HAMBURGER HEAVEN

Four Ways to Celebrate America’s Love Affair with the Hamburger

Beef prices may be climbing faster than Manhattan building heights, but one form of beef remains comfortably within reach for most cooks: ground beef. Fortunately for all of us, that means the hamburger — still the most beloved way Americans enjoy beef — remains firmly on the menu.

Americans eat about 50 billion hamburgers every year, which works out to roughly three burgers a week for every man, woman, and child in the country. Whatever else changes in the American kitchen, the hamburger clearly isn’t going anywhere.

Hamburgers also happen to be one of the most flexible dishes a cook can make. They’re perfect when you’re cooking for one, just as good for feeding a crowd, and the variations seem endless. I collect burger recipes the way some people collect wine labels.

Regional specialties intrigue me — like the Juicy Lucy, Minneapolis’s famous burger that seals the cheese inside the patty. I’m equally devoted to the thin, crisp-edged Smashburger, whose modest size conveniently justifies two patties and double cheese. Then there’s the mighty Portobello mushroom burger, though mine takes a detour from vegetarian virtue by stuffing the cap with sweet Italian sausage.

The Hamburger is an American Original.

There’s plenty of evidence that the country that made the first Hamburger was our own. Why is it called a Hamburger? The port of Hamburg, Germany, was among the largest in Europe and so filled with ships trading with Russia, it was called “the Russian port”.  Among the imports from Russia was minced meat.  Quickly embraced by the natives of Hamburg, it became known as Hamburg- style steak. The major port of embarkation for Northern European immigrants to the United States was Hamburg. New York City was their primary destination.  To lure German sailors to their restaurants, Chefs began offering Hamburg-style American fillet. Lightly salted Hand-minced beef was served raw with onions and breadcrumbs. Delmonico’s Restaurant in New York offered the dish for 11 cents in 1873. This was twice the price of a simple fillet of beef steak.  Nevertheless, it became enormously popular as the price of beef declined. Who first put the Hamburger Steak between two pieces of bread will never be known. What is known is that last year, Americans alone consumed 50 billion burgers.

Where’s the Beef? And what’s our recommendation to make our Hamburgers for one?

If you’re a true hamburger enthusiast, you can grind your own meat. Chuck, round, and especially brisket are classic choices, and some burger experts swear by a 70/30 meat-to-fat ratio.For most of us, however, 80/20 ground beef from the supermarket works beautifully. The fat keeps the burger juicy while still allowing a good sear.

Six ounces per burger seems to be the ideal size, and that’s what we used here for every burger except the sausage version.

As for buns, I’m partial to brioche. Thomas’ English muffins make excellent burgers as well, and Martin’s potato rolls have earned their nationwide following for good reason.

Now for the burgers themselves

The Juicy Lucy Burger

This burger seals the cheese in the middle of two thin burger patties.  We love cheeseburgers so we upped our cheese to two slices of American Cheese. We divided our 6-ounce patty into two balls and squished the balls down with our hands. The trick here is to make sure you’ve sealed the cheese in properly because you don’t want it to gush out in the cooking process. It’s traditionally served with grilled onions and Bread and Butter pickles on the side.

The Smashburger

A very close cousin of Lucy, this is another thin patty made from 3 oz. of beef.  The patty is made exactly like the Juicy Lucy’s. This is the burger that invites you to pile on the extras. There’s even a special sauce—a smoky chipotle mayonnaise. You can eliminate making the sauce making by finding yourself a jar of Marie’s Creamy Chipotle Ranch. I am sure you can sing the rest of McDonald’s  “Two All-Beef Patties” for everything else to glorify this truly wonderful burger.

