This is one of Philip’s favorite dinners. I start with a plain old burger patty, nothing too thick – about 1/2 inch thick. I buy the ones in our local market already made up. I season the meat with some Fancy Onion Salt, some of the Paul Prudhomme Blackened Steak Magic (you can buy small jars in most stores), and Butter Buds (much cheaper in the store, just showing you a picture). (I use this same set of spices on steaks that I grill in a cast-iron grill pan with lots of safflower or sunflower oil – they taste just like barbecue steaks without the fuss.) I set the patties aside.
I start cooking the bacon – I like Boar’s Head bacon, it’s really good. While the bacon is cooking, I heat up the caramelized onions in another small frying pan, and make up the guacamole.
When the bacon is almost done, I squirt a little safflower or sunflower oil in a small cast iron frying pan, and put the patties in, spice-side down. I then spice the side facing up, and cook them quickly on both sides. I brown them and then remove them from the heat, so they continue to cook inside but stay moist. It’s like “resting” a steak. The juices stay in.
I have by now warmed the plates and start assembly. First the patty, then the onions, then the guacamole, then the bacon, which I have cut up into pieces.
Philip’s not eating cheese these days, but for my own burger I like to add some sharp shredded or crumbled cheese just after I remove the patty from the heat, letting the cheese melt on to the top of the patty. Cheddar, Bleu, goat, feta, or any Italian mix will all work well.
It may seem like a lot of calories, but because we start with such a small patty, it’s not that bad. It sure is satisfying, though. By the time you’re done you really feel like you have gotten a big fat juicy burger.