Bistro Burgers

If we must suffer through summer, we might as well grill. During the miserable heat of last summer, I contemplated duct taping a couple yard sticks to my grill spatula. My goal was to be able to grill in my backyard without actually leaving the house.

It’s also important to get a really good burger out of this suffering. Fortunately, I managed to find one in the last issue of Food Network Magazine. I added a few of my own touches to their Bistro Burger and came up with something really delicious and, dare I say, worth the agony of spending time outdoors. These burgers are loaded with rosemary asiago cheese, crispy bacon, fried egg, Dijon mustard, and mixed greens tossed in a Dijon (or balsamic) vinaigrette.

Bistro Burgers:
(four servings)
• 4 slices bacon
• 1 ½ lb ground beef
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• 4 hamburger buns
• 1 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard, plus more for spreading
• 1 shallot, thinly sliced
• mixed greens
• rosemary & olive oil asiago cheese

Form four (6 oz) burgers. Grill to desired doneness. If desired, spread small amount of butter on buns and toast on grill. While burgers are on grill, cook bacon in skillet, reserving some of the bacon grease. Fry eggs.

Whisk Dijon mustard with EVOO, shallots, and 1-2 tbsp bacon drippings. Add salt & pepper to taste. Toss with mixed greens.



Spread bun with Dijon mustard. Add the burger, asiago cheese, bacon, egg and mixed greens.



We’ve since tried a version of these burgers with the mixed greens tossed in a balsamic vinaigrette. It adds a nice flavor without overdoing the Dijon taste.

We had purchased a french fry cutter awhile ago that we’ve used quite a bit. We bake our fries using different flavored olive oils and spices. The most common way we make them is tossed with a little EVOO, cracked pepper & sea salt, some minced garlic, and some type of Italian herb mix.





For the record, not everyone in my house dislikes summer. Some of us really appreciate the sun. It's just not the human members.