You know, I don’t think I’ve ever watched that silly cartoon show my recipe title alludes to. But I happened to be channel surfing last night and landed on that program and found myself watching for 15 minutes or so. I guess either I’m too old, or I just don’t get the humor. Ren and Stimpy I could watch, but not this one. So when I was slicing up my latest tweaked version of my Induction-friendly Flax Bread today, I was reminded how the slices looked like a kitchen sponge. Immediately I was smitten with this idea.

I had some unused grass-fed ground beef leftover from a beef-cabbage dish I made myself last night. I added some pork sausage that was leftover as well. That all made a nice 4.5-oz burger patty for one (luckily my hubby was off in Austin yesterday for a convention. Then the creative cogs started clicking. Anyhow, this little burger came together easily ans was very tasty. It was incredibly filling with the flax bread. I will definitely make this quick dish again! Different butters and seasoning elements in the meat are of course possible variations. The caramelized onions and smoked Gouda really made this dinner a success.

This recipe is suitable for Atkins Phase 2 OWL and Keto diets, however it is not suitable for Primal-Paleo due to the bit of Bourbon in the compound butter and the particular bread used. With another compound butter and a Paleo bread, my Primal-Paleo readers could certainly give this square burger a go. This recipe is for 1 burger, so just multiply the ingredients as needed for making more.

INGREDIENTS:

3 oz. grass-fed ground beef (mine was 90% lean)

1½ oz. bulk pork sausage (I use homemade)

2 oz. onion, sliced

1 T. my Bacon-Bourbon Butter, softened

Dash black pepper

1 oz. slice of smoked Gouda cheese

2 slices my Flax-Whey Protein Bread

DIRECTIONS: Stack the two slices of bread on top of each other and trim off any uneven edges to get straight edges, like your Mom used to cut off the crusts fro you when you were young (my Mom made us eat the crusts, but I saw many a Mom do it! Set aside for now. In a small bowl, using a fork, mix the ground beef, sausage, bourbon butter and black pepper until well blended. Using your palms and then enlisting the help or a straight-edge spatula, form a square meat patty slightly larger than your bread is cut right onto a non-stick skillet. When you are satisfied with the shape, turn on the heat to medium-high and brown one side. Flip the patty over and push to one side of the skillet and saute the sliced onion along side the meat in the pan drippings, turning them several times as the meat browns. When the meat is fully cooked turn off the heat. Place one bun onto your plate. Set the meat on top. Place the brown, caramelized onions in a “blob” on top of the meat. Next place the slice of smoked Gouda on the onions and invert a bowl or small pan over the stack to allow steam to heat/melt the Gouda, but just until it slightly softens (but isn’t running all over the place). Remove the inverted “dome” and place the top bun piece on top and serve at once. You’ll notice in this first version I used my 8-Seed Crust mixture sprinkled on my bread when I made it. That was quite good on this burger, too! Kind of like an onion-y “Everything Bagel” topping, that blend. 🙂

NUTRITIONAL INFO: This recipe makes 1 squareburger. Because I’m on Induction once again to break a long stall, I had to make mine with my flax bread, making this recipe pretty carb-y “as written”. But there are breads with much lower stats you can use, like my Gluten-Free Focaccia Bread.

Made with my Flax-Whey Protein Bread: 1046 calories, 83 g fat, 26.6 g carbs, 17.4 g fiber, 9.2 g NET CARBS, 65.2 g protein

Made with my Gluten-Free Focaccia Bread: 673 calories, 55 g fat, 10.3 g carbs, 2.3 g fiber, 8.0 NET CARBS, 36.5 g protien