Mushroom Swiss Burger

I know it has been a little while since my last post.  Life has happened and unfortunately some things had to be put on the back burner.  However, at Henslee Farm Adventures, we are trying very hard to get back to where we need to be, especially since winter will be here before we know it.

It seems strange to be talking about winter when we have had some absolutely beautiful days.  In fact the temp is supposed to be up to 80ºF today!  It is days like these that we like to take advantage of the nice weather and grill outside.  Steve's favorite meal happens to be burgers and fries.  Well this day he decided he wanted a mushroom swiss burger.  It sounded good to me, so I thought I would share with you how we make our mushroom swiss burgers.

First, I am going to let you in on a little secret of how I make my hamburgers.  I don't even tell Steve how I make them because he swears that plain is best.  So I secretly season the meat before cooking and of course he loves it!

Burger ingredients

We use ground beef that we have had butchered.  Seriously folks, if you haven't tried grass-fed beef you need to.  Of course you can use just regular hamburger from the store.  And another kind that is really good is what my grocery store calls Boston Burger.  It is 60% beef and 40% pork.  This makes wonderful burgers and meatloafs!

To make the patties, I put 2 lbs. of hamburger in a bowl and add in 4 splashes of worcestershire, 2 tablespoons of mined onions, and 1 tablespoon of seasoning salt.  I mix this with my hand until just incorporated.  You don't want to over mix.

Carly loves to help me cook!

You can see we make some pretty big patties.  There will be some shrinking, but if you make an indention in the middle, there will be minimal shrinking (I forgot to get a picture of the indention).  Then you grill to your taste.  We like ours medium well.

Usually while we are grilling, we take the opportunity to grill onions as well.  We love grilled onions!  I slice them pretty thick, put them on some foil and drizzle them with some extra-virgin olive oil.

Onions ready for the grill

I also found some great seasoning at our local farmer's market.  The lady that makes it smokes her salt with applewood.  Man is it ever good!  She calls it Stove-Side seasoning.  You can use it on just about anything.  Besides the salt there are other things she puts in there.  It is definitely yummy!  You can also use just plain kosher salt, or a seasoning blend of your choice.  After I season the onions, I wrap them up in a foil packet and put it on the grill.  We do flip the packet after they have cooked about 10-15 minutes on one side.

Now for the mushrooms.  I have seen many recipes for the mushroom sauce for burgers, but I concocted one of my own with what I normally have on hand.

My ingredients for mushroom sauce.

I know what you are thinking, it doesn't look like it would be that good, but trust me on this.  I lucked out and was able to get some mushrooms on sale at ALDI, one of my favorite places to shop!  Also the brown gravy mix I get at ALDI as well and love it because it does NOT have MSG in it.  I love this gravy mix for when I want a quick gravy, it is always so good and cooks up easy.

First I washed my mushrooms by wiping them off with a damp paper towel.  You do not want to submerge them in water because they will absorb the water and you will end up with mushy mushrooms (ha ha!) in the end.

After washing them, just slice them, not to thin because they will cook down.

Fresh mushrooms in the pan.

I add a little extra-virgin olive oil to my pan and put the sliced mushrooms in.  Then I took advantage of that smoked salt and seasonings and added a little bit of that.  I cooked this on medium heat.

Cooked mushrooms

After they have cooked down to where they are soft (again I don't want mushy ones), then I am ready to season them.  I add in two splashes of worcestershire sauce, then I take about a 1/2 teaspoon of the brown gravy mix and sprinkle it over the mushrooms.  I cook it for just a minute more and then I have my mushroom sauce!  So easy!

My mushroom sauce!

All that's left is to build my burger.  I of course got the swiss cheese at ALDI as well, I love their selection of cheeses!  Steve put the slice of cheese on the burger while it was still on the grill so that it would be nice and melty.

My burger, nom nom nom

Here is my burger.  I of course had to add some grilled onions to it as well.  And let me tell you, it was so good!

Steve wanted me to share with you his burger so here it is...

Steve's burger, looks pretty good!

We decided to go with a side of tator tots instead of fries this time.

The burgers were awesome!  The mushroom sauce was perfect.  I hope you try it and let me know what you think in the comments below. 

Leave a Comment beef, cooking, grilling, hamburger, homemade, mushrooms, recipes

Throw Back Thursday: Meatloaf!

Who doesn't like a good meatloaf?  Okay, I can hear groans out there.  I really think that meatloaf gets a bad rap.  Meatloaf was a staple in our house when I was growing up.  It wasn't necessarily my favorite meal, but as an adult, I do like it.  What I find funny is that my 9-year-old actually asks for it.  When he does, I like to accommodate that request.  Plus, meatloaf can make some yummy sandwiches the next day for lunch!

Freezer full of hamburger...

My husband's uncle had to butcher a cow and we, along with my mother-in-law were the lucky recipients of some hamburger.  For our family that was an awesome gift!  We go through hamburger like you wouldn't believe, but this past year we have had to slow down because of the prices.  This is one reason why we are raising our own beef.  That and honestly the meat is so much better tasting, less fatty, and you know what your own cows have been eating and where they've been!

Needless to say we have been cooking a lot of ground beef recipes lately.  My meatloaf recipe is loosely based on my mother's recipe.  I find that my mother's meatloaf is a little too wet for my taste.  My mother-in-law's recipe is too dry.  After trial and error, I have come up with a recipe that our family really enjoys.  Feel free to take this recipe and adapt it to your tastes.  Really there is no limits to what you can do with meatloaf.

Note about recipe: there are some ingredients with no specific amounts given.  I usually hate recipes that do that so I apologize for giving you one, but some of the ingredients depend on your personal preference.

Holli's Meatloaf

1 lb. ground beef (chuck/round - whatever you prefer)
1 large egg
1 8oz. can of tomato sauce
1 small onion (or amount you prefer)
handful of italian breadcrumbs (I use this because it is already seasoned, if you use plain, then you may need to add some spices)
dash Worcestershire sauce (more or less to taste)
salt and pepper to taste
ketchup

1. Grate onion into a medium sized bowl. I like grating because you get the onion juice for flavor and then the onion itself is small so you are not biting into a big chunk.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix with your hands.

Ingredients all ready to be mixed

3. Put the mixture in muffin tins - that's right a muffin tin, it cuts down on cooking time and makes perfect portion sizes!
4. Top with ketchup if desired.

Ready to put into oven

5. Cook at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes or until down.
Enjoy!

Get the printable recipe HERE

I would love to hear what you think about this recipe.  Please let me know below!

Leave a Comment beef, cooking, farm, farming, hamburger, meatloaf, recipes, tbt