The Portobello and Pork Sausage Burger

Think of this as a stuffed mushroom make into a burger.  It’s a snap to make the burger patty but I highly recommend using a meat thermometer to assure that the burger is cooked through. Rare it should not be. I used Sweet Italian Sausage patties for this one.  They are the perfect size to fill the Portobello cap.  Whether you scrape out the gills of the Portobello or not is up to you.If you want more pork and less Portobello, be my guest. I like the more mushroom. The add ons are up to you. I used Thousand Island Dressing, Bibb Lettuce and sat it down beside some dill pickles

The Mushroom Beef Burger

One of the debits of cooking for one is that no one in the food industry thinks anyone does this. So the inevitable left-overs too often go bad before the solitary cook can use them. Not so with the portobello leftover from yesterday’s burger.  Put into the food processor and pulse until the pieces approximate the size of the chopped meat, it’s a perfect earthy addition to a beef patty. As I am an inveterate cheese lover, mine was topped with coarsely grated cheddar and some caramelized mushrooms I had on hand. You can use any toppings you wish. And I think lettuce makes any burger look better.

Now if these four aren’t tempting enough, there’s a book that every Burger Lover will love… 

Here are the Four Recipes:

Juicy Lucy Burgers

March 11, 2026

Servings: 4

Total: 35 min

Difficulty: Once you get the hang of how to seal the cheese in the patty, you're golden

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Minneapolis MN's gift to the world of Hamburgers, this luscious burger gives you melted cheese in every bite.

By: Monte Mathews

Ingredients

• Kosher salt and black pepper
• 1 ½ pounds ground beef, at least 15 percent fat
• 4 slices American cheese
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 large yellow onion (about 1 pound), peeled and cut into 1/4-inch rounds
• ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1 to 2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
• 4 potato rolls or soft hamburger buns, split
• Bread-and-butter pickles, for serving

Directions

• Step 1 In a small bowl, stir together 2 teaspoons salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper. Divide the beef into four equal portions, then halve each of those portions. Gently roll each portion into a ball using the palm of your hand, then flatten each into a disk shape on a large cutting board, pressing with your fingers and palm until just over 4 inches wide and 1/4-inch thick. Repeat to form eight patties. Season both sides of each patty with the salt-and-pepper blend.
• Step 2 Add one slice cheese to the center of one patty, folding any overhanging corners of the cheese inward. Using a spatula, lift another patty from the cutting board and place it on top of the cheese, pressing gently to connect both patties. Gently pinch the edges of the patties together to thoroughly seal, then use your fingers to round the edges by pressing and patting along the perimeter. Repeat with the remaining patties, forming three more burgers, and set aside.
• Step 3 In a large (preferably 12-inch) cast-iron skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion
• Step 4 sprinkle with sugar, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, adding 2 tablespoons water about every 5 minutes to prevent burning, until tender and caramelized, about 20 minutes. Once the onions are caramelized, transfer them to a bowl. (If you have any bits left in the pan, wipe them out.)
• Step 5 Add the oil to the skillet to lightly coat the bottom and heat over medium-high until scalding-hot, about 2 minutes. Add the burgers and cook until seared and dark brown on the outside, 3 to 5 minutes per side. (You’ll want to let the burgers cook undisturbed as long as possible to develop a crisp sear and to prevent them from splitting. Their insides will cook through by the time the outsides form a proper sear. Resist the urge to cut them open, as the cheese will spurt out.) Transfer burgers to a clean cutting board to rest.
• Step 6 Meanwhile, toast the buns: Scrape up and remove from the pan any cheese that may have leaked, leaving a thin layer of accumulated fat in the pan. Reduce the heat to medium. Working in batches, toast the buns cut-side down until warmed and toasted in spots, about 1 minute. Form sandwiches by layering pickles, patties, then caramelized onions on buns. Serve immediately.

Smashburgers

March 11, 2026

Servings: 4

Total: 30 min

Difficulty: Simple and so satisfying

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By: Monte Mathews

Ingredients

• 1 cup finely chopped dill pickles
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• 2 Tbsp. ketchup
• 2 Tbsp. sauce from a can of chipotles in adobo
• ½ tsp. kosher salt, plus more
• 1½ lb. ground beef (20% percent fat)
• 4 potato rolls
• ½ head of iceberg lettuce, leaves separated, torn into pieces about the size of the buns
• 1 white onion, very thinly sliced into rings on a mandoline
• 4 thin tomato slices (optional)
• 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 8 slices American cheese

