The 7 Wonders

Ahh Memorial Day. The unofficial start of summer in America! What better way to remember our soldiers and the first hint of Summer than a burger on a grill?! I have only one rule when it comes to cooking a burger- it has to be MEDIUM. Not rare, well done, but MEDIUM. How else would you get all of those succulent juices into your mouth and some onto your plate? That my friends is where all of the flavor bombs live. This burger has the 7 most important qualities in any dish- sweet, savory, sour, tangy, spicy, smoky and most importantly DELICIOUS!!! Now let's cook :)

the goods:

• 1 pound ground sirloin, ground

• 1 pound lean, boneless, beef short rib meat, ground

• 4 kaiser rolls

• 4 ounces good aged cheddar, sliced

• 1 finely shredded cabbage, shredded

• 2 cups carrot shredded, shredded

• 1/3 cup bunch of green onions, diced

• 1 pound bacon, sliced

• 1 tablespoon brown sugar

• 1 dash cayenne pepper

• 2 tablespoons chipotle in adobo sauce

• 1 cup mayonnaise

• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

• 3 tablespoons honey

• 2 tablespoons dijon mustard

• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

• lettuce

• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika

• 1 tablespoon ponzu sauce

• 1 tablespoon salt and pepper

• 2 tablespoons dried porcini mushrooms, pulverized

• 2 tablespoons good quality, crumbly blue cheese

the lowdown:

Mix the ground sirloin with the short rib along with paprika, ponzu sauce, salt and pepper and blue cheese. Combine and shape into 4 uniform patties. Pulverize the dried porcini mushrooms in a food processor for 30 seconds. Coat bought sides of the patty with the porcini mushrooms and rest in refrigerator for 10 minutes. Preheat goven to 400 degrees. Lay bacon strips on wax paper and onto a pan. Coat the bacon with cayenne pepper and brown sugar. Place in oven for 10 minutes, turn over bacon and coat the other side with cayenne pepper and brown sugar and cook for an additional 10 minutes.

Preheat the grill on high. Take the patties out of the refrigerator and place the patties on the grill over medium heat. Cook for 5 minutes on one side. Flip over and cook for an additional 4 minutes. place the aged Cheddar cheese slice on top of the burger and cook for 2 minutes or until cheese has melted. Place the cooked burgers on a plate and let rest for 10 minutes. Combine the cabbage, carrots and green onions in a bowl.

Whisk the apple cider vinegar, honey, Dijon mustard and olive oil until incorporated and smooth. Pour the dressing over the cabbage mixture and mix together.

Place the mayonnaise and chipotle into a food processor and mix for 20 seconds or until incorporated.

Place the buns on the grill and let toast for 1 minute on each side. Start assembling burger. Place the bottom bun first followed by lettuce, patty, coleslaw, chipotle mayonnaise, candied bacon and finally topped off with the top bun. Smacznego!