There have been so many numerous incarnations and variations of the Bacon Burger over the past few months, that everybody’s favorite “Gourmet Guru” Emiril Lagasse; finally decided that enough is enough … and so BAM … he has now just released this absolutely awesome recipe from his very own personal collection “tempting taste treat treasures.”

This recipe is specifically custom crafted for us genuine gourmands who are seeking a more elevated evolution of the “busy burgers” currently being bantered about by every single fast food chain on the planet.

Emeril’s Home-Ground Burgers with Bacon, Cheese, and Fresh Thyme

(Serves 4)

Ingredients

2 pounds boneless beef chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes

6 ounces bacon, chopped

1 cup finely chopped onion

3 tablespoons thinly sliced garlic

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

8 slices cheddar cheese

4 sesame-seed hamburger rolls, lightly toasted

1 1/2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce

8 thin slices tomato

Mayonnaise, for serving

Ketchup, for serving

Mustard, for serving

Pickles, for serving

Ingredients for Orange-Habanero Ketchup

2 tablespoons olive oil

3/4 cup finely chopped onion

1 habanero chile, stemmed and seeded

1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

3/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

2 teaspoons grated orange zest

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground mustard

1/4 teaspoon ground mace

One 28-ounce can whole plum tomatoes (with the juice), broken into pieces

Cooking Directions

1. Place the diced chuck in a large bowl.

2. Set a 10-inch sauté pan over medium heat and add the bacon. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is crisp and most of the fat has been rendered (for about 7 or 8 minutes.)

3. Add the onions to the pan and cook them until they are softened (about 4 to 5 minutes.)

4. Add the garlic and cook for about a minute, until it’s fragrant.

5. Add the thyme and toss to combine.

6. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the mixture over the diced chuck. Drizzle with the Worcestershire, and season with the salt and pepper. Toss gently but thoroughly to combine. Cover and set aside to marinate, refrigerated, for 1 hour.

7. Assemble a home grinder according to the manufacturer’s instructions, using a medium die for grinding. Grind the meat mixture and then gently form it into 4 patties, being careful not to overwork it. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.

8. Pre-heat a grill to medium, and lightly oil the grate.

9. Remove the patties from the refrigerator and place them on the grill. Cook for 7 to 8 minutes. Then turn them over and place 2 slices of the cheddar on each burger. Cook for another 7 to 8 minutes for medium-rare to medium, or until the burgers are cooked to the desired degree of doneness.

10. Place a burger on the bottom of each of the 4 toasted buns. Dress with the lettuce

and tomatoes, and add mayo, ketchup, mustard, and pickles as desired. Serve immediately.

How to Prepare the Orange-Habanero Ketchup

1. Set a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat and add the olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add the onions, habanero, garlic, and ginger and cook for about 4 to 5 minutes, until softened.

2. Add the wine vinegar, cider vinegar, brown sugar, orange juice, orange zest, kosher salt, mustard, and mace. Stir to combine.

3. Bring the sauce to a boil, and add the tomatoes and tomato juices. Continue to cook for about 20 or 25 minutes until the liquid has been reduced by half.

2. Remove the pan from the heat and set it aside to cool briefly, then transfer the mixture to a food processor, and puree until very smooth. Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled.

3. Store the ketchup in a clean non-reactive container in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks. This preparation yields about 3 cups.

Special thanks for this recipe go out to Chef Emeril Lagasse, from the book “Emeril at the Grill,” published by Harper Studio Publisher , New York, 2009, courtesy of Martha Stewart’s MSLO, Inc.

Boss Hog doesn’t mean to completely blow your mind or make all of the “Fast Food” joints out there feel bad and sorry for what they are doing, but here’s the “dag burn” truth of the matter!

The fact is, you can enjoy serving up 4 of the most outrageously delicious, top quality, premium, country style gourmet BBQ Bacon Cheeseburgers for less money than it would cost to go pick them up at a drive through window, and the burgers will be twice as big, 4 times more healthy and 5 times as tasty and enjoyable, while simultaneously being about 180 calories lighter with about 20% more protein, 30% less fat and 30% less saturated fat, while maintaining a carbohydrate percentage that is actually lower than the store bought burgers.

It’s not a miracle; it’s simply choosing to use only the finest, freshest, top of the line ingredients in the preparation of the meal.

Sound good? Then let’s do this thing!

Boss Hog’s Authentic, Country Style Gourmet BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger

(Serves 4)

Ingredients: ounces of prime, ground beef  

16

2 tbsp freshly ground garlic

Salt to taste.

