Inside Out Bacon Cheeseburger
I’m just now getting around to publishing this year’s Superbowl treat. It’s maybe a little tough to visualize an inside-out bacon cheeseburger. But it’s a very literal rendition, and as far as I know it’s totally original. It was a great presentation to wow the adults with, but the kids absolutely inhaled it.
Ingredients
1 lb lean ground beef
1 pkg french bread dough
cherry, strawberry, or grape tomatoes
mini kosher dill pickles
red onion
endive or other greens
1 lb thick sliced bacon
mustard
mayonaisse
ketchup
Preparation
You’re going to have 3 major components in this dish. First, a large relish tray that will serve as the lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle and condiments. Second a thin length of french bread loaf rolled in ground beef and grilled. Last, but not least, a weave of bacon cooked, then stuffed with a bed of cheddar cheese and the hamburger roll.
Slice greens, onion, and pickle and arrange on two sides of a large serving plate. Douse each liberally with mayo, ketchup and mustard.
Make a weave of bacon slices on a baking sheet lined in foil. Weave over and under until you have a square shape of equal length and width.
Season ground beef as you like, then divide in half and gently knead and roll it until it’s a little greater in length than your bacon weave. I tend to like garlic, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, possibly oregano, and onion. Refrigerate these two rolls so they will respond well to being shaped over your bread when finished.
Using about half a tube of french bread dough, divide in half lengthwise then cook as per instructions. If you want to make use of the remaining bread right away then you can make 1 1/2″ balls of dough to use as “mini-buns”. Simply cook them and slice. The key here is that your main tube of bread only measure about 1 1/2″ in diameter, and should be equal to the length of your bacon weave. You can trim the bread if needed, but a little advance shaping and sizing can save the trouble.
You could of course make your own bread. Between grilling, baking and prep I find this homemade enough (meaning plenty of work already) without doing the bread making too, but that’s up to you. You want something at least as crusty as french bread. It has to stand up to the grease of the hamburger cooking around it, so it’s got to be nice and toasted when done, and allowed to cool and dry adequately before adding the hamburger layer.
After you take out the bread, set your oven at 350 degrees and add the bacon weave in. You’re only going to half cook it, and only cook only side (literally). Remove when the bacon is still soft, as it needs to be pliable. Add a few layers of paper towel on top, then “flip” twice onto clean paper towels to remove grease.
Light your grill, and apply a thin layer of olive oil to what should be a very clean grate.
Next flatten each roll of hamburger out side-by-side. Add the bread to the top of one portion, then carefully lift the remaining portion over the top. Gently press the hamburger around the bread so it is completely encased. The burger should be about an additional 1/2″ layer on top of the bread, for a total size of between 2-2 1/2″. Any larger and you’ll have difficulty with the meat cooking enough, or with it fitting into your bacon weave later. Keep it thin.
Grill your burger roll very gently, using a spatula and tongs. Take care not to lose any meat, and reclaim any that might separate. You can fuse any lost bits back on in the final construction.
Place the bacon weave on a foiled baking sheet, with the original “less cooked” side down. To this add a hefty layer of cheddar cheese, about 1 bag finely shredded. Place your hamburger roll along one edge, then carefully begin to roll up the bacon wrap. Add to a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.
Remove the bacon wrap from the oven and serve on your relish tray. Serve at once. Easiest to serve if sliced.
