high heat for 9 minutes for medium-rare meat, turning once or twice and brushing occasionally with butter. Top the burgers with the cheese during the last-minute of grilling and let melt.
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Spread the Russian dressing on the buns. Set the lettuce leaves and tomato slices on the bottom halves and top with the burgers, red onion and bacon.
BLT Burger with Russian Tarragon Sauce … It’s What’s for Dinner
