Fire-Grilled Bacon Banquet Burger
I believe that everyone has a very specific idea in their mind when they hear the word ‘burger’ – my idea of a burger can be completely different than yours. Whether the first thing that comes to mind is a thin and crispy smash burger, thick juicy cheeseburger, triple decker cheeseburger with smoked bacon or a Big Mac, the best part, is that these are all the right answer and they are all delicious. I think the quality of any burger comes down to the meat – if you’re using good quality ground beef, all you really need is some salt and pepper and your burger will taste phenomenal. At my old restaurant, Bar Lisa Marie and my food truck/catering company Fidel Gastro’s, we would grind all our own meat in house and only use brisket. Now I know many of you may not have your own meat grinder at home, so regular ground beef will work too, but I also encourage you to go to your neighbourhood butcher, have a chat with them and see what they can recommend, or what they can grind up for you.
The banquet burger is typically a bacon cheeseburger and has a thicker patty. I’m not always the biggest fan of bacon on my burger, but this combo is killer: bacon, cheese, grilled onions and mushrooms on a soft, Everything Bagel brioche bun. If you can’t find an Everything Bagel bun at your local grocery store, you can use a regular brioche bun or potato bun. Having a good bun makes such a difference, so I highly recommend not going for your run-of-the-mill white bread bun. Nothing against them, but they don’t hold a candle to a sweet and fluffy brioche or potato bun. It will make a huge difference, and you’ll never go back to your old hamburger buns, I promise.
I think most people when they think of a burger, they think of that burger being cooked on a grill with those nice-looking grill lines, but believe it or not, a lot of your favourite burgers are probably cooked on a flattop grill. A cast iron pan is also a great way to make burgers, but for my banquet burger I used the plancha on the all-new Alchemy Grill, it just gets rip roaring hot and adds a beautiful sear to your burger. If you want to find out more about the Alchemy, make sure to sign up for the newsletter on the Alchemy Grills site here. For the full Fire-Grilled Bacon Banquet Burger recipe, keep reading or jump to the full recipe.
The first step is to slice your onions and put them on the grill. Let them cook about a minute or two and then add the button mushrooms. Drizzle some canola oil over both the onions and mushrooms, and mix, but make sure to keep your onions and mushrooms separate.
To prepare your burger, form your ground beef into a patty, about an inch thick. Season liberally with salt and pepper on both sides.
Place the burger on the grill and let it sear and cook, about 3-4 minutes each side. Your burger should have a nice browned exterior and be cooked through.
Add your bacon to the grill and cook, flipping midway. Cooking bacon is a matter of preference, in my opinion, so cook it until it's your desired doneness.
I'm going to teach you the best way to make a cheeseburger - the trick is to put your shredded cheese directly onto the plancha. Let the cheese melt, bubble and start to brown and crisp up on the bottom.
Add your bun to the grill to toast a little. Once the cheese is melted and browned on the bottom, use a spatula to flip it over onto your burger. This is the best way to make a cheesy, gooey, but a bit crispy, delicious cheeseburger. Transfer your cheeseburger to the toasted bottom bun, and remove from the grill, along with the top bun. Once your bacon is cooked and the onions and mushrooms are softened and caramelized, remove from the grill.
To build your burger, transfer your burger with cheese onto your bottom bun. On your top bun add your mayo and mustard. Place your bacon on top of your burger, then the onions and mushrooms. Close the top and enjoy!
And now for the full recipe....
Fire-Grilled Bacon Banquet Burger Recipe
Makes one burger
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Total time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
8 oz ground beef
¼ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
4 slices bacon
1/3 onion, sliced
6 button mushrooms
Canola oil
Everything bagel brioche bun
1 tbsp mayo
1 tbsp mustard
How to Make it:
Place your onions on the plancha grill, let them cook one to two minutes, then mix. Add your mushrooms next to the onions and drizzle both with some canola oil, mix, but keep the mushrooms and onions separate.
Form your ground beef into a patty, about an inch thick. Salt and pepper both sides. Place on your plancha grill.
Add your bacon to the plancha and let it cook fully, flipping midway.
While your onions, mushrooms and bacon are cooking, let your burger sear and cook, about 3-4 minutes, and then flip and allow the burger to cook through completely, another 3-4 minutes.
As your burger cooks, add your mozzarella cheese straight to the plancha, let it start to bubble and melt and crisp up. Add your bun to the plancha to toast.
Once the bottom of the cheese is a golden brown and your burger is cooked through, flip the cheese onto the burger, then transfer your cheesy burger onto the bottom burger bun. Remove everything from the grill to build. You want your bacon to be cooked and your onions and mushrooms to be nicely caramelized, softened, but still have a good bite.
To build your banquet burger, on your top bun, add mayo and mustard. On top of your burger pile on the bacon, grilled onions and mushrooms, close the top and cruuuuush.
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