Ah, springtime. The leaves on the trees start filling in, allergies run amok, and when it rains, it pours. So when a spring thunderstorm rolls through and you don't have access to the grill, here’s a quick and easy burger recipe that rivals a summer barbecue.
And you know what? It goes great with an old New England standard straight outta South Burlington, Vermont, Magic Hat Brewing Company’s infamous #9 not-quite-pale ale.
This recipe serves about four people, or two VERY hungry people.
You’re gonna need:
- 1 lb of ground beef
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- ½ cup red onion, chopped
- Iceberg lettuce
- 1 nice, large slicing tomato
- 4 slices of American cheese
- 4 hard rolls
- A1 Steak Sauce or Worcestershire sauce (optional)
Here’s what you gotta do:
1. Form the ground beef into four good-sized patties. Make sure they’re thick enough so when you go to flip them, they’re not going to fall apart.
2. Grease a skillet and throw the burgers on at medium heat.
3. Cook the burgers until you get a nice bit of grease in the pan. Throw in the chopped garlic and onions.
4. Now is a good time to start laying out your condiments. Slice the hard rolls and arrange some lettuce and tomato slices to your liking. If you’d like, add a bit of A1 or Worcestershire sauce.
5. When it starts to look like the underside is cooked, flip the burgers. You only want to do this once, so time the flip according to your burger’s desired doneness.
6. Burger almost done? Use a spoon to pile up some of the now sautéed garlic and onions on top of each burger. Quickly cover the pile of garlic and onion with a nice slice of American cheese.
7. Let the cheese get a nice melt, then pull your burgers off the fire and into the buns.
8. Crack a couple Magic Hat #9s, set yourself aside a nice pile of napkins, and enjoy.
Why does this beer go so well with this meal?
The #9 is a “not-quite-pale” ale, which means it doesn’t have the same extreme dryness that a lot of pale ales do. The beer’s hops contrast well with the burger’s natural juices. The garlic and onion give the tongue a nice little nip, and the ale is just rich enough to take away from that bite, but not too strong that it’ll drown out the taste. The #9 is available all year long and can be found in abundance in Connecticut liquor stores, which means this dish will always have a loving beer brother.
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