Signature Dish of the Day: Juicy Homemade Burger

Signature Dish of the Day: Happy Friday! Our signature dish of the day today is this absolutely stunning and simply irresistible Juicy Homemade Burger 😍. We made this dish as an ode to the US after living there for the past ten years. There is no denying that the hamburger, commonly known as a "burger" in short, is the quintessential fast food dish easily recognized around the world as distinctly American...it truly dominates American food culture in every aspect. You can read more about the fascinating history of the humble hamburger here. Hats off to my husband who prepared this absolutely delicious and truly heavenly dish from scratch, including baking the beautiful sandwich buns all by himself. Photo taken courtesy of yours truly so I get all credit for that, thank you very much 😉. This recipe is so fitting as a Friday post since we have designated "Fast Food Fridays" in our home menu...these special nights are basically a free pass to fully indulge in preferably homemade or occasionally take-out fast food treats, otherwise known as "not-always-good-for-you-but-super-delicious-and-totally-addictive" food 😆. After all, you have to treat yourself once in a while, right? 

For this recipe, my husband used 1/2 lb. of lean ground beef and seasoned it with ground black pepper, smoked paprika, ground cumin, and salt to taste. He then sectioned it into two portions and made two large patties by hand. After pre-heating a cast iron skillet under medium-low heat, he used a mix of olive oil and butter for added flavor to grill the burgers on the stove. Since we like to have our burgers well done, he seared each side and covered for about 7 minutes before flipping and repeating the method for the other side until they were done to ensure the burgers fully cooked through without drying out in the process. You can reduce the cooking time to 5 minutes on each side if you prefer a medium-rare burger. 

Once done, he placed some melted cheese on top of the burger while still hot to allow it to melt just slightly before placing the completed burger on the bottom piece of the sliced homemade bun. He also made the absolutely divine sautéed red bell pepper and tomato slaw pictured above to serve as a garnish for the burger instead of the traditional raw onion, tomato, and lettuce combo. This scrumptious slaw was to me one of the most delicious components of the homemade burger as a whole! It truly elevated the burger and added so much depth and flavor to the dish. While you can always order a burger from your favorite fast food joint, I guarantee you that nothing beats an authentically homemade burger! Plus, it comes with the added (healthy) advantage of choosing the type of meat and ingredients that go into creating it. I highly recommend that you treat yourself to a mouth-watering homemade burger one of these fine days...you'll sure be glad that you did. Enjoy and have a great weekend! 😍😋