Here are a couple of Cheese heavy recipes by Chef Regi Hise of Emmi Roth USA (the US division of the Premium Swiss Dairy Company).

Swiss Alp Bellevue Burgers

Ingredients:

• 1 Pound Ground Beef

• 8 Ounces Emmi Swiss Alp Bellevue, Crumbled

• Salt and Pepper to Taste

• Lettuce for Garnish (Optional)

• 4 Hamburger Buns

Directions:

Step 1: Preheat Grill.

Step 2: Combine Ground Beef and 4 Ounces of Swiss Alp Bellevue, in a Large Bowl; Season with Salt and Pepper.

Step 3: Gently Form Meat and Cheese Mixture into 4 Patties.

Step 4: Place Patties on Grill. Just Before Desired Internal Temperature is Reached, Top with Remaining Swiss Alp Bellevue and Cook for 1-2 Additional Minutes, or Until Cheese Begins to Melt.

Step 5: Place Lettuce on Bottom Bun (Optional), Transfer Patties to Buns and Serve.
 

Emmi Swiss Cheese Sliders

Emmi Swiss Cheese Slider

Ingredients:

• 1pound ground beef

• Salt and Pepper to taste

• 6 ounces Emmi Switzerland Swiss Cheese, Thinly Sliced

• 4 Slices Bacon, Cooked and Cut in Half

• 4 Small Hamburger Buns, Lightly Toasted

• Lettuce, Tomato, Roasted Red Peppers, Hot Sauce and Onions (Optional)

Directions:

Step 1: Preheat Grill.

Step 2: Season Beef with Salt and Pepper and Form into 8 Small, Thin Patties.

Step 3: Evenly Place 3 Ounces of Sliced Switzerland Swiss in the Center of the 4 Patties. Top with Remaining Patties, and Firmly Press Edges to Seal.

Step 4: Place Sliders on Grill. Just Before Sliders Reach Desired Internal Temperature, Top with Remaining Sliced Switzerland Swiss and Cook for 1-2 Additional Minutes, or Until Cheese Begins to Melt.

Step 5: Layer Garnishes and Bacon on Bottom Bun, Transfer Sliders to Bun, and Serve.

Ingredients:

• 6 oz diced onion

• 2 each garlic cloves

• 2 ½ cup chopped frozen spinach

• 8 oz sliced button mushroom

• 16 oz polenta

• 20 oz hot water

• 3 oz grated parmesan cheese

• 1 oz olive oil

• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Step 1: Squeeze water out of spinach

Step 2: Sauté onion and garlic until tender

Step 3: Add mushrooms, cook until tender

Step 4: Add spinach and sauté

Step 5: Season mixture to taste and let cool

Step 6: In boiling, salted water add polenta and stir until mixed and creamy. Add more water if needed

Step 7: While hot, blend spinach mixture and polenta. Let mixture cool

Step 8: With hands, shape mixture into patties

To Serve:

Step 1: Heat oil in Sauté pan

Step 2: Add patties & heat till brown on both sides

Step 3: Serve on soft rolls

Topping Suggestions:

1. Black bean and mango salsa

2. Heirloom tomato

3. Melted Cheese

Chef Jorge Monte’s Smoked Gouda and Bacon Burger with Amstel rings 

Chef Jorge Monte’s recipe for his Amstel Light Burger came in 2nd place amongst thousands of entries for this year’s SoBe wine & Food Festival Burger Bash. Once you try it, you’ll think like I did, how can there be a better recipe using Amstel Light out there?

The recipe below is for 1/2 pound burgers. You can easily convert it to mini burgers by making 8 or 12 burgers out of the recipe below instead of 4. For bread, I would suggest Martin’s Potato Rolls as Chef Jorge did recently when he recreated the recipe in mini burger form:

Mini Burger Amstel Light Burger

To make the Amstel rings:

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion ,sliced into rings

• ½ cup all purpose flour , to dust the onions in before placing in the batter

• 12 oz. Amstel light beer

• 1 cup all purpose flour

• ¼ cup powdered sugar

• 1 tbsp chili powder

• 2 tsp salt

• 1 whole egg

Directions:

• Mix the beer, flour , sugar , chili powder , salt and egg together until there is no lumps. Let rest for 20 minutes.

