Some of the last burgers of the summer.

This is my first blog post, both on this blog and ever... so i guess an introduction is in order. I'm a 17 year old high school student and i really love everything to do with food. I thought about starting a food blog to share some of my recipes and dining experiences a long time ago, but i never got around to it. Just now though my friend linked me this site and i figured i could give it a shot; so this is my first attempt at an attempt of a semi-decent blog. =P
These burgers are really, really, awesome. So simple, but the flavour of the beef really comes through. They are topped with a bacon onion jam and a couple of slices of a Swiss gruyère. I recommend grinding your own beef for these as it really makes for great flavour and allows you to cook your burger medium rare. You can do this in a food processor, and buying decent beef at your local wholesaler (one that may have the word Cost in the name) isn't hard. Buy meat with a relatively high fat content, No chuck or tenderloin. Brisket works very well, short ribs, steaks that have marbling, all these are good choices. Another tip for burgers, is always use a plancha grill, or other flat top surface like a pan.
Ingredients (4 people)
- 2 pounds ground beef, self ground or otherwise
- 4 buns of your preference
- slices of  cheese
- 1 small sweet onion
- 1 clove of garlic
- 6 strips of bacon
- 2 Tbs Balsamic Vinegar
- 1 Tbs Cider Vinegar
- 1 Tbs Maple Syrup
- Salt and Pepper(FRESH CRACKED!)
- Oil (any cooking oil, i used a light olive oil that could hold up to heat)
Method
1) Preheat a dutch oven on the stove over medium high heat. Chop your bacon into lardons (strips) and throw them into the dutch oven. Lower the heat to medium. While your bacon is rendering and crisping, brunoise your onion and mince your garlic. When the bacon is almost perfectly crispy (as in you would eat it at breakfast crispy) throw your onion and garlic in and stir like mad for a few seconds. let the onions caramelize, and i mean really caramelize, i'm talking like auburn colored. It's hard to give a timing on that, so just let it happen. Once they have caramelized sufficiently, add the vinegars. Let the acid (acetic acid for those who are curious) cook out, it will smell kinda nasty at first, but after about a minute they acid will be gone. Then add your maple syrup. Stir in the syrup and set aside.
2) Preheat your cooking surface (plancha or pan) over high heat for about 5 minutes or until it is hot enough to properly sear meat. Form your meat into 8 oz.(1/2 pound) patties about an inch thick. Season really well with the salt and pepper, these are big patties so don't under season them. Oil the cooking surface lightly. Place the patties on the surface, you should hear a good sizzle if your surface is hot enough, if not, remove the burger quickly. Turn the heat down to medium. Cook for about 3-4 minutes on each side to have a nice pink middle, but if you're using store bought ground beef 6-7 minutes a side should cook it through, just be sure to check. This is a good technique video here:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZpDzROtxIc
After you flip your burger for the first time, place your cheese slices on the top of the burger. Set it aside to rest for 5+ minutes wrapped up in some foil. Just BTW, foodwishes is an awesome site.
3)While your burgers are resting toast the buns. once they are done resting, assemble your burger: bottom bun, patty, jam, top bun. Enjoy!