12 slices of Bacon Freak’s Bourbon Street Cajun Style Smoked Country Bacon

4 wheat hamburger buns

4 slices sharp cheddar cheese

4 slices jack cheese

4 thick slices of red onion

4 thick slices of tomato

1 jar of Coastal Vineyards Gourmet BBQ Sauce

Instructions:

Grind your prime beef till it has the consistency of common, uncooked hamburger meat.ack the beef tightly together with your hands.

Mix the ground garlic into the meat and p

Shape the meat into 4-inch-diameter patties on a sheet of wax paper.

Sprinkle lightly with salt on both sides, and then place in the freezer for 10 minutes in order to help the patty maintain its shape.Preheat a grill to high.

Place the bacon on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven at 400 degrees for about 16 minutes, turning the bacon every 4 minutes until the bacon is cooked to your preferred level of crispiness.

Transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to absorb all excess bacon grease.emove the patties from the freezer and allow them to marinate in a bowl of the BBQ sauce for about 5 minutes.

R

Now place the burgers on the grill.

Cook to desired preference of “done-ness, turning the burger ever 2 minutes to get a consistent grilling for the meat.

Toast the bun halves on an upper grill rack for 30 seconds to 1 minute, watching them carefully.

Place the cheese on top of the burger for the last few seconds of cooking so it just begins to melt.Add the patty to the toasted bun bottom.

Crisscross the 3 bacon strips on top of the burger.

Generously lather the cooked burgers with more BBQ Sauce on the top of the burger and then carefully place the onion and tomato on top.

Serve with some potato salad, or natural cut French fried potatoes, large dill pickles and a beverage of your choice.  Enjoy!

Bacon Today is dedicated to bringing our members the very finest, premium quality, gourmet bacon in the entire world, isn’t going to jump through hoops to sing the praises of Old McDonald’s and it’s farm, but the truth of the matter is, “Mickey D’s” new Third Pounder Bacon Cheese Burger is actually pretty darned good.

Now I know that all of us “Gourmet Meat Purists” are supposed to shudder and quake at the very thought of a fast food burger, but in all honesty, this burger is truly one of the best things to ever come from between the “golden arches” and compares quite favorably with most of the chain restaurant bacon  burger options out there, if you’re out driving around without our grill hitched to the back of your car and you get hungry.

Now I know where still supposed to be indignant and ticked off about “The Mickster” downsizing all of their items to about ½ the size they originally were when they were first released on the market, but one can and truly “MUST” try to keep an open mind about the “NEW” items that come out over time, and yes … this burger actually is much closer in size to a real, actual sized burger for “human” consumption and is not simply designed to stock up on finger food snacks for Barbie’s Malibu Beach House, like so many other items that have suffered the fate of “Honey … I shrunk the meat!”

McDonald’s Third Pounder Angus Bacon Cheese Burger actually fairly lives up to the “Mickey D” motto of Bigger really is better!” so big props to Ronald and the rest of the gang.

The burger is basically a third-pound (before cooking) of 100% Angus beef (that’s definitely the good stuff, prepared on what is referred to as a premium quality bakery style bun, which is pretty decent but not anything in reality as you might come to expect based exclusively on those creatively written words. Then, as predicted, they truly do add some succulently savory bacon, along with two slices of golden cheese ( we were not able to find anyone in the particular 3 restaurants that we visited, that could explain the term “golden cheese), all topped off with crisp red onion and crinkle-cut pickles.

It’s actually very tasty. 3 different McDonald’s were visited to ensure that our whole McDonald’s Angus Third Pounder Bacon Cheese Burger experience was not left up to pure random chance, and we actually found ourselves “Lovin’ It” ( Duh Duh Duh Duh Duhhh!) at all 3 locations.

Check it out!

The burger arrived in a specifically-labeled wrapper. Nice touch BK! On the wrapper it reads:

You might be looking at this BK Stacker saying, “It’s piled so high with meat, cheese and bacon, I want to climb it.” Don’t. Just eat it.

While kind of humorous, once we opened the wrapper we quickly learned that this was a bit of an overstatement.

The pile was not nearly high enough to warrant any oohs or aahs, let alone make us want to climb it. There was enough bacon peeking out of the sandwich to make us want to continue though, so continue we did.