• Dip the flour drenched onion rings into the batter and fry at 350 degrees for 1 minute each side.

To make the Amstel BBQ sauce:

Ingredients:

•  10 garlic cloves, chopped small

• 2 oz. olive oil

• 12 oz Amstel light

• ½ cup brown sugar

• ½ cup balsamic vinegar

• ½ cup ketchup

• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard

• Dash of hot sauce

• Salt (to taste)

Directions:

• In a small pot, sweat the garlic on low with the olive oil. For 2 minutes until soft and full of aroma.

• Deglaze with the Amstel light and cook on medium heat till half of the liquid reduces

• Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Cook on low for 25 minutes.

To make the Burger:

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground chuck 

• 2 oz. Worcestershire sauce

• 1 tbsp smoked paprika 

• 1/2 cup of small diced, smoked gouda cheese

• 8 bacon links, cook till crispy and diced small

• 4 full or 8/12 slider sized rolls

• Salt & Pepper (to taste)  

Directions:

• Mix in a lg bowl with your hands ;the ground beef , paprika, Worcestershire sauce , salt and pepper.

• Fold in the cheese and bacon, form into 8 oz patties and cook to desired temperature.

To serve:

Make sure to toast your buns. First place burger on the bottom bun. Spread some of the BBQ sauce on the burger and then top with the onion ring. You can of course add a slice of cheese also, I would.

If you want a burger with superior flavor, you need to freshly grind the meat yourself – it’s as simple as that. The process is not only easier than most people think, but also makes the moistest and most flavorful burgers. The contrast to burgers made from pre ground chuck will be astounding. You’ll need to pick up a meat grinder attachment for your food processor at a kitchen store.

Second option is to have your local butcher grind fatty chunk, like 20 percent fat. If they don’t have it, kindly ask your nice butcher to add fat to regular chuck; fat equals flavor and there’s no better place for it than in a burger.

Ok, you will also need to mix the meat in a standing electric mixer. It may sound odd, but an old butcher trick is to add a couple of tablespoons of ice water to the meat. As the burger cooks, the water steams, making the burgers juicier. With all of this love and attention to the meat, I don’t think it’s necessary to mix a bunch of stuff into the ground beef, like chives, Worcestershire sauce, or exotics like shaved truffles. This meaty burger is as Genuine as you can get!

Michael’s Genuine Burger Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds beef chuck, freshly ground

• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

• Canola oil

• 8 slices white cheddar cheese

• 4 large brioche hamburger buns, split

• Cooked Maple Cured Bacon (recipe below) or store-bought, for serving

• Butter lettuce, sliced tomato, and red onion, for serving

• Ketchup, mayonnaise, and Dijon mustard, for serving

Michaels’ Genuine Burger Directions:

Step 1: Put the freshly ground beef in the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add 2 tablespoons of ice water and mix on low speed for 30 seconds.

Step 2: Gently hand shape the ground beef into 4 balls, 6 ounces each is about right. Don’t pack the meat too tightly — you’re not making snowballs here. Too much pressure will give you a tough burger.

Step 3: Place a large flat-top griddle pan on 2 burners over medium-high heat. Season both sides of burgers generously with salt and pepper and drizzle the tops with a little oil. Put the burgers on the griddle, oil-side down, and gently flatten into big patties with the bottom of a spatula. You only want to flip the burgers once and they should turn easily without sticking.

Step 4: Grill the burgers for 8 minutes per side for medium; 7 minutes if you like your meat rare. If you like your burger well done, then I can’t help you.

Maple Cured Bacon:

Chances are, you probably have bacon in your fridge right now. And if you’re like me, you love it. Making bacon at home is not rocket science; people make a big deal about it but it takes some time and a little planning but is so worth it. The first step is curing pork belly with a cure of salt, sugar, maple syrup, and pink salt (sodium nitrite). The main purpose of the cure is to prevent any bacterial growth on the meat and draw out some water. To store, tightly wrap in plastic and keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. If for some crazy reason you don’t eat it all in a week, you can cut it into pieces, label and date it, and freeze for up to 3 months.

