The Cheese Crisp Burger

I find my creativity in cooking when I am surrounded by certain things. These things typically include hungry family and friends, or it is leftover meals that need to be used up rather quickly. This past vacation, of which my family really needed, resulted in a lot of cooking for roughly 15 family members for about seven days. I loved it. The seafood pasta dish is one of those dishes that I made on the first night we arrived in South Carolina, and these burgers were one of the meals I cooked towards the end of the week.

As I was finishing the 20 or so pancakes for all of the kids one morning on the flap top griddle, I opened the refrigerator to see what I could continue to make. We had a refrigerator full of ingredients and I wanted nothing to go to waste. I knew I wanted to utilize the grill and make burgers for lunch for everyone, so I decided to take all of the leftover asiago and shredded cheddar cheeses and make cheese crisps.

I began by taking a small handful of the asiago cheese and laying it on the flat top in a circular shape, watching it melt, then I added some of the shredded cheddar cheese on top of the asiago, letting the two combine and melt. The kids could attest that the smell in the kitchen was pretty intense from the melted asiago cheese. They even went as far as thinking someone vomited in the family room. I admit, it was strong, but that type of stuff does not bother me, so I continued to proceed in making about ten more cheese crisps, about the size I was going to make the patty.

This was my secret to the burger. This was something I just came up with. This is something that took the burger to a whole new level.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of grated asiago cheese (per burger)
• 1/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese (per burger)
• Your favorite meat mixture for making burgers
• Bacon, cooked (optional)
• Caramelized Onions (optional)
• Sliced Avocado (optional)
• American Cheese (optional)
• Hamburger buns

You can make the cheese crisps a few ways; in the oven, in a large skillet, or on a flat top griddle. I have made the crisps on a sheet pan in the oven, and on the flat top, but however you make them, cook the crisps on medium-high heat (425 degrees), watching it melt, then flip when the edges begin to lightly brown, crisping up the other side. Cook for a few minutes on the other side, Remove each disc and place on some paper towel, letting any access grease from the cheese absorb into the toweling.

Eat one. Now stop, as they might be a bit addicting.

When you are ready to prepare, cook your burgers on the grill, or flat top, and when you normally add the cheese for melting, add a cheese crisp on the patty, top with American cheese (optional), and continue to cook until the American cheese begins to melt.

We all fully loaded our burgers. Most everyone loaded them up, and a couple of family members requested a topping of feta cheese (I labeled as the triple threat) to their grilled burgers. However they were topped, there was something about the cheese crisp that stood out. Something amazing.

Fun, exciting, and packed full of flavor, the cheese crisp simply put, spectacular. Great as a simple standalone snack, but even better when placed on a burger. I hope you try it and enjoy as much as everyone else did.