TODAY Food Club

I am the master of the kitchen AND master of the grill. I love to cook burgers and share my tips and tricks on how to make the juiciest and most flavorful burgers that you'll ever eat. I am a home cook from Michigan that started out grilling burgers 20+ years ago. I started with frozen patties, then graduated to forming my own patties using pre-packaged beef, then I learned how to buy the best beef and freshly grind it myself. My husband and I have been married for almost 23 years (5-27-94) and I do all the grilling and meat grinding. I have a funny story...my husband and I had a dinner party and someone brought a friend along. We didn't know it at the time, but he was a cattle farmer. So as he was entering our house, he saw all the grills. Then he came inside our house and saw a large commercial meat grinder and also the meat grinding attachment to the stand mixer. He looked at my husband and said "Wow Ted, you must be a grill master. I see all of your grills outside and these meat grinders, I'm impressed." My husband kind of grinned, pointed to me and said "Those are hers". Gina is the griller master, she's our butcher and grinder in this family. I think the guy was just about ready to fall off his chair. It was humorous! A few weeks later, the guy and his wife stopped by and brought me slabs of beef from their cattle ranch. It was great. People that know me don't bring bottles of wine as a hostess gift, they bring me slabs of meat. I have been invited on tv shows from Michigan down to Indiana and even in Florida to showcase my grilling and best burger tips. And I'd love to show them to the TODAY Shows audience and win your Ultimate Cook-Off Contest. Everyone is trying to elevate their burger game, so let's start off summer and give them some great tips to make their cookout the best one EVER!

Mighty Mac Olive Burger

• Servings: 1 burger
• Yield: 4 servings
• Prep Time: 30 min
• Cooking Time: 30 min

Ingredients

• PATTIES: 1 pound boneless beef chuck steak
• 1 pound boneless beef short ribs
• Kosher salt
• Freshly cracked black pepper
• 4 slices thick-cut bacon
• BLOODY MARY OLIVE SAUCE: 4 ounces softened cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons bloody mary mix
• 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
• ½ cup sliced green olives, split
• ⅛ teaspoon celery salt
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 4 slices American or cheddar cheese
• 2 tablespoons melted garlic butter
• 4 brioche hamburger buns, split
• Shredded lettuce
• Tomato slices
• Thinly sliced red onions

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Add meat to a cutting board and cut into 2 inch cubes. Arrange meat cubes on a parchment lined baking sheet, place in freezer for 10-15 minutes. Add meat grinding attachment to a stand mixer, using the coarse grinding plate. (If you don't want to grind your meat, have your butcher do it for you or simply use ground chuck 80/20.) Once the beef is very cold, but not frozen, add the cubed meat to the hopper and turn the mixer on to medium speed. Press the meat cubes down the shoot until all the meat is ground. Form meat into 4 equal patties that are slightly larger in circumference than the bun, then depress the centers for even cooking. Refrigerate until ready to grill. When ready to grill, liberally season both sides with salt and pepper.
3. Place bacon on a slotted pan or parchment lined baking sheet and cook in oven for 17-20 minutes, or until desired doneness. Lay bacon on paper towels to drain, then coarsely chop the bacon. Set aside.
4. While bacon is cooking, make the sauce. In a small bowl, mix together cream cheese, bloody mary mix, horseradish, ¼ cup of sliced olives, celery salt and lemon juice. Refrigerate until assembly.
5. Preheat a grill or cast-iron skillet to medium high heat. Grill patties for 10-12 minutes, or to desired doneness, only turning once. During the last few minutes of cooking, add equal parts of the remaining sliced olives and bacon. Then add one slice of cheese to each patty. Spread garlic butter over cut sides of the buns and lightly toast.
6. To assemble the burgers, add some sauce to all cut sides of the buns. Add lettuce to each of the toasted bun bottoms followed by an olive-bacon cheeseburger patty. Then add a tomato slice and some onions. Add toasted bun top and skewer with a large burger toothpick or a steak knife.

Recipe Tags

• Grilling
• American
• Entree