Granny’s Stuffed Burger

Matriarch Ann “Granny” Kottkamp knew how to keep her family together — through Sunday Night Suppers.She was a good cook, though not a great and definitely not a creative cook. Her Russian German heritage was evident in every dish and bacon was an oft used ingredient. The other important ingredient evident in her cooking was love. She served it up with every meal. Granny passed away in 1992, but her legacy of Sunday Night Suppers lives on. This burger is one I think she would have enjoyed. It’s got alot of Russian German taste: caraway studded pork mixed into the burer and stuffed with cheese, onions and oh, yes, bacon.

Ingredients:

for stuffing:
1 small onion
2 slices bacon
4 ounces Swiss cheese grated
2 tablespoons sour cream

for burgers
1 pound ground pork
1 pound ground beef
2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon caraway seeds

Spicy brown mustard
1 1/2 cups sauerkraut, drained
6 whole wheat hamburger buns

Instructions:

Preheat, clean and oil your grill.
Peel and slice onion into rounds and place on grill heated to medium heat. Place bacon on grill and watch carefully to avoid burning. Turn bacon after one minute, and keep turning to avoid burning. Remove from heat when browned, about 3 minutes total. Allow to cool and then crumble into a small bowl. Turn onions once they soften and gain grill marks. Keep grilling until soft and fragrant, about 10 minutes total. Remove from heat dn allow to cool slighlty. Chop into 1/4 inch pieces and add to bacon. Add grated Swiss cheese and sour cream and mix well. Set stuffing aside. Increase heat to high.Grill buns until nicely toasted.
Put pork, beef, worcestershire sauce and caraway seeds in a bowl and mix well by hand. Divide mixture into 6 portions; divide each portion in two. On a waxed paper lined tray, form the bottom of each patty. Add one heaping tablespoon of the onion bacon mixture and then flatten out the second portion of the meat. Cover the onion bacon mixture with the second part of the meat and seal the top patty section to the bottom. Crimp closed and continue in the same manner forming the other burgers.
Grill patties for 4 to 5 minutes, mounded side up, until there is no risk of breaking when flipping the burgers over. Flip and continue grilling for 3 or more minutes, until burgers are nicely browned.
Place patty on bun with spicy brown mustard and top with sauerkraut and top bun.