Burger with Mushroom and Onions

I've been eating burgers that Nick creates for more then 2 years now.  I can say with extreme confidence....that they are freaking awesome!  We like our burgers and are sad to say that most the gourmet burger joints that have popped up in Toronto in the past year or so have been very disappointing.  The only place that continue to have decent burgers is Webers (I will post review later), and that's nowhere near Toronto, and nor is it gourmet in any sense of the word.  

Nick always gets requests to make these for friends and family.  They are so popular that he get's slightly annoyed when everyone always seems to request burgers and baked potato wedges (recipe here)....but I guess that's just proof of how great his burgers are.  The addition of sauteed sweet white onions and meaty portabello just takes it over the top!  :-)

Burger with Mushroom and Onions

Serves: Makes 4 Large burgers

approx prep time: 20min

approx cook time: 15min

INGREDIENTS (Makes 4 burgers): 

- 2 1/4 lb Lean ground beef

- 6 slices of Thick Sliced Bacon (I prefer PC Old Fashioned Thick Sliced bacon), or 12 slices of the regular thin bacon.

- 1/3 of a large sweet white onion, finely diced

- 2/3 of a large sweet white onion, sliced.

-  1 large portobello mushroom, sliced

- 1/4 cup of diced sweet pickles or gherkins 

- 2 tbsp Montreal Steak Spice

-1.5 cups of shredded Cheddar Cheese (I prefer extra old)

- Toppings of choice (Pickles, Tomato, etc..)

- 4 large kaiser rolls

HOW TO MAKE IT:

- Heat up a non stick frying pan with a little dab of olive oil.

-  Add sliced onions and after a minute, add the sliced portobello mushrooms and sautee till brown, and set aside.

- Fry bacon in a cast iron pan on medium heat till crispy, set on a paper towel to drain and set aside.
- Mix ground beef, diced onion, diced pickles and steak spice thoroughly
- Shape beef mixture into 4 patties, roughly 1" thick.
- Cook patties to desired doneness in a frying pan, on an indoor grill or BBQ.
- Serve patty with bacon, shredded cheese, and topped with sauteed onion and mushrooms on a freshly sliced Kaiser of choice.

Creamy Mushroom Mini Pies

It's been a year since the acquisition of our Breville Mini Pie Maker and we still love it.  We've had many savory pies made of leftover meals such as Beef Stew Mini Pies (recipe here), and Mini Turkey Pot Pies (recipe here), so this time, we decided to stop using leftovers and make mushroom mini pies.  

My brother and I grew up remembering eating tasty mushroom cream filling in puff pastry.  They were sold in the freezer section of the supermarket, but over the years, somehow our supermarket stopped carrying them.  My brother loved them so much he's been experimenting lately and made this recipe up from scratch.  It tasted DELICIOUS, and super simple, especially in the Breville Mini Pie Maker.  :-D  Super crunchy thin crust and gooey mushroom filling is hearty and really hits the spot.

Creamy Mushroom Mini Pies

Makes 3 Mini Pies (machine has the ability to make 4 pies)

approx prep time: 10min

approx cook time: 20min

INGREDIENTS: 

1 roll (1/2 a pack as PC puff pastry has 2 rolls per pack) of butter puff pastry, thawed.

1 medium onion, minced.

4 cloves of garlic minced or grated

2 lbs of fresh mushrooms (white button mushroom or mixed), diced.

1 lb of fresh white mushroom, diced

125g of cream cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil and butter

Breville Mini Pie Maker

HOW TO MAKE IT:

For the Creamy Mushroom Filling:

- Heat olive oil in a nonstick frying pan, brown onions and then add garlic.

- Add a pat of butter and all of the mushrooms.

- Brown mushrooms until the liquid evaporates

- Stir in block of cream cheese till melted and combined

To make Mini Pies:

- Preheat the Breville Mini Pie Maker (Red light means it's heating, Green light means it's ready)
- Roll out the puff pastry crust, make sure to flour both sides before starting to roll it out thinly or it will stick.

- Stamp out 2 tops and 2 bottoms.
- Recombine the remaining pie crust, roll it out thinly, and stamp the last bottom and pie crust (you should now have a total of 3 tops and 3 bottoms)
- Place bottom crust into the machine, use the black push wedge from the pie maker to set it into the pan, fill each pie up to the top with the creamy mushroom filling and a bit more, making a mound on the top.  (You need really over full filled pies in order for the top crust to brown and cook evenly, otherwise the crust can get undercooked because it doesn't fully touch the top heating element.)

- Top pies with the top crust.
- Lock machine, bake for 5-7 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.   Time to bake really depends on your filling, if it's cold, it will take more time to cook, if you put in hot filling, it will take less time to bake.  Puff pastry takes less time to bake then standard pie crusts.
- Serve immediately