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Hamburger Deluxe turns a hamburger into a whole new experience. This recipe evolved over a couple of decades with ingredients being added or deleted as tastes changed. Using organic ingredients enhances taste, health and the environment.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

For the Hamburgers

• ¾ lb. (350 g) lean ground beef
• ¼ lb. (110 g) ground lamb
• 1 egg
• ½ cup (125 ml) rolled oats
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) grapeseed oil (or other lightly flavoured oil)
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon (5 g) ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon (2 ml) Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) chipotle BBQ Sauce, or a healthy pinch of chipotle powder
• ½ teaspoon (2-3 g) salt

For the topping

• cheese, smoked cheddar is best, but any cheddar or your favourite cheese will do
• Sour cream
• plain cream cheese, sliced thinly
• 1 Vidalia onion, coarsely chopped (Spanish onion will do)
• ¼ pound (110 g) button mushrooms, sliced thin
• 1 tablespoon butter
• fresh ground black pepper to taste
• favourite hamburger condiments
• 4 hamburger buns

Equipment

• grill

Procedure

1. Sauté onions and mushrooms in butter until lightly brown, set aside.
2. Mix all of the Hamburger ingredients together until well mixed, and let rest for 15 minutes.
3. Heat grill to medium-high.
4. Divide hamburger mix into 4 equal balls.
5. Form patties by slapping the burgers back and forth from one palm to the other until they are about an inch thick (this technique is displayed in the film: Return of the Seacaucus Seven!)
6. Grill burgers to desired "doneness", turning every few minutes and adding cheese after the last flipping of the burgers
7. Serve on the buns, with the onion/mushroom mixture, a dollop of sour cream, and a thin slice of cream cheese.

Notes, tips, and variations

• The suggestion to flip the meat a number of times comes from a book concerning the science of cooking, which I cannot remember the title of at time of writing. The theory, however, is that the juices in meat rise to the surface of the meat and are then lost during grilling. By turning the meat regularly, you reduce the capacity of the juices to rise out of, and run off, the meat.
• The egg and oats combine to bind the hamburgers and help prevent them from falling apart on the grill.