Thursday, February 16, 2012

Grilled Chuck Burgers with Extra Sharp Cheddar and Lemon Garlic Aioli


These cheeseburgers have become our classic, standby recipe when we are just craving some juicy grilled beef.  Each component plays an integral role in the taste sensation - the meaty bite of beef, the intense sharpness of cheddar, the peppery arugula, the sweetness of grilled red onion, and creamy, lemony aioli to bring it all together.  We love this burger because it comes together rather easily when we have the sudden urge to fire up the grill.  We know it's not technically grilling season yet, but well... when you gotta have a burger, you gotta have a burger.  They're good all year round.

Ingredients  
1 pound ground chuck (enough for 4 burger patties)
½ tsp salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
8 ½ inch slices of a good extra-sharp cheddar cheese
4 honey wheat buns or Kaiser rolls
1 red onion, cut into ¼ -inch circular slices
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
extra salt and freshly ground black pepper
arugula, for topping

Lemon Garlic Aioli:
¼ cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 cup chopped parsley
1 garlic clove, minced
salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions  
To prep the burgers:  In a medium bowl, toss in the ground meat, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and Worcestershire sauce.  Mix together with a fork.  Once the ingredients have been combined, form four patties.

To prep the red onion:  Brush extra virgin olive oil on both sides of all the slices and then sprinkle with some salt and pepper.

For the lemon garlic aioli:  In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients together.  Place back in refrigerator until burgers are cooked.

To cook:  Preheat grill to around 350.  If using cast iron grates, use a paper towel or cloth to wipe all grates with canola oil.  Place burger patties on grill.  Close lid and prep the buns by brushing canola oil on insides.  After a few minutes, check the patties.  If the bottom half looks just about cooked, roughly 3 minutes, flip over, and place cheese on top.  Add red onions and buns (cut side down).  Close lid.  After another 3 or so minutes, remove everything from grill.  The cheese won’t be completely melted, because of the thickness, but it’s okay, that’s the point ;-)  The cheese will stay extra sharp if the inside isn’t melted.  On the red onions, you’re looking for good char marks on one side, but the onion still a bit crunchy.  For the buns, you’re looking to get the bottoms nice and charred, but not so much as to make the bread tough.

To assemble the burger:  Place a handful of arugula leaves on the bottom slice of the bun.  Place burger with cheese slice on top.  Add the grilled red onions.  Slather the aioli liberally on the top half of the bun.

22 comments:

  1. We are officially on food coma by just looking at this flavorful burger! We're going to grill burger patties tomorrow and we hope they will turn out as beautiful as yours. Bookmarking this now ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good Golly! look at that burger. I seriously want to wrap my mouth around it. It looks delicious and juicy. Nice job.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This looks so divine! Thanks so much for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great looking burger and btw...it's always grilling season! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nothing beats a great burger and yours does look like it can stand up to any competition-yum! Delicious addition with the aioli.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love burgers!!! This looks absolutely amazing! Will definitely try the recipe!Great post!

    ReplyDelete
  7. This has some amazing flavors and looks completely irresistible! I know that "gotta have a burger" feeling very well!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow---time to break out the grill. Love the sounds of that ailoli.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh man, oh man, oh man, what a great looking burger. How I wish I could have a big bite of that!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. True that burgers are good year round, but there's something about a perfectly grilled burger on a summer's evening and just looking at yours got that summer yearning started. I suppose it's the mid-winter blues but your burger has definitely chased them away! It's Adam's birthday this weekend, a great burger sounds like a good way to celebrate.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh this lemon garlic aioli sauce sounds phenomenal. I'd love to try this on my burger! We usually make our own burgers in summer time to grill the patties outside, but I really want to try this sauce so I guess we'll be start grilling soon. :-) Great burgers!

    ReplyDelete
  12. This looks... AMAZING. Words fail. Drool.

    ReplyDelete
  13. New follower. This is fantastic. I mean beyond anything I've seen in a burger in a long time. Great recipe.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I love a good burger. Your burger looks so good.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anything with Aioli on it is brilliant xo

    ReplyDelete
  16. I just saw this on RecipeNewZ, and had to come here and tell you: this burger is absolutely mouthwatering! How I wish I could have this for lunch now!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Lemon garlic aoili - yummo. Thanks for linking this up with Food on Friday, Seth. Cheers

    ReplyDelete
  18. Jenn and Seth, this burger was fan-freaking-tastic! We absolutely loved this recipe. The burger was simple, yet extremely delicious. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  19. it looks like a good burger, but I don't like cheese on my burgers. Also I have a pet peeve about mayo also. Just a thin film of mayo is all I want on my burger bun, not globs of it that drop on your clothes. I just want a thin film of it.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...