Gotta Go Big or Go Home

I know what you must be thinking – another Burger Recipe? Really? Hey, it’s not my fault that Double Cheeseburger Day and Cheeseburger Day happen to be days apart. And as for the Guacamole thing, that was just a good excuse for another burger.

When it comes to Cheeseburgers, you haven’t lived until you’ve had a Skirt Steak Burger dressed in a Cheese Skirt. Oh my, that’s good! Having made these burgers a time or two, it’s important to use a cast iron skillet or cast iron griddle. You need that super hot surface to melt the cheese while allowing the skirt to crisp up just a touch. That said, it also means you can’t go wandering off or you’ll have a blackened cheese skirt, not good. Finally, do not grab one of those bags of pre-shredded cheese. Great on tacos, not so great to make a cheese skirt. Bagged grated cheese has been coated with some sort of chemical that keeps the little bits of shredded cheese from balling up. It also makes for a less smooth cheese melt. So anytime you are melting grated cheese, go the extra five-minutes to grate the cheese by hand.

When it comes to eating a burger with a cheese skirt that is huge, you’ve got two options. The first is to trim the cheese, eat it on its own like a fried-cheese treat, the second is to fold that skirt around the burger so everything fits inside the bun. Totally up to you. I tend to have a treat with my burger. Doesn’t matter how you dig in, so long as you savor every delicious bite.

Oh and one more thing about today . . .

Happy Birthday to the U.S Airforce and a big thank you to all who answered the call to serve.

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Squeeze Inn Skirt Steak Burger
1-1/3 lb Skirt Steak
1-1/3 lb Medium Cheddar Cheese
1 Red Onion
4 slices Bacon
4 Sesame Seed Buns
Butter for toasting the buns
4 tablespoons Mayonnaise
4 tablespoons Yellow Mustard
8 Dill Pickle Chips
4 Lettuce Leaves
Seasoning Salt to taste

Using a food processor fitted with a blade, mince skirt steak to a coarse grind. Loosely form into 1/3-pound patties. Set aside.

Grate cheese fine from a block of medium cheddar. Set aside.

Peel and thinly slice onion, set aside.

Fry bacon in a skillet until crisp. Place on paper towels and set aside.

Spread soft butter on the cut side of hamburger buns. Toast buns on a warm griddle until lightly browned. Pull buns and set aside.

Heat a large cast iron skillet over high heat. While the skillet heats, place the bottom bun on a clean surface, toasted side up.

Spread the mayonnaise over the bun followed by the mustard, pickles, red onion and lettuce. In that exact order. Set aside.

Place the patty in the hot skillet and sprinkle with the seasoned salt. Lower heat to medium-high, cover and let cook until the patties are cooked through without turning, about 6 minutes or so. Flip the patty over and season generously again.

Pile each burger with a quarter of the grated cheese and then throw a few ice cubes next to the burger. Cover skillet with lid for about 30 seconds to let “steam”. Remove lid, break bacon slices in half, place an X on top of each cheeseburger then top the patty with the top bun. Cover skillet again with the lid. This will steam the top bun to perfection.

After about two minutes, lift the lid again. The cheese skirt should be perfect and the burger cooked through.

Carefully lift the cheesy patty and bun a place on top of the bottom bun. Serve immediately.