A beef burger with incredible flavour, lots of heat, bacon, beef, and it’s big! What’s not to love?
Beef burger
The beef burger is the definition of fast food. It still serves the purpose it was meant to serve all those years ago; a quick meal for those who have little time to prepare one in a world that moved along ever faster. All those trimmings/toppings came later, with more sophisticated palates and bigger appetites. While burger perfection is probably always going to be an illusion, there’s a lot you can do to improve on what you have. I often make chicken burgers and chicken sandwiches like this classic fried chicken sandwich and Nashville-style spicy fried chicken sandwich, as well as beef sandwiches like this curried beef grilled cheese sandwich, curried beef buns, curried beef roti etc. (as you can tell, we love beef curry!) that my husband and I love. But this time he challenged me to go even bigger and more flavourful on a beef burger. The result was this Big Boys’ Beef Burger, a super spicy beef burger with beer & jalapeno cheese, spicy candied bacon and chimichurri mayonnaise! There’s beef, there’s bacon, there’s heat and there’s beer. And it’s big. That’s pretty close to perfection in our humble opinion. There are 3 recipes in this post. I know that sounds a bit overwhelming and I do apologize for that. But feel free to leave out whatever you don’t like and adjust the spice and heat levels to suit your preferences. Here you will find the recipes for the beef burger patty, the jalapeno and beer cheese and the chimichurri mayonnaise. There is a link to my spicy candied bacon recipe too, where you will find a spicy version and also a less spicy version. Mr K was right. On game day with a cold one in your hands, there’s nothing better than a sloppy succulent beef burger! He challenged me to make it big because you know, he’s like a python whose jaws come unhinged when there’s a giant burger making its way towards that black hole that is his mouth. Hence the two patties, but feel free to go with one if that’s how you like it. These burger patties are not particularly thick though as you can see and you can cook them to your liking. These were cooked to medium, which was about a minute per each side. So first things first, the beer and jalapeno cheese is AMAZING! The beer taste comes through really well here. I used my favourite beer for this, so you can use whichever is your favourite. The trick is to reduce the liquid so as to intensify the beer flavour. While this takes away the boozy punch, the flavour will still be strong. Since the idea was to go big on flavour, why not kick it up a notch with the mayonnaise too? So I made a super flavourful mayonnaise with lots of herbs. You can make the chimichurri and then mix it in with your favourite mayonnaise as an easier option, or follow my recipe to make the chimichurri mayonnaise from scratch. Whatever floats your boat, as long as it takes you to flavour town, right? I did make my own burger buns too. I really love the burger bun recipe from Not without Salt’s cookbook – Date Night In. I think I may never buy burger buns again! They are that good. So go ahead and use your favourite burger bun; store-bought or home-made. Either way is completely fine. The burger patties have an incredible juicy, spicy kick and the chimichurri mayonnaise and spicy candied bacon only add to it. You also have the distinct malt flavour of beer coming through well in the cheese. I topped my beef burger patties with crunchy beet pickle (an homage to a preference acquired while living in Australia) and Mr K had his with dill pickles. Whatever pickle you choose it’s going to add a fantastic fresh, crunchy flavour and texture. There’s beef, there’s bacon, there’s beer, there’s heat, and so much flavour. And it’s big. Now that’s a big boys’ beef burger! So what’s your idea of a perfect burger? I’d love to know! There’s plenty more coming up on the blog so don’t forget to subscribe for new recipes and updates by entering your email address below to get all these delicious recipes delivered straight to your inbox. You can also find me on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, PINTEREST and GOOGLE-PLUS too. I frequently share pictures of recipes to come on the blog plus other awesome recipes I find out there that I want to try. So I hope you do stop by and say hi! 🙂
