From Yahoo Food's Cookbook of the Week:

Husk Cheeseburger
Makes 10 cheeseburgers

When I opened Husk, I knew we had to have a cheeseburger on the menu. Everyone has their own idea of the perfect burger; mine was inspired by the drive-in that my family used to take me to when I was young. Robo’s was the only real “restaurant” in my hometown, and my family just loved it. We would go there after my Little League baseball games. As a game wound down, I would be daydreaming about that burger, shake, and crinkle-cut fries. It’s probably the reason for some missed fly balls.

What I remember most about the cheeseburger was the squishy bun and how wonderful it was to eat the double patty covered in gooey American cheese. This recipe is a tip of the hat to that burger. I’ve changed it a little to make it my own—I wouldn’t dare try and replicate the burger from Robo’s. This recipe feeds a crowd, but you can halve it for a smaller group.

If you don’t have a meat grinder, ask the butcher to grind the meats for you.

Special Sauce
1¾ cups mayonnaise, preferably Duke’s
1¼ cups yellow mustard
5 tablespoons ketchup
½ cup Bread-and-Butter Pickles, drained and cut into ⅛-inch dice
¼ cup pickled jalapeños, drained and cut into ⅛-inch dice
Grated zest (use a Microplane) and juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon Husk Hot Sauce (or other hot sauce)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons pepper vinegar, preferably Texas Pete brand

Cheeseburgers
One 3-pound fresh boneless chuck roast
12 ounces fresh flank steak
3 ounces bacon, preferably Benton’s
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
10 hamburger buns, preferably potato rolls
1 cup shaved white onion
20 slices American cheese
50 Bread-and-Butter Pickles

For the sauce:
1. Combine all of the ingredients in a large container and stir together to blend well. Cover, and refrigerate. (Tightly covered, the sauce will keep for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.)

For the cheeseburgers:
1. Grind the chuck, flank steak, and bacon through a meat grinder fitted with the large die into a bowl. Mix gently to combine. Then run half of the mixture through the small die. Mix the two together.

2. Portion the meat mixture into twenty 3-ounce patties, about ½ inch thick (each burger gets 2 patties). If not cooking right away, arrange on a baking sheet, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate. (The patties can be refrigerated for up to 1 day. Remove from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before you’re ready to cook; it’s important that the patties are not ice-cold when they hit the hot pan.)

3. Generously butter the tops and bottoms of the buns. Toast on a griddle until nice and golden brown. Reserve.

4. Heat two 12-inch cast-iron skillets until as hot as possible. Divide the patties between the two hot pans. When the patties are nice and charred, about 2 minutes, flip them over and cook for 2 minutes more for medium. Place the onion slices on 10 of the patties. Place a slice of the cheese on all of the patties and allow it to melt, about 30 seconds. Stack the non-onion patties on top of the onion patties. Remove from the heat.

5. Smear both sides of the buns with special sauce. Place 5 pickles on the bottom half of each bun. Add the burger patties and top with the top halves of the buns. Serve at once.


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