Maple Cured Bacon Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup kosher salt

• 1/3 cup sugar

• 1 ¼ tablespoons pink salt

• 1/4 cup maple syrup

• 3 to 5 pounds pork belly, skin removed

Maple Cured Bacon Directions:

Step 1: In a glass mixing bowl, combine salt, sugar, pink salt, and maple syrup. Put the pork belly in re sealable plastic storage bag. Add the cure, squeeze out any air in the bag, and seal. Smush it around to coat the belly completely. Put the bag in a container just in case it leaks. Refrigerate for 8 days, turning the bag over every other day.

Step 2: After 8 days, remove the pork belly from the cure, rinse thoroughly with cool water, and pat dry with paper towels.

Step 3: Place a wire cooling rack over a baking pan and lay the pork belly on top. If you are going to smoke the pork belly, allow it to dry out in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours or up to overnight. This is important – the meat will not take smoke until the surface is dry. Then fire up your smoker to 200˚F and smoke the belly for 3 hours using your favorite wood. The internal temperature of the meat should reach 150˚F. If you are going to roast the belly, you don’t need to dry it out, simply roast in the oven at 200˚F for 3 hours.

Step 4: Allow the bacon to cool to room temperature. Once it’s cool, wrap well with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks or in the freezer up to 3 months.

(Thanks to Michael Schwartz for allowing us to reprint this recipe)

Ingrid Hoffman’s Delicioso Latin Burger Recipe

Ingrid Hoffman at Burger Bash 2011

Ingrid Hoffman who came to fame on the Food Network and The Cooking Channel now has a program on Univision but probably one of her best known recipes from 2007 is for her Delicioso Latin Burger. It competed in 2011 at the SoBe Wine & Food Festival Burger Bash so you know it must be great :

Ingredients:

• 3/4 pound ground sirloin

• 3/4 pound ground chuck

• 1/2 pound raw chorizo, casings removed and crumbled

• 1 tablespoon adobo seasoning

• 1 large onion, grated

• 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 2 large yellow onions, finely sliced

• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

• 1/2 cup bottled and sliced jalapeno chiles, drained

• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar

• 2 medium jarred roasted red bell peppers, drained

• 3/4 cup mayonnaise

• 6 slices Oaxaca cheese or mozzarella

• 6 hamburger rolls

In a large bowl, mix thoroughly by hand the ground beef, the chorizo, the adobo seasoning, the grated onion and the bread crumbs. Form the burgers into 6 patties without pressing them too much or they can become tough. Line a baking pan with waxed paper and put the burgers side-by-side in a single layer. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. This will help the burgers hold together. If you make more than you need just separate with waxed paper and insert into a storage freezer bag for future use.

To make the Caramelized Onion and Jalapeno Relish:

Heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onions and season with salt and pepper. Add the jalapeno chiles and the brown sugar. Saute for 15 minutes or until the onion and the chiles are caramelized and soft. Set aside.

To make the Red Pepper Mayonnaise:

Drain the roasted red peppers and put them in a blender or food processor. Add the mayonnaise, and season with salt and pepper. Puree the mayonnaise and roasted red peppers until well combined and the mixture is smooth. NOTE: This may be done up to 2 days ahead of time, and in fact the flavor will be more complete with an overnight chilling.

To cook the Latin Burgers:

Preheat an outdoor grill or grill pan on the stove top over medium-high heat. Place the burgers on the hot grill or pan until cooked to desired doneness. Due to the raw chorizo in the recipe, at least medium-well is recommended, approximately 10 minutes on each side. In the last 5 minutes of cooking, top the burgers with the slices of cheese so it can melt. If your grill has a lid, putting it on briefly will help the cheese melt quickly and evenly.

To serve:

Spread about 1 tablespoon of the red pepper mayonnaise on both sides of the rolls. Lay a burger on the bottom halves, and top with a couple of spoonfuls of the caramelized onion and jalapeno relish.

(Thanks to Ingrid Hoffman for allowing us to reprint the recipe)