Ok, so this is not the healthiest burger out there so I save it for an occasional indulgence. It is, however, delicious!
Before you start anything else, you’ll want to get your butter ready because it needs to chill and harden. You’ll need about 6 T. of butter, softened, a couple of cloves of garlic that have been minced, and about 4 T. of fresh basil, finely chopped. You can use some of your other favourite herbs here instead of basil or use a combination of them (basil and oregano together are quite delicious). Remember if you’re using dried herbs instead of fresh to cut down on your quantities. Blend the butter together with the seasonings you’ve chosen really well (you can just mix with a wooden spoon or use your food processor) and then form the butter into a long tube shape or something similar that will be easy for cutting later. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze until firm.
When your butter’s ready to go, combine: 1 1/2 lbs. ground beef with 1/3 cup shredded cheese (whatever kind you like – I’ll use mozzarella, cheddar, Swiss or even a combination – often depends on what I have on hand!), salt and pepper to your taste (I like to use bourbon pepper or lemon pepper in this for some extra zip). Form the meat into burger patties – I make them about half the thickness I normally would. Slice the butter into approximately 1 T. portions. Start with a patty, place a chunk of butter on it, and then top with another patty, sealing the edges to hold the butter in. Grill, broil, or cook in a skillet as you would with any other burger. I will warn you that even with a perfect seal, some of the butter will at times leak out a bit so grilling can get a bit messy. I find that spraying my cooking surface (for any of the cooking methods) with cooking spray and covering with foil if possible is helpful in reducing the clean up.
These burgers freeze beautifully – prepare as usual and then freeze before cooking.
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