Caramelized Beer Onion and Bacon Burgers Recipe

If you want my opinion I think we will have a nice month of August. We had enough rain the past few months. Which means you still have time to go camping before school starts. We started camping when my kids were young and we have not skip a year since then. It is a time to decompress, forget about all worries, and we enjoy each other company. We like to play board games, read, hike or simply relax.

If you go camping every year or if you are just starting you know how it is important to plan in order to bring every thing you need for the weekend. I keep master lists on my laptop and print them before each trip. I have a list for my husband also. I am responsible for the food and want to make sure we have enough to eat for the trip. Our morning’s meals are simple like muffins, toasts, and eggs.  For lunches I like to bring cold cuts for sandwiches, hummus, tabbouleh and pita bread. For snacking during the day I will bring nuts, fruits, veggies, cheese and tortilla chips.

Here's a burger recipe that we enjoy on our trips!

Caramelized Beer Onion and Bacon Burgers Recipe

Ingredients
8 slices bacon, crisply cooked, drippings reserved

2 large sweet onions, thinly sliced

1 bottle (341 mL) pilsner style beer

1 1/2 lb (750 g) lean ground beef

1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt

1/4 tsp (1 mL) pepper

4 slices Cheddar or American cheese

8 leaves red leaf lettuce or red romaine lettuce

4 slices tomato

4 kaiser rolls or crusty rolls, split

Directions
1- In 10-inch skillet, heat 1 tablespoon bacon drippings over medium-high heat. Add onions; cook about 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until softened.

2- Reserve 1/2 cup of the beer. Stir remaining beer into onions. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to medium and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until onions are golden and liquid has evaporated, about 30 minutes. Cool.

3- Meanwhile, roughly chop 4 slices of the cooked bacon; set aside. Roughly chop half of the onion mixture; stir into chopped bacon.

4- In medium bowl, stir chopped onion and bacon mixture into beef. Add salt and pepper. Shape beef mixture into 4 large patties, thinner at centre and thicker at edges for even cooking.

5- In 10-inch skillet, heat remaining bacon drippings over medium-high heat. Add patties; cook 8 minutes for medium-rare, 10 minutes for medium, 12 minutes for medium-well, turning once. After turning, add reserved 1/2 cup beer to burgers, then top burgers with cheese. Cover skillet to melt cheese.

6- Place burgers on bun bottoms; top with lettuce leaves, tomato slices, and remaining caramelized onions. Cut remaining 4 slices bacon in half; crisscross 2 pieces on top of onions on each burger, and cover with tops of buns.