Pennsylvania’s Own Stuffed Blue Cheese Burger

My stuffed blue cheese burger is a native of Pennsylvania.From the Heinz 57 sauce, to the Heinz Ketchup, to the beer I use. The beer being from America’s oldest brewery and also a native of PA, Yuengling Porter, from Pottsville. Barbequing was always a big part of my summers growing up. Some of my fondest memories as a child revolved around baseball and charcoal. This burger is a culmination of all the memories and tastes of summers in Pennsylvania. If one could put those tastes and memories together, they would be in this burger. To top it off I put some grilled onions and fresh arugala on a bakery fresh hamburger bun slathered with my steak sauce mayo. Viola, your basic stuffed backyard burger.

Ingredients:

Steak Sauce Mayo
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup steak sauce
1/3 cup Heinz Ketchup
1/3 cup Sutter Home Merlot
1 teaspoon Durkee Red Hot Sauce
1 teaspoon dried sage
Salt and Pepper to taste

Burger Patties
2 1/2 pounds ground sirloin
1 envelop Lipton Onion Mushroom Soup
1/4 teaspoon ground mustard
1 teaspoon diced fresh sage
1/2 teaspoon diced fresh thyme
3 dashes cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon mesquite spice
1 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 egg
1/3 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup diced white onion
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 Tablespoons Heinz 57 sauce
1/4 cup Yuengling Porter (or any other dark, stout beer)
1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke
8 oz good blue cheese

Vegetable oil, for grill rack and drizzling on onions
2 large white onions chopped into large slices
Salt and Pepper
1 bunch fresh arugula washed and dried
6 Bakery fresh Hamburger buns

Instructions:

Get a grill started to medium high heat. Cover and let warm up.

To make the steak sauce spread, combine the mayo, Heinz Ketchup and steak sauce in a medium bowl. Add the Sutter Home wine and hot sauce and whisk together. When the ingredients are mixed, add the sage and salt and pepper. Whisk again and when mixed, taste and adjust to your tastes. Set aside

To make the burger patties, put the sirloin in a large mixing bowl. Add the soup mix, dry mustard, sage, thyme, cayenne, mesquite spice, salt and pepper. Lightly mix with fingers. Add the egg, cheese, breadcrumbs, and onion. Again mix lightly with fingers. Not handling too much. Add the Worcestershire, Heinz 57, beer and liquid smoke. Mix till all ingredients are blended. Form into 12 small patties of equal size. In the middle of six patties add a small amount of blue cheese. About a full Tablespoon. Make sure you have a small edge of meat to work with. When the bottoms have their cheese, add a top patty and press edges together. Flatten completed burger and make sure the edges are fully combined.

When the grill is sufficiently heated, make sure the grill grate is off and brush with vegetable oil. Replace grate and put finished burgers on. After about 5 minutes flip burgers and add onion slices to area around burgers. Make sure burgers and onions each have their own space. Brush some oil on onion slices and season with salt and pepper. Let burgers grill for about 3-5 minutes more and remove from heat. Set aside and let rest for 2-3 minutes. While they rest, flip onion slices, and remove after 2 minutes. Brush steak sauce mix onto bun tops. Put burgers on bottom bun, top with grilled onion slices and arugula. But bun top on, and enjoy!