The Pretzel Burger

I don’t know about you, but burgers are becoming my favorite meal. Now don’t get me wrong, I have always loved a great burger, but I have been craving them at least once a week. Recently my have family has explored burger outlets around Milwaukee including Fuddruckers, Five Guys, Kopp’s, and have thought of going downtown to Sobelman’s (my personal favorite), or AJ Bombers, but I realize that I make a pretty darn great hamburger myself, and one that I can create, having not to rely on anyone’s menu but mine.

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So the craving came back this past Friday, and as tempted as I was to make one for lunch, as I worked from home, I could not take the time as I was just too darn busy. So after work, I gathered my ingredients at the recently opened Sendik’s Food Market, and created, what I could possibly define one of the best burgers I have came up with to this day. I’m calling it “The Pretzel Burger”.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 lb ground chuck
• 1/4 ground beef
• 1 small onion, caramelized
• 2 slices of your favorite bacon
• 1 pretzel roll
• 1 slice of American cheese
• 1 over-medium egg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

I am a strong believer in using a cast iron skillet when making burgers indoors. There is something about the cast iron skillet that when cooking a burger. It creates a nice crunch on the exterior, while keeping it nice and juicy on the interior.  Begin by caramelizing your onion, while this is going on, prepare your hamburger patty, and slice your bun.

To a plate add half of the salt, and half of the pepper, and give it a nice mix with your finger. Take the ground meat, and mix it well, incorporating both meats. Form into a really thin patty, keeping in mind that it will shrink in size just a bit. Add it to the plate, then sprinkle with the remaining salt and pepper.

To a large cast iron skillet, on medium-low heat, add the two slices of bacon. After cooking the bacon on one side, add the hamburger patty, can cook for a few minutes on one side. When you flip the hamburger patty, remove the caramelized onions into a small bowl, returning the skillet back to the stove, and crack your egg into that same skillet. Add the slice of cheese onto the hamburger patty, remove the cooked bacon to a a plated lined with paper towel, and give that egg a flip. My personal favorite is cooking the egg over medium.

Now it is time to build the burger. To the bun, add the cheese burger, top with the caramelized onions, slices of bacon, and top with the egg. Top with the remaining top bun, and dig in.

Words cannot explain the flavor explosion in this pretzel burger. Not only do you have the uniqueness in the bun itself, but the texture of the burger, the sweetness from the onions, and then getting that natural sauce from the egg. Holy Moly! This has got to be my all-time favorite. Hope you enjoy.