Patty Melts

I'm not a red meat hater, 
but rather a red meat hater hater.

Start by caramelizing some onions.  I used two, make sure you don't slice them too thin or too thick.  It takes a little time to do this right.  So start by adding a little olive oil and/or butter to a pan.  A good rule of thumb is about 1 T per onion.  For perfectly caramelized onions, they must be cooked on low or medium low.  Add a little bit of salt, helps the whole caramelizing process.  You can also add a pinch of sugar.  I did.

Don't stir too often, this process honestly can take an hour.  No joke.  But it smells amazing and you can finally get that jigsaw puzzle finished in the meantime. Whatever you do, don't leave these off.  

The money. 

This is how they looked after about 20 minutes.

 So after the onions are a lovely golden dark color, remove them and set aside, now get ready for the burgers.  I used about 1/3 lb per burger, kind of shaped it like the bread.  Give them a good sprinkling of salt and pepper on BOTH sides, this really helps the searing process.  Heat up your onion pan on 'til it's smokin' hot, add just a bit of olive oil (also helps get a good sear).  Then place each patty down carefully, and don't budge that bad boy for at least 4 minutes, or until when you flip it over, it has a beautiful sear.  Flip over and do the same thing.

Now butter one side of some good Rye bread, lay face down on a griddle.  Place cheese down.  I used 2 slices of Havarti, even though Swiss would be more traditional. Lay down the cooked patty.  Pile on those caramelized onions, add two more slices of cheese and the top bread, buttered on the outside.

I'm shaking and I like it.

At this point, your house will smell amazing.  And you are in for the night, because you too will smell like onions, which can be misconstrued as B.O., so get a good movie and a large Diet Dew, cause you ain't goin' nowhere.

Griddle these up now, I use a lower heat, like right around 300 degrees on my electric griddle, just to make sure all the cheese is perfectly melted at the same time the outside is golden brown. 

Add more cheese and the butter bread lid.

Make sure your bread is well buttered for an even golden crust.

Come to mama.

And to think this Jewish Rye Bread is only 80 calories a slice.  Score!

Happy Birthday.

Posted by: Rona