THE CALIFORNIA COWBOY BURGER

THE CALIFORNIA COWBOY BURGER

INGREDIENTS

• 1lb. Ground beef (or try pork, chicken or a blend!) separated into 4 1/4lb. patties

• 4 thick slices of Cheddar cheese

• 1 stick room temperature butter

• 4 Brioche buns

• 8 bacon slices, cooked

• Your Favorite BBQ Sauce

• 1 avocado (peeled, pitted, sliced and divided into 4 stacks)

• Lager battered onion rings (recipe follows)

• Kosher salt and cracked black pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. Prepare a charcoal or gas grill while you assemble your ingredients. When your coals are covered with gray ash and/or the grill is hot, scrape the grilling grate clean. Liberally season your burger patties with Kosher salt and cracked pepper. Place them on the hot grill. Grill for about 3-4 minutes on each side for medium (or around 135° to 140° on a digital thermometer).

2. Place the cheese on the patties in the last minute of cooking, transfer them to indirect heat and allow the patties to rest while you toast the buns.

3. Butter the cut sides of the buns and grill them over the coals, cut sides down. Buns will cook quickly on a hot grill, so keep an eye on them.

4. Serve burgers with BBQ Sauce, bacon, avocado and the onion rings.

LAGER-BATTERED ONION RINGS

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups cake flour

• 3/4 cups corn starch

• 1 tablespoon baking soda

• 1 tablespoon salt

• 1 12oz can of cold Lager

• 3 large onions, skin removed

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl

2. Whisk Lager into the dry ingredients until the batter has the texture of
   pancake batter. You can adjust the consistency to your liking by adding more
   or less beer.

3. Slice the onions in approximately 3⁄4 inch thick slices and separate into
   individual rings.

4. Drop 8-10 rings into the bowl of batter and use a fork to coat each ring.

5. Using a small electric fryer or a medium sauce pot fitted with a candy
   thermometer and filled half-way with canola oil, bring oil temperature up to 360° and begin frying the rings in batches of three or four until they are golden brown, approximately 2 minutes in the oil. While one batch is frying, drop a few more into the batter and use the fork to coat them.