Happy Father’s Day weekend! I was blessed to be able to spend many father’s day weekends with my Pop. He was a great man who taught me many things that guided me through life. So go so far; the life lessons he passed along to me, and my brothers, must have been pretty good!
He also passed along his love for a good burger. I admit, he leaned more to the plain side. Bun, cheese, a few select condiments, and that was about it. Sometimes he might sneak an onion, lettuce, or a tomato into the mix – but he generally liked his burgers simple.
I broke through the boring burger wall with him one time. I served him up one of my “over the top” creations that included minimal condiments and toppings, but featured crumbled bacon and shredded cheese mixed into the ground beef. He liked it!
A few years later I showed him some pictures from a photo shoot for a recipe that was going in my newest cookbook Great American Grilling. It was for a stuffed cheeseburger. He liked the looks of the burger and gave it a thumbs up.
My suggestion for a great burger that you can share with your pop? Go with a stuffed cheeseburger. It’s something different, easy to prep, cook, and is packed with flavor.
Burgers, dogs, brats, chicken, seafood, or ribs! It really does not matter what’s on the menu if you’re having a fantastic Father’s Day! Enjoy the weekend!
Stuffed Cheese Burgers
From Great American Grilling by Kent Whitaker
Ground Beef – Enough for 4 HUGE patties
Minced Garlic
Olive Oil
Worcestershire sauce
Dash of Hot Sauce
Lots of Ground Black Pepper
Pepper Jack Cheese
Fine Sliced Onions
Other Stuff!
Directions: Combine the meat with some minced garlic, a few dashes of olive oil, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce. Mix well by hand and separate into four LARGE portions. Split each portion in half to make eight equal portions.
Flatten these into eight wide patties that are a bit thin and wide. Sprinkle with pepper and place an equal portion of pepper jack cheese in the center of four patties leaving an edge around the outside. Place other four patties over the four covered patties and press the edges together to seal. You should have four good sized stuffed burgers.
Grill over medium high heat turning as few times as possible. Serve hot on fresh bun, toasted French Bread Slices or toasted Texas toast with your favorite toppings.
You can stuff this burger with all kinds of other stuff such as mushrooms, Blue cheese, peppers… whatever you like.
(Kent Whitaker is a culinary writer and cookbook author. He is the winner of the Emeril Live BBQ contest and winner of an American Authors Association Gold medal. Kent’s books are in bookstores nationwide and are available online. Kent lives in Chattanooga. Visit him online at www.thedeckchef.com)
