burger | Strictly Paleo…ish!

UPDATE 23/9 2012: I added two more ideas for bun replacements today + made some minor updates to the text…

I’ve tried the good ol’ bun-less way of wrapping lettuce around the burger, but it often gets too messy I think….
So, with this post I’ll try to give you some more ideas on how to have burgers without the buns, and it will likely get updated every now and then when I’ve tried something new…

Ingredients: Burgers
2 1/2 – 3 lb ground meat. (I only had 50/50 pork/beef at home so that’s what I had to go for today, otherwise I do prefer pure beef for burgers, and then I rarely add anything else but salt and pepper while grilling/frying…)
1 Onion.
1 clove of Garlic.
2 tbsp Cream. (Optional, but makes the flavor richer.)
1 tsp Liquid Smoke.
Salt, Pepper and some Chili powder.

Finely chop the onion and garlic, and fry together with the spices for a few minutes, then add the cream and liquid smoke.
(You could also add some beef stock (or replace the cream with it) for an even richer taste…But be aware, you don’t want the meat to become too wet!)

Add it to the meat and mix it good, then let stand covered in the refrigerator for a few hours.

Form into burgers and grill/fry until done.

“Fillings”:
You can of course use whatever you prefer to have on a burger, but for this particular time I had:
Tomatoes.
Cheese.
Onions.
Crispy fried Bacon.
Some Leafy Greens.
Ajvar Relish.

Serving, Way 1: “Bun-Less Inverted Double Burger”
Fold a piece of wax paper into some kind of envelope. Then build your burger inside it with meat on top and bottom, and all fillings in between.

Serving, Way 2: “Bun-Less Burger Plate”
Just place everything on a plate and eat with knife and fork…100% mess free! ;)

Serving, Way 3: “Bun-Less Apple-Bun Burger”
This is actually my favorite way of making my bun-less burgers, and it’s simply to use thick slices of apple instead of the buns.
The fresh, sweet, crisp apple makes a wonderful contrast to the meat, especially if you got some smoked bacon up in there as well! :)

Serving, Way 4: “Bun-Less Zucchini-Bun Burger”
Had some zucchini left, so I tried using slices of it the same way as with the apples…worked out great!