Ground Bacon Burgers with Smoked Gouda and Spicy Aioli

I love cooking on the grill. I’ve cooked on the grill even in mid-winter. I’ve cooked on the grill in the rain. I’m a pretty die-hard grill master.  Something about the open flame, the way the food tastes and the ease – I could go on and on.

Equal to my love of the grill is my love of burgers. Blue cheese burgers, truffle burgers, lamb burgers – you name it, I love it. Oddly, I actually don’t make burgers very much, whats up with that? How to fix this injustice you ask? Make the perfect burger! Immediately bacon came to mind. Not just bacon on but bacon in, fancy that.

FYI – these were good, like really good. Like so good you have to make them as soon as possible – I’m just saying.

Here is the experiment, uh – I mean here is the recipe.

Here are the cast of characters.

The bacon being ground in the food processor.

All of the ingredients awaiting mixing.

When mixing, the best way to do it is with your hands. Its gross but it really is the best way (I’ve tried all the other techniques – trust me).

Another very important point is to be careful to not overwork the mixture. You want to stop mixing when it is just incorporated, this ensures that your patties are not super tight and dense when cooked.

Also, I kinda doubled my mixture because I was having people over – so that is why you see more eggs, etc than whats stated in the recipe.

The formed patties just before being put in the fridge.

You want to make them pretty big because they do shrink as they cook.

Caramelized Onions.

I do have a detailed onion caramelizing post planned next week but until then here is a quick explanation: 2 tbsp butter in a saute pan, chop 3 -4 onions in thin slices add to pan. 1 tsp salt. Cook down on medium for 20 – 30 minutes.

Viola!

Spicy aioli. recipe below

Grilling these bad boys.

Assembled.

Close up.

Messy. Ridiculous. Yummy.

Inside view.

I made these for a few people last weekend. There were no complaints. Actually, there were no words. It was pretty quiet.

I hope you get a chance to put some of these on the grill this weekend.

much love!

jess

 

Ground Bacon Burgers with Smoked Gouda and Spicy Aioli
1 lb Ground Beef (less than 15% fat)
1 lb Ground bacon ends
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp coriander
5 cloves of garlic (minced)
5 scallions – finely chopped
1 pkg of onion soup mix (powdered)
2 eggs
1 tsp of both salt and pepper

Smoked Gouda sliced cheese
Caramelized onions
Arugula
Spicy Aioli

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.  Form mixture into patties in your hand and place on a platter. Place all patties in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to firm up.

Heat grill to medium high. Grill patties for approximately 7 minutes per side (or until the juice runs clear). Before taking them off the grill place the cheese on top of the cooked patties until melted. Remove from the grill and serve.  Should make approximately 4 – 5 patties.

Spicy Aioli

½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup ketchup
¼ cup sweet relish
1 clove of minced garlic
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
Salt & pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl. Refrigerate, should keep for 1 week.

 

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