Directions

• Step 1 Prepare a grill for high heat. Place a cast-iron griddle, flat side up, on grate
• Step 2 heat until very hot, at least 20 minutes.
• Step 3 Mix together pickles, mayonnaise, ketchup, adobo sauce, and ½ tsp. salt in a medium bowl
• Step 4 set special sauce aside.
• Step 5 Divide beef into eight 3-oz. portions (don’t form into patties). Place 4 portions between 2 sheets of parchment paper, spacing 6″ apart, and, using a meat mallet or skillet, firmly smash to create thin patties, about 5″ across. Transfer to a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining portions and fresh parchment paper.
• Step 6 Wrap all the buns together in a large sheet of foil to make a packet (this will keep buns soft and from getting too toasted on the grill). Place packet on grate and grill, turning once, until buns are warmed through, about 1 minute. Spread sauce over cut sides of buns. Place 3–4 pieces of lettuce on bottom buns and top each with some onion and a tomato slice, if using.
• Step 7 Drizzle oil over the griddle and use paper towels to evenly coat surface. The oil needs to be hot
• Step 8 you should see smoke almost instantly. Season patties lightly with salt. Place 4 on the griddle, seasoned side down, and season top sides lightly with salt. Cook, undisturbed, until outer edges are brown and undersides are very crisp, about 2 minutes. Flip and place a slice of cheese on top of each patty. Cook until cheese is melted, about 30 seconds. Transfer patties to buns with toppings, stacking 2 patties on each bun. Repeat with the remaining 4 patties, scraping off any cheese stuck to the griddle in between batches.

Portobello and Pork Sausage Burgers

March 11, 2026

Servings: 4

Total: 30 min

Difficulty: Using Pork Sausage Patties to stuff the Portobello Mushroom Caps makes this recipe a snap.

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This burger is hearty, unusual, and really cool: a portobello filled with sausage meat and grilled.

By: Monte Mathews

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground sweet Italian Pork Sausage patties
• 1 teaspoon granulated garlic per burger
• 1 teaspoon onion powder per burger
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 4 large portobello mushroom caps, stems removed
• Olive oil
• 4 burger buns
• Any burger fixings you like

Directions

• Step 1 Prepare a grill
• Step 2 the heat should be medium-high and the rack about 4 inches from the heat. Or cook on a grill pan on the stovetop.
• Step 3 Use a spoon to lightly scrape away the gills of the mushrooms and hollow them slightly. Drizzle the mushrooms (inside and out) with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Press 1/4 of the mixture into each of the hollow sides of the mushrooms
• Step 4 you want the meat to spread all the way across the width of the mushrooms. They should look like burgers. Then sprinkled garlic and onion powders over the sausage.
• Step 5 Grill the burgers, meat side down, until the pork is well browned, 4 to 6 minutes. Flip and cook until the top side of the mushrooms are browned and the mushrooms are tender, another 6 to 8 minutes. If you like, use an instant-read thermometer to check the interior temperature of the pork, which should be a minimum of 145 degrees.
• Step 6 Serve the burgers on buns (toasted, if you like) with any fixings you like.

Mushroom Beef Burgers

March 11, 2026

Servings: 5

Total: 30 min

Difficulty: This is your Basic Burger with Mushrooms added. Easy as Pie.

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A Classic Beef Patty gets an earthy umami flavor from Mushrooms and aromatics to make a perfect burger.

By: Monte Mathews

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 Portobello Mushroom cap, stemmed removed.
• 1/3 medium white onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1-1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground pepper

Directions

• Step 1 Wash and clean the mushroom. Give it a rough chop to break it into chunks.
• Step 2 In a food processor mince the onions and garlic. Once they’re done, add the mushroom pieces and use the pulse mode to mince them. Using the pulse mode and giving the mushrooms a rough chop helps them hold on to their liquid, making the burgers easier to form.
• Step 3 Combine the mushrooms with the smoked paprika, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce.
• Step 4 In a large bowl mix the mushrooms and ground beef together.
• Step 5 Using your hands, form the mixture into five patties, using your thumbs to create a small indentation in the top.
• Step 6 Grill the burgers on a medium-high grill for 6 minutes per side.
• Step 7 Serve on toasted buns with your favorite condiments.
• Step 8

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