Pub-Style Burger

This Recipe Makes: 6 Servings

Approximate Cook and Prep Time: 45-60 minutes

Here’s What You Will Need:

1 package River City Meats Burger Patties of your choice
Creamy Mac and Cheese – your favorite store brought brand, or make your own with this recipe
Olive Tapenade
Gruyere Cheese
Buns of your choice
A Food Processor

For Beer Braised Mushrooms:

¹⁄₂ounce unsalted butter
1 large onion, thinly sliced
8 fluid ounces beer
1 teaspoon sugar
¹⁄₂teaspoon salt

For Olive Tapenade:

1 cup Castelvetrano olives, pitted*
1⁄2 cup Nicoise or Kalamata olives, pitted*
1⁄4 cup lightly packed, fresh, flat-leaf parsley (thin stems are ok)
1 tablespoon drained capers
1⁄4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 medium cloves of garlic, pressed or minced
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Here’s How You Do It:

Begin by making your Olive Tapenade.

In the bowl of your food processor, combine all of the ingredients (pitted olives, parsley, capers, olive oil, garlic and lemon juice).
Pulse briefly about 10 times, then scrape down the sides of the jar.
Pulse 5 to 10 more times until well chopped, but not pureed, or until you reach your desired texture.
Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Next make your Beer Braised Onions.

Melt the butter in a pan. Add the onions and cook until tender.
Add 6 fl oz beer, sugar and salt. Cook approx. 16/18 minutes until the beer is absorbed and the onions are starting to brown.
Add the remaining beer and simmer gently.
Serve warm to accompany burgers.

Cooking the Burgers:

Heat a large skillet over medium/high heat.
When the pan is hot, carefully place the patties in the skillet (no need to grease skillet) leaving some space between each patty.
Cook the burgers until they are nicely seared and they have browned halfway up the sides.
Flip the burgers and cook to your liking. (*NOTE – To ensure all bacteria has been killed, the USDA recommends cooking burgers to an internal temperature of 160°F.)
Remove the pan from the heat and place the gruyere cheese on top of the burgers. Cover the skillet and allow the residual heat/steam to melt the cheese.
Remove burgers from heat and place on platter, or directly on your buns of choice (we recommend an oversized buttermilk biscuit
chewy square of focaccia, or
disc of fried polenta).
Finish off patties with preferred amount of beer braised onions and any other toppings you prefer.
Place top bun.
Indulge!

Serve it with:

truffle fries
fresh fried chips with blue cheese dip
grilled asparagus with lemon and sea salt