| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 35 min |
| Active: | 25 min |
| Yield: | 4 burgers |
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 teaspoon canola oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 8 slices sharp Cheddar
- 4 potato hamburger buns
- 4 leaves Bibb lettuce
- 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 4 slices tomato
- 6 tablespoons Special Sauce, recipe follows
- 4 kosher dill half-sour pickle spears
- 1/2 cup spiced ketchup, such as Sir Kensington’s
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup finely minced cornichons
- 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
- 1 teaspoon finely minced shallots
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Place a small piece of plastic wrap inside of a 4-inch ring cutter. Place about 8 ounces of the ground beef onto the plastic and lightly press into the mold just to flatten a touch. Repeat with the remainder of the ground beef.
- In a cast-iron pan, heat the oil until it begins to smoke. Sprinkle the burger patties lightly with salt and pepper and place into the hot pan. Sear the burgers, about 4 minutes, on one side. Flip and top each with 2 slices of the cheese. For medium rare, cook another 4 minutes on the other side. Remove the burgers from the pan and rest the meat, 10 minutes.
- In the meantime, toast the buns; place them cut-side down in the hot pan until lightly golden brown. In a medium bowl, toss the lettuce leaves with the red wine vinegar, olive oil and some salt and pepper.
- To assemble, place a burger atop the bottom half of each bun, top with a lettuce leaf and slice of tomato. Spread each bun top with some Special Sauce, and then serve with a pickle spear.
- Combine the ketchup, mayonnaise, cornichons, horseradish and shallots together and season with some salt and pepper.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 4 servings |
| Calories | 1164 |
| Total Fat | 86 g |
| Saturated Fat | 28 g |
| Carbohydrates | 40 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 5 g |
| Sugar | 13 g |
| Protein | 56 g |
| Cholesterol | 210 mg |
| Sodium | 1069 mg |
Reviews
Not sure how this doesn’t have more reviews. If I ever make burgers for company this is what I make. People RAVE! I love what the vinegar with the lettuce adds. And I love the special sauce. And I love using a combination of brisket and chuck. All over a good recipe.
The BEST burger! I made these for a family gathering and now everyone is requesting them when we get together. I am not a huge fan of hamburgers, I find myself craving these ones. Thank you for another great recipe!
Saw the episode where this burger was made a few days ago and made it for dinner tonight. It was awesome! Followed as many of the tips that I could, even bought a cast iron skillet. Not compacting the meat was a very good tip and worked well. Seasoning every layer really made the difference. Didn’t have horseradish or shallots, so I added some pressed garlic to the sauce; yumm! Gave it a nice zesty-ness. “G Z’s Ugly Burger” came out soooo tasty. This will definitely be my new go to burger recipe & method.
I watched this show today and J.Z. says he makes 6 oz burgers not 8. Once he forms the patties he chills them. This step is left out of the recipe.
He likes toasted English Muffins for the buns (not potato buns) that he grills in the fat from the burger after he takes the burgers off the grill. He puts a little salt and pepper on the buns as well before assembling the burgers.
He likes toasted English Muffins for the buns (not potato buns) that he grills in the fat from the burger after he takes the burgers off the grill. He puts a little salt and pepper on the buns as well before assembling the burgers.
This burger was quite tasty, but a little too greasy for those of us with touchy stomachs. I must say though, the special sauce was so outstanding, that we had to save some for my husband to have on a wedge of lettuce as well. And, I do like the fact that I didn’t need to put any egg in the burger to bind it – just straight meat. Thanks Mr. Zakarian
Ooooooooooooooooooooo….I love the special sauce recipe here. Now this is a burger!
The best ever! I’ve made it many times. It’s been best with 80 / 20 ground beef.