Double Bacon Beer-Braised Cheeseburgers

Ingredients

1 tablespoon EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil
10 slices smoky bacon, 2 of them chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)
3/4 pound ground chuck
3/4 pound ground sirloin
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Salt and ground black pepper
A few hearty glugs stout beer, such as Guinness, half a bottle
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish

3 tablespoons grainy mustard
1/2 pound sharp white aged cheddar, sliced
8 leaves red lead lettuce or red leaf romaine
1 red onion, sliced
4 Kaiser rolls or crusty rolls, split open

Yields: 4 servings

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Chop 2 slices of bacon. Arrange the remaining 8 slices of bacon on a slotted broiler pan and bake until crisp, 15-20 minutes. Place a large skillet over medium heat with 1 turn of the pan of EVOO, about 1 tablespoon. While the pan is still cold, add the chopped bacon. Cook the bacon as the pan heats up until crispy and golden brown, 3-4 minutes.

When the bacon is crispy, add in the onion and continue cooking until tender, 5-6 minutes more. Using a slotted spoon to drain off the excess oil, transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and let cool. Reserve the pan drippings.

Reheat the skillet to medium-high heat. Combine ground meat with cooled bacon and onions, Worcestershire, salt and pepper and form 4 large patties, thinner at center and thicker at edges for even cooking.

Add patties to hot drippings and cook 8 minutes for medium-rare, 10 minutes for pink centers, and 12 minutes for medium-well, turning once. Once flipped, add beer to burgers about a minute later, in the last minute top burgers with cheese and tent with foil to melt.

While the burgers cook combine sour cream, horseradish and mustard into small bowl.

Set cheeseburgers on bun bottoms, top with criss-cross of bacon, lettuce leaves, red onion and special sauce, set bun tops in place.