Swiss 'N' Shroom Stuffed Burgers

Swiss 'n' Shroom Stuffed Burgers.

I had seen a burger called the "Juicy Lucy" on Man v. Food a while back. It was burger filled with American cheese. Blan on the outside, oozy on the inside. And so came an idea: stuffing a burger with two of my favorite toppings: sauteed mushrooms and swiss cheese.

Amounts will vary depending on servings.

-Ground beef

-Swiss cheese slices

-Baby Portabella or Button Mushrooms

-Hamburger Buns

-Olive Oil

-Onion Powder

-Garlic Salt

-Seasoning Salt

-Salt

-Olive Oil

Helpful Hint

Before I start this "tutorial", I just want to give  you all a helpful little tip about mushrooms. Mushrooms are one of the dirtiest "vegetables" in the store after you get them home. Still covered in dirt and soil and whatever else. Obviously, they need to be washed. Badly. But here's a fun little tip: don't rinse them under running water like you would a regular piece of produce. Running water will flood the mushrooms and add water to them. Instead, dampen a paper towel and wipe off the dirt. It's a little time consuming, but can prevent the mushrooms from becoming a little slimy. 

Now back to those burgers. 

Step 1: Cut and saute the mushrooms. 

Slice mushrooms and put in a medium skillet. I saute my mushrooms with olive oil instead of butter, but that decision is up to you! I just drizzle olive oil around the skillet two times and that should be enough. You don't want to make the mushrooms to greasy. It will seem like that's not enough, but they'll cook way down and soak it all in. A dash or two of onion powder, garlic salt, and seasoning salt and you'll be good to go. Just let them chill out on low heat for about a half hour with occasional stirs and they'll be ready. 

Before

After

Step 2. Make those burgers! 

Usually when I make burgers at home, they're big, juicy, third-pounders. I got that from my daddy. But not tonight. Because I stuffed them, they needed to be pretty thin. I went for about a quarter-inch thickness. Just ball up some of the hamburger and pound out your frustrations. Feels nice, doesn't it? I learned a little trick from the Triple XXX diner in my new hometown of West Lafayette, IN. Boiler Up! Bread those burgers with a pat down of flour before cooking them. I'm not talking about caking on the flour, just a light coating similar to the coating left on after rolling out dough. This is particularly helpful with thin burgers. I suggest sprinkling flour down on the "pounding" surface before the pounding.  Otherwise, you'll end up like me and end up trying to scrape the meat off the board without messing up the newly formed burger. 

Thin burger.

Floured burger. 

Step 3: Stuff the burgers.

Slice of swiss cheese and a small (keep it small, remember, you have to fit it inside of the burger) amount of mushrooms on top of one of the burgers. Simple enough. Then lay the other burger on top. Pinch the ends together to lock in the toppings. 

Step 4: Cook them things! 

I pan fried my burgers. I turned the skillet on medium heat when I first started pounding out those burgers. I'd let it heat up for 5-10 minutes so it's pipin' hot when you put the burger on. High heat from the start will help to sear the burger. Once you get a good sear, you have a nice little crisp on the outside of the burger. Golden. Cook on one side for 4-5 minutes then flip over to sear the other side. Cooking time is up to you and dependent upon how you like your burgers. 

Step 5: Nom nom nom. 

Just look at this. 'Nuff said.