Cowboy Burgers

During the winter months, when the snow is flying, I often get stuck in the house. We live on a mountain side and since I'm a mini-van momma, it's not easy making it back up our driveway. I rely on my husband and his four wheel drive jeep to go grocery shopping. Just one problem, it's a stick shift and while I can drive it, I'm not comfortable doing so. (Honestly, I'm short and have a hard time reaching the petals!) We normally go after he gets home from work and since its almost an hour drive to the grocery store we tend to eat out. There isn't to many options either, it's fast food or a chain restaurant. Not into fast food, we always opt for the chain. One dish they have there is a cowboy burger. This dish is so covered in bbq sauce, it's all you can taste. One night, my hubby asked if I could make him something similar. Knowing my prowess in the kitchen, I of course excepted the challenge. It was just a burger after all and not hard to make in the least! They are great big half pound patties, covered with cheddar cheese and bacon, and then piled high with these crispy onions and topped off with bbq sauce!

What You Need:

2lbs ground beef
4 thick slices tomato
8 slices, thick cut bacon
1 large onion
1 cup flour
8 slices cheddar cheese
4-8tbs bbq sauce
4 whole wheat hamburger buns
salt and pepper
oil for frying onions


What To Do:

Season the ground beef with salt and pepper and form into four 1/2lb patties. Create an indention in the middle of each patty, just on one side. This helps keep the patty flatter so you won't be tempted to press them down and squeeze out all the juicy goodness. Cook the bacon and set a side. Slice the onion very, very, very thin and toss in the flour and set aside. Heat enough oil to fry the onion in, while you preheat your grill or pan for the burgers. Shake all the excess flour off the onions and fry, in batches if necessary, until crispy and slightly golden. Cook your burgers to your desired done-ness, only flipping them once. Cover with cheese during the last minute or so of cooking so that it melts. On the bottom of each hamburger bun, spread just a touch of bbq sauce. This helps keeps the bottom from getting soggy. Top each bottom bun with a burger, slice of tomato, two pieces of bacon, some crispy onions and one to two tbs of the bbq sauce. Enjoy!