Corned Beef Cheeseburger

Last Friday night we decided to make the classic Wisconsin fish fry. A friend in the family caught a bunch of local crappie and was generous enough to give us a ton of fresh fillets. We were excited to say the least. So as I normally prepare a fish fry, I served it up with fries, coleslaw, lemon wedges, and great salted, caraway rye bread. Did I mention I love rye bread? A couple of days later, I found myself in a stare down with the leftover loaf of rye bread. I had to do something with it, and then I realized I also had a nice portion of vacuum sealed corned beef that I had leftover not too long ago. Things were coming together, and then that when this idea occurred to me. I had a real hankering for a cheeseburger, but I also had a real hankering for a conned beef sandwich. I thought I would combine them and make one of the best cheeseburgers I might have had to date. The corned beef cheeseburger.

Let’s get started.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 ground chuck
• pinch of salt
• pinch of cracked black pepper
• 1/2 cup of cooked corned beef, shredded
• 2 slices Swiss Lorraine cheese
• 2 tbsp Thousand Island Dressing
• 1/2 cup coleslaw mix (carrots and cabbage)
• 2, one inch slices of salted rye bread

Start by forming your ground chuck into a lose ball, and season with a bit of salt and pepper. Preheat a non-stick skillet, or a large cast iron skillet on medium-high heat.

Lightly toast the salted rye bread and set it aside.

Add the ground chuck to the heated pan. It should sizzle immediately. Let this cook a couple of minutes, then with a large, sturdy spatula, or burger press, smash it down, flattening the burger completely. Let this continue to cook for another couple of minutes, then flip it over and cook another couple of minutes. When you flip it over, you should get a nice, caramelized exterior. I love that.

After a couple of minutes, lay on the slices of swiss cheese. Let this begin to melt.

In the meantime, spread the dressing on the bottom of each slice of bread. Yes, you are going to get dressing on the top and bottom. That’s how I roll.

Once the cheese is melted, add the corned beef, covering the cheese. Lay the burger onto one of the slices of toasted bread, then top with the coleslaw mixture. Add the top slice of bread, then give a gentle push on the burger. Dig in.

Not only is this burger sexy to look at it. Trust me, I looked at it for a few minutes, probably thinking to myself ‘I’m going to eat this beast?’, but really, it is a beautiful burger. First bite, I was sold. That great texture from the lightly toasted rye bread with the awesome flavor of that corned beef, I could have stopped there and been sold, but then came that swiss cheese smashburger that just brings it all together. If you are looking for an awesome burger that is really tasty and unique, give this one a shot. I guarantee you will get the best of both worlds.