I wasn't going to cook today, honest. I pulled some of the grill duty Saturday at our machine gun shoot, and I was about grilled out, but at around 3PM I got the urge for a burger. Not a fast food burger, but a real one....


Of course, I had nothing, so I had to go to the store.

I figured, being Memorial Day, why not make it a special burger?

I started with 2 pounds of 80/20 and 2 pounds of 93/7 ground sirloin (Black Angus). To that I added a pack of Lipton's Onion Soup Mix, some minced garlic, cracked black pepper, Cajun seasoning to taste, 4 slices of thick bacon, diced, and my secret ingredient, 4 oz of shredded Cheddar cheese. (trust me on this). I kneaded the burger mixture together, gave it a splash of Worcestershire to wet it a bit more, and let it rest in the fridge.

Then I took a pound of thick sliced center cut bacon, and seasoned it with cracked black pepper and Cajun rub. This also was allowed to set in the fridge.

That being done, I shucked some corn, buttered and seasoned it, and rolled it in foil for roasting.

I pattied the burgers (four pounds; eight burgers..you do the math), and cranked up the grill.

Breaking from the norm, I grilled the bacon...


As you can see I put the corn on as well. 25-30 minutes if your grill is around 450-500.

The bacon crisps up quickly on the grill...watch out for flare ups.

Here's the plate of burgers



The pic didn't really give an idea of the size of the burgers, so I used my mitt next to the plate to add perspective..



Everything's grilling....on the side burner is a pot of maple bacon pork & beans, and I zipped it up by adding some diced Vidalia onion and some of the grilled bacon from earlier.

At this point, I realized cooking a lot of things at once is easier when you have an assistant....I was on my own today, so....I was struggling.

Burgers done, I added some Colby Jack Artisan cheese and left the burgers on the upper rack for the cheese to melt...


The finished product.
Burger with cheese and bacon on a toasted fresh bakery Kaiser roll, sweet potato fries, beans with onion & bacon, and roasted sweet corn with butter.



To carry out the Memorial Day theme, HRA M1 Garand, Lake City M2 Ball, Smith & Wesson M1917 .45acp, Utica Cutlery M1 Bayonet. Beer is Shock Top Belgian Wheat. I figured it was worth a try...it was on sale. Not bad, but I think I like Pyramid better.

Gratuitous food shot..


The bun makes it looks small, but it's actually a very big, thick burger...


The best part about cooking your own food and not cooking for someone else is that you can cook it how *you* want it. None of that "ewww...mine's not well done" crap.



I've got some Carvel ice cream cake in the freezer, but I don't know if I'll be able to eat it....that burger was really, really filling.

Anyway, nothing that special. I was alone and bored and felt like grilling. I'm make something fancy next time.