American | Big-O Bacon Burgers

Posted on October 18, 2014

These were super tasty. I think the mushrooms make them extra juicy. The original recipe has you chopping the raw bacon in a food processor and mixing it into the meat, I thought that sounded kind of gross, so I cooked my bacon before adding it to the meat. I've seen other bloggers do it both ways. Also what is interesting the photo in the cookbook looks like they cooked it and left it in big pieces, it doesn't look like a fine mince. The recipe came from a Paleo cookbook (see below) and had several topping suggestions - slow-roasted tomatoes (seen here), caramelized onions (seen here), roasted bell peppers, Paleo mayonnaise, Paleo Sriracha, Sriracha mayonnaise, quick-pickled carrot strings, spicy pineapple salsa, guacamole, Paleo ranch dressing, and Louisiana rémoulade. See cookbook or Nom Nom Paleo blog for recipes.

Yield: 4 burgers

Ingredients

2 tablespoons lard or fat of choice, divided (I used olive oil)

1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, minced

4 ounces bacon, cross-cut into small pieces

1 pound ground beef

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

 

Method

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a cast-iron skillet over medium heat, and sauté the cremini mushrooms until the liquid they release has cooked off. Set aside the cooked mushrooms.

Cook the bacon, and drain on paper towels.

In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, bacon, and cremini mushrooms, and season with salt and pepper. Using your hands, gently combine the ingredients. Be careful not to overwork the meat. Divide the mixture into 4 portions (or more, if you're making sliders), and use your hands to flatten each into 3/4-inch-thick patties.

Melt the remaining tablespoon of fat in a cast-iron skillet over medium heat, and fry up the patties in the hot fat, turning once. Regular-sized (6-ounce) burgers should take about 3 minutes per side; slider burgers should take about 2 minutes per side. The meat inside should be perfectly pink all the way through, and studded with pretty little pieces of smoky bacon and mushrooms.

Transfer the patties to a wire rack so that any excess cooking fat can drain off.

 

(Ref. "Big-O Bacon Burgers", Nom Nom Paleo, page 227.)