More Fun With Burgers And Cheese!

Once again, a rerun of Man Vs. Food gave me an idea for dinner, a Juicy Lucy burger!

The Juicy Lucy is from the Minneapolis area where there are two rivals who both claim to have invented it (though one of them spells it “Jucy”. I, of course, decided to adapt it to the presssure cooker, but not claim that I invented it.

The traditional cheese is American, but I used some sharp cheddar. I served it up “steak” style, meaning on a plate without a bun, but it would also be great “bun-ified”.

On a bed of butter lettuce with some tomato and sweet pickle, topped with fried eggs and caramelized onions, mmmmmmmmm… Sorry, I just ate lunch but I’m making myself hungry!

Served alongside my latest addiction, duck fat potatoes, it was quite yummers, as the kids say these days. I used a pound of grass-fed beef for two Friday-night sized portions, but the recipe can easily be doubled (or tripled), the only limitation being the size of your pressure cooker (but they could easily be made in a couple batches.

I started by slicing up a large onion and started sauteeing it in a tablespoon of oil over medium heat, since the caramelization can take a bit of time. Once that is under way (if you choose to have caramelized onions with yours), add the meat to a mixing bowl along with a few shakes of Worchestershire Sauce and salt, pepper and garlic powder to your liking. Lightly mix it together, then divide it into four somewhat equal size balls (I just eyeballed it, but sometimes if I’m feeling extra OCD-y, I will weigh it).

Next, flatten each ball into a circle (I find a small plate works great for this). In the center of two of the meat circles place a few small squares of cheese. If you are using slices, fold a slice into quarters and this should be perfect. I used a block of cheese so I just guestimated about an ounce (I can’t believe I said “guesstimated”, what’s next, “threepeat”?) Take the two non-cheesed hunks of meat and slap them on top of the cheesealicious ones and press the edges together well so you don’t end up with leakage while they are cooking.

Put about a half-cup of liquid into the pressure cooker pot. I used beer, but to be honest you probably wouldn’t notice a difference were you to use water (hey, it was Friday night, so beer was close at hand). Put the steamer tray in the pressure cooker, turn the heat to high, place the burgers in the cooker and place the lid on the pressure cooker.

Bring to high pressure, then turn down heat to maintain high pressure and set timer for five minutes. When timer sounds, remove from heat and let pressure come down naturally.

Serve on plates with lettuce, tomato, pickles, fried egg and caramelized onions. Oh yeah, if you started cooking those onions at the beginning of all this (you’ve been keeping on eye on them, right?), they should be about perfectly done about now.

Be sure to exercise caution when first biting into the burger, as the molten cheese could give you a serious case of “Pot Pie Syndrome”, so named because no matter how long you think you’ve let a pot pie cool, the first bite is still sure to burn several layers of flesh off the roof of your mouth. So, be careful out there!

I know you could just put cheese on top, but there is something about the hot melted cheese oozing out of the center of the burger that makes it tast so much better.





Pressure Cooker Juicy Lucy Burger Print Recipe type: Entree Cuisine: American Author: Michael Rushlow Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 15 mins Total time: 25 mins Serves: 2 A Pressure Cooker adaptation of the Minneapolis favorite Ingredients 1 pound ground beef

2 slices or 2-3 ounces cheese of your choice

1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce

Salt

Pepper

Garlic Powder

½ cup beer or water

Sauteed onions (optional)

Tomato, sliced (optional)

Pickles (optional)

Lettuce (optional)

Fried Eggs

Buns (optional) Instructions In a large mixing bowl, combine ground beef, Worcestershire Sauce, and salt and pepper to your liking Divide beef mixture into four balls Flatten each ball with a plate Place approximately 1 oz of cheese in the center of two of the circles Cover with the other two circles, pressing the edges together well, so the cheese stays inside while it is cooking Pour ½ cup (or the minimum for your pressure cooker) liquid into pot Insert steam tray Place burgers on steam tray and turn heat to high Cover pressure cooker and bring to high pressure When high pressure is reached, reduce heat to maintain high pressure and set timer for five minutes When time is up, remove from heat and let pressure come down naturally (with minimum amount of liquid, pressure should come down in just a few minutes) Remove from pressure cooker Serve with any of the optional ingredients that you like (or add some of your own!) 3.2.1753