Bacon Wrapped Burgers

This past weekend the sun came out and for a whole day and a half we felt like it might actually be spring in Oregon ~ so not wanting to waste one bit of that sunshine - we invited my sister and family over to BBQ.

Last summer I found a delicious recipe for homemade burgers here and after some slight adjustments (to our my own taste) have come up with this delicious and easy way to make our own.  They were a big hit by all and they were so easy to make!

* WARNING * This burger may leave your tastebuds dancing and singing your praises!

This is how I made them:

Ground beef, ground turkey, onion, eggs, cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, ketchup, worchestershire, salt, pepper & bacon!

 And then on a whim, I also added (not pictured) garlic & liquid smoke!


I doubled the recipe because I was feeding quite a few people, but I also like to make my burgers a little bigger than the average patty - I don't like biting into a burger and only getting a mouthful of bun!

I used a pound of ground beef and a pound of ground turkey - because that's what I had on hand!

To that I added 1 cup of grated cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons (or so) of grated Parmesan cheese

Two tablespoons of Worcestershire

Two tablespoons of ketchup

Then I chopped up a small onion.  At this point you can add it as it is... but I don't like raw onion on my burger so I lightly sauteed it with some olive oil and some minced garlic.

Oh and it smelled divine!!!

I added the onions to my burger mix with a couple eggs

Then a teaspoon of kosher salt.

And 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper.

Then mix it all together.

It was at this point that I thought of the liquid smoke.  I contemplated adding some A1 steak sauce but hickory won me over!!

So I threw in a generous splash (1-2 teaspoons worth).

When that's well incorporated....wash your hands really well and start forming your patties.

I start with one, and then wrap it with bacon to determine the perfect size for the remaining patties.

Yep... perfect size patty!  So then secure that bacon with a toothpick!

Now duplicate this over and over... this recipe made 8 delectable, delicious and EXTRA-large and EXTRA-thick burgers... but I could have easily made 10-12 normal size.

If you have the time... throw them in the fridge for a while.  I had time, and I wanted to test out my new favorite item in my kitchen... a jelly roll pan WITH lid (thank you Mum).  My new toy was PERFECT for these burgers!!  And I may or may not have (okay... I did) skip around the whole house carrying it with the handle like Red Riding Hood strolling through the woods to Grandma's house just because I could!  So much better than seran wrap!!!

The boys grilled up the burgers while talking basketball, hunting and work.  And it got pretty hot on that ol' grill so please excuse some of the more "charred" burgers... they were still delicious.

Because I used ground turkey, we used a meat thermometer to make sure it was cooked all the way through... if you use ground beef and you like your burgers a little more medium... go ahead and serve them a little pink still.  The bacon does a great job of not only holding the burger patty together, but also keeping them nice and moist so they're never dry!

If you're extra daring...throw some slices of Tillamook Cheddar cheese on top and salivate while you put your burger together!!

DEE-LISH-OUS!!!

Try these out one of these summery days - you won't regret it!!

BACON WRAPPED BURGERS

Makes 6 regular patties, or 4 giant

Ingredients:

1 lb burger (beef, turkey, or combo)

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

1 tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon of worcestershire 

1 tablespoon of ketchup

1 egg

1/2 onion chopped

1 clove garlic

1 teaspoon of liquid smoke

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of black pepper

Bacon

DIRECTIONS:

1.  In a medium bowl combine ground burger, cheddar cheese, Parmesan cheese, worcestershire, ketchup, egg, salt, pepper and liquid smoke.

2 (a).  Add in chopped onion and minced garlic.

2 (b).  In a small saucepan saute onion and garlic together in a small amount of olive oil or butter.  When onion is soft and slightly translucent, add to meat mixture.

3.  Stir together all ingredients, or mix with hands until well combined.

4.  Form patties with your hand and wrap a piece of bacon around each and secure with a toothpick!

5.  GRILL AWAY!!