Friday, June 29, 2012

Blue Cheese & Balsamic Burger

Posted by Tina / 10 comments » / *Recipes, Beef, Burgers, Main Courses

4th of July (Independence Day) is JUST around the corner!!! Time to pull out those barbecues and celebrate with some Americana eats and of course… Fireworks!

The fourth of July falls 2 days before my birthday, so as a child, since we’d already be together with family – we would celebrate my birthday with sparklers on top of my cake in lieu of candles! I was a fan of the 4th of July to say the least! 😉

Good times.

Back to the food. Everyone knows you’ve GOT to grill on the 4th of July.

There’s just. something. about. it.

Be it Ribs, Hot dogs, or Burgers… It just doesn’t feel like 4th of July without one of the American Classics! It IS the celebration of America’s Independence after all!

Well, my friends, these Blue Cheese and Balsamic Burgers hold the #1 burger spot in my heart!

This recipe is actually one from the archives, but I decided it needed a re-post since:

1. It’s one of my all time favorite Burgers (you WON’T want to miss it!)!
2. The original post/photo is ROUGH and does not do this baby justice. Period.

I couldn’t bring myself to delete that original post since I LOVE looking back at where I started… and the drastic change in my photography year over year. I still have a LONG way to go but it’s nice to see I’m headed in the right direction! 😉 However, I wanted to bring this back out of the archives for you guys to see and enjoy in a new light!

Hello Gorgeous:

Anyhow, in case you’ve been living under a rock… It’s official that Blue Cheese and Beef are a match made in Heaven. For Real.

Oh, and you know the saying that “two is good company and three is a crowd”?

Well, that is… FALSE. It’s ALSO now official that Blue Cheese, Beef, and BALSAMIC are a trio that never. gets. old. <3 LURVE.

(Don’t you just love how I make things “Official”)

Happy Friday and Happy almost Independence Day, people! Do yourself a favor and PULEEEZE put this on your menu this coming Wednesday!

Print Save

Blue Cheese & Balsamic Burger

Yield: 3-4 burgers

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 6-8 minutes

Total Time: 10-15 minutes

Blue Cheese, Balsamic, and Beef are a match made in Heaven on this classic burger...

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef of choice (we used 85/15)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
3-4 ounces crumbled blue cheese
3-4 tablespoons balsamic reduction
1 large tomato, sliced
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
lettuce, for topping

Directions:

Preheat grill to medium-high heat.

Patty the meat into 3 or 4 burgers (we usually do 3 with 1 pound of meat - 1/3 lb each). Mix the garlic powder, salt, and cracked black pepper together and sprinkle 1/6 of the mixture on the first side of each of the patties (1/8 if doing 4 burgers). Flip the patties over and repeat with second side.

Spray grill with non-stick cooking spray. Place one side down and close lid. Allow to cook for 3-4 minutes (until there are nice grill marks on the one side). Gently flip patties with a spatula and turn the heat down to Medium - Medium low (depending on how hot your grill gets). Scoop a small heap of blue cheese crumbles on top of each patty (1- 1 1/3 ounces). Close grill lid and allow to cook to desired done-ness. *USE A MEAT THERMOMETER FOR ACCURACY* The USDA recommends a minimum of 160°F to guarantee any bacteria is killed.

Pull the burgers off the grill and allow to rest for just a couple of minutes. I like to prepare my bun while this is going on. Add lettuce, tomato, and onion (plus and other desired topping... ie: pickles or crispy onion straws) to the top half of the bun. Place the burger on top of the bottom bun and drizzle a healthy amount of balsamic reduction on top (1 tablespoon or more). Put the top bun on top and take a bite of the tastiest burger! Ever.

 Print Recipe   

Share

10 comments