Caprese Burger

Hi Everyone!

Do you ever just crave a juicy burger?  You know what I’m talking about, the kind that is grilled to perfection and has the most magnificent flavor?  Well that was me last Friday.  To me, Friday nights should be fun food nights.  I know a lot of people go out to dinner, have big steaks with baked potatoes and glasses of wine.  That’s not me, well it could be sometimes, but most of the times it’s not.  I’m the girl who says’ lets go to the diner and get a burger and split an order of fries.  Well this Friday I skipped on the fries since my heart and soul was just wanting a burger, I didn’t need anything else.  So I bring you my Friday night burger to you today.

This is my Caprese Burger!  If you’re a frequent reader you know I heart Caprese style foods.  I have a slight love affair with tomatoes, basil and mozzarella cheese.  I thought that the Caprese style would be a perfect match for my homemade burgers.  And boy was I right!  I was so right, that my Husband, out of all people said they were the best burgers I have made.  He said they tasted like the Kobe Burgers he gets at Trader Joe’s.  That’s a HUGE compliment from him because he LOVES those burgers!  He eats them weekly.  But I have a secret to how I got the burgers so juicy and perfectly cooked.

I have been doing some reading on how to grill burgers.  First your suppose to use 80% fat ground beef, now not me, I’m going for 96% lean ground beef.  I don’t need any extra fat in my diet so 96% it is.  So how did I get a lean burger so moist and delicious.  Here’s the secrets.

1. When forming the hamburger patty, make it a nice loose patty, not tight and slightly flatten it to be about 1/4″ thick.
2. Refrigerate the patty’s for 10 minutes
3. Press your thumb lightly on top of the burger so the meat cooks evenly.
4. Cook over medium heat
5. After 5 minutes of cooking, flip the burger and top with cheese, once cheese is melted, burger is done.

The burger was not over cooked at all, it was a perfect medium, well.  I am so proud of these burgers, and now you know how to make the ultimate lean burger!

For the cheese, I went full fat mozzarella cheese.  After reading the labels, I found the difference between full fat and part-skim is about 10 calories and 2 1/2 grams of fat.  It’s worth having some nice cheese for such a small nutritional difference.  Now I have left over cheese to make a Caprese Salad.   Yah!!  To give it the burger ultimate flavor, I also added some balsamic glaze to the top.  Perfect!!  I got mine from STAR Fine Foods.  I love the stuff.  My Husband likes to put it on his fries because it’s so thick it sticks to them.  lol

Caprese Burger

 

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Prep time

7 mins

Cook time

8 mins

Total time

15 mins

 

A juicy moist burger topped with mozzarella cheese fresh basil and balsamic glaze.

Serves: 4 Burgers

Ingredients

• 1 lbs lean ground beef (96/4)
• ½ tsp basil, dried
• ¼ tsp. black pepper
• ⅛ tsp. salt
• 2 oz mozzarella cheese, sliced into 4 slices
• 4 slices tomato
• 12 basil leaves
• 3 tsp. balsamic glaze
• 4 hamburger buns (I used Sara Lee 120 calories each)

Instructions

1. Preheat grill on medium heat
2. In a bowl, add ground beef, dried basil, black pepper,and salt. Mix together until combined.
3. Divide the ground beef mixture into 4 equal pieces (4 oz each)and form into a loose patty. Don't pack it tight. Place a thumb print on the top of the meat. Place on grill and cook for 5 minutes on one side, flip and top with cheese. Cook until cheese is melted. Let the burgers rest for 5 minutes.
4. Place 3 basil leaves each onto the bottom of each bun, add burger on top of leaves, and top the burger with a slice of tomato. Add drizzle of balsamic glaze.

Notes

Calories per burger including the bun: 300, Fat: 8.6, Cholesterol: 65, Sodium: 314, Potassium: 51, Carbs: 23, Fiber: 2.3, Sugar: 3, Protein: 31.2

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 1 Burger

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After writing this post and thinking about hamburgers, I’m thinking I need to make them again and soon.  It has been months, besides this recipe that I made homemade hamburgers.  That’s one thing I love about the summer, grilling season!!

Well my Friends, time to take pictures of another recipe that I made, then off to bed!

Have a great day!

Toodles,

Jennifer

Winner of the Lucky Leaf Give way is:

Author: Cathy Pollak ~ Noble Pig
Website: http://www.noblepig.com
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Congratulations Cathy!  I’ll send you an e-mail!