Burgers are not something that I eat very often. I find them to be overly filling and to be honest, I am not all that found of ground beef. I did have some in the freezer however that I had broken into 1/4 pound lots.
As this is my cooking from food storage week, today I decided to cook myself a burger with some of the beef. I had seen this recipe on a page called Pear Tree Kitchen. It was for what looked to be a really delicious open-faced burger. I went with it!
What you have here is a parmesan toasted slice of buttery sour dough bread, topped with an all beef patty, which has been topped with Pub Cheese and sauteed onions. The burger is briefly covered after you add the cheese and onions to the top so that the cheese can melt.
This is a fork and knife burger. One of my favorite kinds of burgers. I confess I don't like eating messy burgers and am much happier eating them with a fork and a knife.
At first I wasn't entirely sure what Pub Cheese was. I had to look it up here. What it is, is a spreadable sharp cheddar cheese.
I fell in love with it the first time I tasted it and I always have a tub of it in the refrigerator to enjoy with crackers or celery sticks. Its also good spread onto hot toast.
I am not sure what the equivalent is in the UK. I can tell you its not that cheese stuff in the tube. If I was in the UK I would use a beautiful strong farmhouse cheddar and just crumble it on top. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
I miss all the beautiful cheeses that were available in the UK. When I happen to spy some in the grocery store I sometimes treat myself to a little bit. Its some good!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE PUB CHEESE OPEN FACED BURGERS
Not a lot really. I have listed the quantities for one burger only. That way you can multiply the amounts to make as many burgers as you want at any given time.
- 1 tsp light olive oil
- 1 medium onion, peeled, halved and sliced
- 1/4 pound of ground beef, shaped into a flat patty (see notes)
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 slice of sour dough bread
- 1/2 TBS of softened butter
- 2 TBS finely grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 TBS Pub Cheese Sharp Cheddar Spread (I used McLaren's Imperial)
Don't you find that the onions at this time of year are getting really close to the end? We are waiting for new season onions. I will not buy a bag of them now unless I know I am going to use them up pronto. The go off pretty quickly.
Instead I will buy one or two largish ones and use them as I need them. Today I had two medium ones left in the little mesh bag and the first couple of layers were not useable at all, so they actually ended up being two small ones, lol You do what you have to do.
My slices of sour dough bread were rather large so I only used a half a slice for this. I also didn't flatten my patty out to quite cover it as I wanted you to be able to see the golden cheese crust of the bread.
Really all you need for seasoning is salt and pepper. The cheese and fried onions will add plenty of flavor, trust me. Cheese and onions are a brilliant combination.
HOW TO MAKE PUB CHEESE OPEN FACED BURGERS
This is a doddle really. It doesn't get much easier.
Coat the bottom of a non-stick skillet with the oil. Heat over medium high heat. Add the sliced onions. Cook, stirring occasionally until softened and just beginning to caramelize.
Remove the onions from the pan to a bowl, and set aside.
Wipe out the skillet. Season your hamburger patty and add to the pan. Cook over medium-high heat to your desired doneness. Turn out the heat.
Place the pub cheese on top of the burger patty. Place the cooked onions on top of the pub cheese. Cover with a lid and leave to sit over the residual heat of the burner to melt the cheese while you cook the bread.
Spread the bread with the softened butter. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese and press it into the butter to help it adhere.
Heat a separate skillet over medium heat. Once hot, place the bread, Parmesan side down, into the skillet. Toast over medium heat without turning or disturbing until the cheese has melted and turned golden brown.
To serve, carefully remove the cheese topped bread from the pan and place onto a plate, cheese side up. Top with the burger and onions and serve immediately.
This was really good and surprisingly filling. I chose to enjoy mine with some lettuce and sliced tomatoes on the side. For a really hearty meal you might want to accompany the burger with some oven chips or potato chips.
It would also be very nice with a crisp leafy salad on the side or some coleslaw. But really, this was pretty amazing just as is!
If you are a fan of the burger, you might also enjoy these lucious fork and knife burgers!
TINA'S BURGERS - My friend Tina who lives in the UK made wonderfully tasty burgers. Hearty and delicious, she had spent a number of years living in Australia where it is a habit to top burgers with a fried egg. With melted cheese, fried onions and crisp bacon, not to mention that fried egg, these were the some of the tastiest burgers I have ever eaten!
ONION PAN BURGERS - Ground steak burger patties are smashed down into a skillet with a quantity of sliced onions mashed into their surface. Once they are seared golden brown on the bottom, they are flipped so that you can fry the onions. Once the onions have softened, soft floury buns are split, the bottom halves being steamed over the onions until hot and the tops heated over a slice of cheese on top of the burgers. Put together these are quite simply lush and delicious. These are a real favorite.
Yield: 1
Author: Marie Rayner
Pub Cheese Open Faced Burgers
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 15 MinTotal time: 25 Min
Quantities given are for one burger. Multiply to make as many more as you like These are deliciously unique open faced burgers with an all beef patty, sitting atop a Parmesan grilled slice of sour dough bread and topped with melted Pub cheese and grilled onions.
Ingredients
- 1 tsp light olive oil
- 1 medium onion, peeled, halved and sliced
- 1/4 pound of ground beef, shaped into a flat patty (see notes)
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 slice of sour dough bread
- 1/2 TBS of softened butter
- 2 TBS finely grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 TBS Pub Cheese Sharp Cheddar Spread (I used McLaren's Imperial)
Instructions
- Coat the bottom of a non-stick skillet with the oil. Heat over medium high heat. Add the sliced onions. Cook, stirring occasionally until softened and just beginning to caramelize.
- Remove the onions from the pan to a bowl, and set aside.
- Wipe out the skillet. Season your hamburger patty and add to the pan. Cook over medium-high heat to your desired doneness. Turn out the heat.
- Place the pub cheese on top of the burger patty. Place the cooked onions on top of the pub cheese. Cover with a lid and leave to sit over the residual heat of the burner to melt the cheese while you cook the bread.
- Spread the bread with the softened butter. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese and press it into the butter to help it adhere.
- Heat a separate skillet over medium heat. Once hot, place the bread, Parmesan side down, into the skillet. Toast over medium heat without turning or disturbing until the cheese has melted and turned golden brown.
- To serve, carefully remove the cheese topped bread from the pan and place onto a plate, cheese side up. Top with the burger and onions and serve immediately.
Notes
You will want to shape your meat patty to roughly the same shape and size as your bread. In my case I used half a slice of bread as the sour dough was really large. This worked perfectly.
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