If you’ve been reading Bacon Today for a while, you know that the proper way to test any bacon-enriched food is first — before anything else — to tear off a piece of plain, unbridled bacon and test the quality of the porcine ingredient. We did just that with the BK Stacker burger and give the Burger King bacon a “fair to middlin” (that’s mediocre for you folks not from the mid-west portion of the United States).

From a presentation standpoint, the burger lacked any “food sexy” for sure. From a tastiness standpoint, well we give this burger a Smaste™ rating of 26.687. Good for a quick bacon jolt when you need it, but not recommended for a true bacon connoisseur.

EXTRA CREDIT QUESTION:
Why is it that the non-Whopper burgers taste so much different than the genuine Whoppers at Burger King anyhow? Any former Burger King patty slingers out there that can shed some light on this phenomenon?

Only $3.68 for a bacon cheeseburger combo meal? Our order was already decided for us. Bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a soda — yum!

We waited in anticipation for order number 168 to be called. We grabbed the tray off the counter and rushed back to the table to begin our feast. After unwrapping the burger we saw this…

The burger didn’t look like anything special, but certainly didn’t look horrible. One thing was missing however — where was the bacon peeking out from under the bun like you usually see on a good bacon burger? Further investigation was required so we popped the hood.

Look at that. We got maybe half a slice of whimpy, flimsy, paper-thin bacon on top of that single slice of American cheese. Poorly cooked and terribly presented, this bacon cheeseburger from Burger King is a complete BACON FAIL.

Good thing our next stop was bacon at Sonic Drive-In. Little did we know that Sonic was about to save our bacon today.

Smaste™ rating for this burger: a very low 17.898.

I attended an awesome party on Massachusetts (“Mass Ave” for you locals) and got a little tipsy. After the party I decided it would be a good idea to walk back to my downtown hotel. After about 45 minutes of stumbling around the city after midnight, I began to get hungry. I was quite lost until I found the direction I didn’t even know I was headed — toward Steak & Shake and what would turn out to be one of the best bacon burgers I’ve ever tasted.

I ordered the “Single Steakburger™ with Bacon & Cheese ‘n Fries”. For only $3.99 I figured I couldn’t go wrong. Turns out Steak & Shake is a build-your-own-burger kind of place so I let my waitress know my request for toppings: onions, pickles, lettuce, and mustard. I kept it simple so as not to dampen the bacony goodness headed my way.

When the burger arrived it looked great. A perfectly buttered bun on a well-arranged plate. A deep green leaf of fresh, crisp lettuce was spilling out of the sandwich. Keep in mind it was nearing 12:30 a.m., the place was packed with people, and the food still came fresh and well-prepared. Very impressive.

When I popped the top off the burger my jaw nearly hit the table. The bacon was prepared to perfection and had no resemblance to the usual limp, flimsy bacon you usual get at fast food restaurants. I immediately tore off a section of bacon to give it an unhindered taste. True to its appearance the bacon was fantastic. I quickly reassembled the burger and got to work on the meal.

From first bite to last, the Single Steakburger™ with Bacon & Cheese was a definite winner. Classic burger taste. Full, salty bacon flavor. A highly recommended experience if you’re ever within the vicinity of a Steak & Shake restaurant. this burger earned an extremely high  Smaste™ rating of 42.94 and will likely be ordered again as soon as I see another Steak & Shake.

–Corey James

UPDATE: I ended up going back to Steak & Shake three nights in a row and ordered the same bacon burger. Each time it was the same tasty meal, so my after midnight experience was not a fluke.

The ad was compelling, but unfortunately it only took us to the home page of the Rice Krispies site. At first I was going to claim false advertising, but decided to give Kellogg’s the benefit of the doubt and dig a bit deeper. A simple search of “bacon” on the Rice Krispies site gave me a gem of a recipe:

Beef and Bacon Burgers

What??? A Bacon Burger recipe with Kellogg’s Rice Krispies? It’s great to see such a clever matchup of breakfast cereal and nature’s meat candy. My mouth is watering just looking at that savory photograph. Well done Kellogg’s!

We’ll definitely have to give this recipe a try here at Bacon Today.

–Mr. B.

If you have any bacon-related photos, send them to bacontoday@gmail.com!

As the author over at Peppers and Smoke said, “May God have mercy on my colon.”

You got it buddy. The entire patty for this bacon burger is made of 100% ground bacon. The only thing more likely to fill your arteries with more bacony goodness is the deep fried variety of the same burger.

If only they used my favorite bacon to make the burger…Boss Hog’s Honey BBQ Rubbed Bacon. Now THAT would be a burger I could really sink my teeth into.