Bleu Cheese-Stuffed Burgers

This post was supposed to be written last night, but then that damned Pregnancy Pact movie got in the way.  I had no idea Thora Birch was in it!  At first I thought it was someone else who just looked like her!  Her voice is so much deeper now…I wonder if she smokes? I digress…everyone on Twitter was abuzz about this stupid made-for-TV movie, so I had to see what it was all about.  Meh.  At least that solidifies my decision to not get sucked into dramatic TV programming…only comedy for this chick (save for Lost, which we’ll discuss more in a moment).

Before all the knocking up went down, I made an AWESOME dinner…as y’all know, I’m not 100% or even 75% happy to be eating meat for the short term, but I chose this program, and I’m  not whining.  It’s very rare that I eat red meat, but sometimes you just have an urge for a burger!  I decided to make this:

Bleu Cheese-Stuffed Burgers with Onions and Peppers and a Balsamic Reduction

  • 2lbs ground beef
  • container of blue cheese crumbles (I used Publix brand…I think it’s 8oz?)
  • 1.5 onions (I had an unused half in the fridge, and I added another)
  • carton of baby portabella/crimini mushrooms
  • 3/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Divide the beef into 8 equal portions and form into loose patties.  Ppace ~1-2 Tbls of crumbles in the middle of each patty and seal by shaping and closing the patty around the cheese, flattening into a normal(ish) patty shape.  Repeat with the remaining meat wads.  (Mine were pretty thick…I was afraid if they were on the thin side, the cheese would escape)

Slice the onions and mushrooms and sauté in EVOO until they’re brown and caramelized.  Remove from pan and set aside.  Pour balsamic vinegar into the hot pan and reduce on medium-high until its viscosity resembles oil (but not as thick as syrup; bottom line – you just want to thicken it a bit).

Grill the burgers for about 4-5 minutes on each side.  When you assemble burgers, top each patty with some of the balsamic reduction and a spoonful of the onions and mushrooms.  

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[Insert Homer Simpson drooling noise here]  It was pretty good served alongside some oven-roasted zucchini! (Yeah, we're still using Christmas china.  It'll get packed away this week!)

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Oh, remember when I mentioned Lost a couple paragraphs ago?

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Doesn’t my swirling balsamic vinegar look like the SMOKE MONSTER???

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No?  Oh c’mon!  I sat there swirling that pan for a long time and took a dozen pictures!  Just leave me here in my islandy delusions.  We’re at EIGHT DAYS, PEOPLE!!!!

Who else watches LOST??

Comments

  1. I keep meaning to get into lost but haven't must start from the beginning. Your burger looks awesome-I don't know if Cole would go for blue cheese though-he's afraid.

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  2. Me, me! I watch LOST! I am kind of obsessed! Are you a Sawyer fan? Because I am. Something about his is just remarkably HOT.

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  3. Wow that burger looks yummy.

    Also I watch LOST! I cannot wait for it to start up again. For the past month or so I have been re-watching the beginning of the series to get ready for this final season!

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  4. I got too ''lost'' when trying to watch LOST. It was too confuing for me. I think I will watch them soon, on dvd. I see they are all on Netflix.

    I want a burger now!!! Great burger. I love anything stuffed with chees. I love cheese.

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  5. LOST!!!! You know I watch it! Hubs and I only have FIVE MORE EPISODES until we're caught up! I CANT WAIT!!!!!!!!!!

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  6. @Candace - It's an awesome show, and part of me wishes I had waited until I had them all at my fingertips to start watching them. Usually when I watch them on TV, I forget tiny minute details over the week that I'm waiting for the new one to come on. It's SO detail-oriented, and there's so much foreshadowing and alluding and hinting that it'd be advantageous to watch them as back-to-back as you can. Blah blah...back to the food - have you ever stuffed burgers with anything? If he's too wimpy for blue cheese (haha!), try just plain ol cheddar or swiss or pepperjack at first and see if he likes it!

    @Lily - I usually hate long hair and facial hair and that stupid "bad boy" attitude on men, but somehow it works for him. Probably because we see his softer sides too (God, that sounded corny). Also - Desmond. He pulls off the long hair look and is pretty damned sexy.

    @Randi - Gaaah, I'm going to have to cram before the series premiere!! There are sooo many little details I've forgotten! I just downloaded a free 5 minute catch-up thing from iTunes I need to watch still. Part of me realizes that I'll have to re-watch them all at least 5 times to really *GET* everything!

    @Nicci - I've been watching from the 2nd season, and I still find myself saying "WTF" a lot! They make these connections to previous story lines or show memory flashbacks, and then they started the whole time travel thing...it's so confusing. I think the DVDs will be a huge help to process it all. Hahaha, I love your burger comment. Don't you hate when someone shows something like that and you start craving it? (Like that time you mentioned boneless buffalo wings on Twitter and it sent me into a frenzy for 2 days)

    @abby - I have a feeling there are going to be some realtime Twitter Lost discussions going on. My side of the convo will mostly read "what the heck just happened??" I can't imagine how frustrating it will be to go from watching them on DVD/Netflix (is that what y'all are doing?) to watching them on regular TV - y'all have been spoiled being able to watch them all back to back...waiting for the next episode will be hard now!!

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  7. dear Kat.
    please move in with me and cook for me every day. OH MY GOSH, YUM.

    :) xoxo

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  8. @Heather - if you pay me and provide me with wine, gladly :D

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