Bunker Buster Burgers

Maybe I should change the name to belt busting burgers! These are not for the health-conscience, nor the feint of heart (literally), but they are delicious and as I tell my daughter, they make a great "sometimes" food. Like last time, I'll try to make this recipe easy to follow and even easier to execute.

Bunker Buster Burgers:

1. You're making burgers, so get some ground beef, ground chuck, or what have you. Don't go too lean, a little fat content in there goes a long way in the flavor department.
2. You're going to want some good Mozzarella cheese, the thick-sliced stuff like you get at the deli counter.
3. For veggies I went with onion, jalapeño peppers, and tomatoes. This can vary according to your own tastes.
4. An odd ingredient you don't normally see would be sliced pepperoni, a small package of these goes a long way.
5. Finally, gourmet burgers like this don't get slapped on a bun, while you're in the bakery/deli area getting your cheese, get some Ciabatta rolls too.

Let's get it all together:

1. Make your burger patties, I took a pound of ground beef and split it into thirds. For making patties I use an egg and a little Worcester sauce and just patty them up by hand.
2. Dice up the selected veggies you've picked out. How much? See below.
3. Also dice up the pepperoni, for quantity just make it equal parts with each veggies type. This will form a topping for each burger, so just eyeball it.
4. If your rolls aren't slice, do that now as well.
5. I'm assuming you've got ice somewhere, just make sure you've got half a glass full on hand for the cooking.
   

Let's cook 'em up:

1. First things first, sauté the diced veggies and pepperoni in olive oil. Set aside.
2. Warm up the oven to 350ºF degrees, you'll toast the rolls in here.
3. Get a large skillet with lid, big enough to cook all of your burgers at once and start pan frying them. This is no exact science, but I like to cook the first side a little longer (4-5 minutes) than the other side (2 minutes).
4. After the two minutes on the back side is done spoon on generous helpings of the saute´mixture on top of each burger, the more the merrier.
5. Next, cover the mixture with one thick slice or two thin slices of Mozzarella.
6. Immediately drop in a handful of ice into the frying pan and quickly cover with the lid. Caution: You've got hot grease that spatters with water, add these ice cubes carefully and cover quickly.
7. The ice in the covered pan creates a lot of steam, this trick will melt that thick cheese while locking in all the juiciness and flavor.
8. While everything is melting, toast the rolls in the oven.
9. After a minute or so, the rolls and the burgers should both be ready, serve and enjoy!

Even though a 'sometimes' food, I've cooked these up twice for company, and yeah they're a bit messy but they get very positive reviews. I usually cook burgers on a grill, so the pan frying is a big change up, but for this style burger I don't see it any other way. I try to connect these recipes to gaming, really I do, but I can't see how here. They're a bit too involved to whip out for game night, and they're not exactly appetizers or finger food. The clever title will have to be their only saving grace. Hey, it's no coincidence I posted this on a Saturday, and you probably have most of these ingredients already on hand, what are you waiting for?