Hearty Blue Cheese And Bacon Burgers

I almost misspelled hearty as “healthy” – NOT!  Ah, but remember my Dad’s wise advice: Anything in moderation is fine.

This is a great, hearty way to mix up your everyday burger recipe. The ingredients I use yield 6 thick n juicy burgers.

In a large mixing bowl, combine:

• 2 pounds ground beef (80% lean seems to work best but I’ve also used 93% lean with success)
• 4 ounces crumbled blue cheese (no need for the fancy stuff here, just an intensely flavored one will do)
• 4 ounces crumbled bacon (cuz EVERYTHING tastes better with bacon!)
• 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp. dry mustard
• 1 tsp. garlic salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper

Place the mixture in the refrigerator for a couple of hours so as to infuse the flavors. Form into patties of the thickness of your choosing – I like to go a little thicker so the middle will remain rare and juicy – and grill to perfection! Note: the blue cheese WILL melt and stick to your grill, so be sure you liberally oil the grates before slapping the patties on.

Great with any sort of barbeque/picnic sides, I like to serve it with my Easy Pasta Salad, which also features blue cheese as a principal ingredient. Your guests will definitely ask for seconds, so plan accordingly!