Piccante Dolce: Burgers & Buns on the Grill

Cheeseburgers are amazing.

Seriously, if you don't agree you might be in the wrong place.

There is something about a freshly grilled burger eaten outside on a gorgeous summer day that can't be beat.

I'm a fan of a good greasy burger from my fave burger joint, The Burger's Priest. They are pretty transcendent, but even they don't compare with a burger made with good meat, cooked in the open air.

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter (if you don't, get on it, you won't be sorry) you may remember a couple weeks ago lots of updates about my amazing dinner inspired by a visit to the farmer's market and the gorgeous weather. The short story is that I picked up some delicious beefsteak tomatoes and organic romaine at my local farmer's market. I know for many people that would mean a lovely salad and I'm sure it would have made a lovely salad but my mind immediately went to burgers. I think partially because we hadn't had them in awhile, but also because I had just seen Zoe Francois' post about baking buns on the grill. My house is a hot box in the summer, the oven is the last thing I want to turn on, it's that hot. So the prospect of being able to make fresh baked buns on the grill was amazing.

I first set out to get the buns done. Zoe's recipe was for 10 dinner rolls and used a white dough. I went with the 100% Whole Wheat with Olive Oil dough because I didn't have enough white flour. I also tweaked it by forming 1 1/2 lbs of dough into 6 individual balls. and placed them in my 7 quart Le Creuset. I used fresh dough and was able to tweak the rise to 20 minutes. Other than those tweaks the method is the same.

The buns turned out beautifully, so much so that the Boy said they were the best I've ever made. Paired with the fresh burgers, creamy cheese and super fresh veggies it tops the list of one of the best burgers I've ever made. It probably doesn't hurt that we enjoyed it with a batch of my Watermelon Rosemary Lemonade and Vodka.

This was truly the most perfect summer meal ever. Perfect for your long weekend festivities. What do you have planned for the upcoming Canada Day/4th of July weekend?

print recipe

Grilled Burgers

by Jen June-29-2011

Ingredients

1 lb 80% ground beef
1 lb ground sirloin
2 garlic cloves - minced
1 small handfull flat leaf parsley - roughly chopped
10 thyme sprigs - leaves pulled from stems and chopped
6 slices creamy havarti cheese
6 slices beefsteak tomatoes
6 leaves romaine lettuce
2-3 slices red onion
fresh cracked black pepper
6 buns

Instructions

1. In a large bowl add the ground beef, sirloin, garlic, parsley, thyme and a good healthy amount of fresh cracked black pepper. Gently mix everything together, being careful not to over work the meat. 2. Form the meat mixture into 6 loose patties. Make sure to make an indent int he top of the patties to combat the burger puffing up too much while it cooks. Place on a plate or cookie sheet, cover with plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour. 3. Heat the grill over medium heat. Sprinkle the burgers with salt & pepper before placing on the grill. Grill with the lid closed for 3-5 minutes or until juices start to release on top of patties and they release easily from the grill. Flip. 4. Grill for another 3 minutes. Add the cheese and cook for another couple minutes until the cheese is melted. Remove to a plate and let rest for 5 minutes.5. Serve on freshly made buns with tomato, lettuce, red onion and any other condiments.

Details