YOU SHOULD ONLY BE HAPPY ....

Recipe: Bacon-Cheese Mix-In Burgers for National Hamburger Day

By Mary Bilyeu AnnArbor.com Community Contributor

Posted on Thu, Jul 28, 2011 : 8 a.m.

Mary Bilyeu | Contributor

One night a few years ago, Jeremy had one of the great visions of brilliance in the culinary universe. He questioned the wisdom of cooking a burger patty and then slapping a slice of cheese onto it, only to have the cheese melt and ooze everywhere, and he also wondered why bacon slices were placed on top of cheeseburgers, only to slide off along with the melting cheese.

He thought it would be better if the bacon and the cheese were mixed into the patty before it was cooked. Sheer genius!

So we cooked and crumbled bacon, chopped some Swiss cheese, and mixed everything up with the ground beef before cooking up the burgers.

The result turned out to be a thing of absolute beauty, with the bits of bacon on the surface becoming slightly caramelized as they cooked and the tidbits of cheese starting to melt. The flavors of the mix-ins infuse the entire burger.

So, in honor of today's festivities — National Hamburger Day — I am offering Jeremy's Bacon-Cheese Mix-In Burgers. They're everything you want in a burger, and immensely good for your soul!

Bacon-Cheese Mix-In Burgers

1-1/2 pounds ground chuck
6 strips applewood-smoked bacon, chopped fine
1-1/2 ounces Swiss cheese, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 small red onion, halved, sliced
4 onion rolls, lightly toasted
Dijon mustard, or other condiments to taste
Tomato slices, lettuce, etc. to taste

Combine ground chuck, bacon, Swiss, salt, garlic powder and pepper; form into 4 burger patties 5 inches across. Cook the burgers over medium-high heat in a large skillet until well-browned on both sides but still squishy when pressed in the middle.

Add the onion to the skillet and cook until the onion is softened and starting to caramelize; the burgers should still be not quite firm in the center. (If you have a grill, which I sadly don't, by all means use it for the burgers, then just saute the onions in a skillet.)

Place 1 onion roll onto each of 4 serving plates; spread rolls with Dijon mustard and top with onions, tomato and burger patties.

Serves 4.

has won or placed in more than 60 cooking contests and writes about her adventures in the kitchen. She was thrilled to have her post about Scottish Oatmeal Shortbread named as one of the daily "Best of the Blogs" by the prestigious Food News Journal.

Go visit Mary's blog — Food Floozie — on which she enthuses and effuses over all things food-related. Her newest feature is Frugal Floozie Friday, seeking fun and food for $5 or less ... really! Feel free to email her with questions or comments or suggestions: yentamary@gmail.com.

The phrase "You Should Only Be Happy" (written in Hebrew on the stone pictured in this post) comes from Deuteronomy 16:15 and is a wish for all her readers as they cook along with her ... may you always be happy here.