Men, Children and Onions

I heard an expression the other day that only a few things were worth crying over - Men, Children and Onions! Ever have one of those days that you just need some comfort food? Today was one of those days, I really needed something incredibly tasty and maybe just a little "walk on the wild side" to make. I LOVE ONIONS! I said it- There really isn’t anything else that can substitute for that sweet, caramelized onion taste. A new burger recipe, Caramelized Onion Butter Burgers, was just what I needed!

The burgers are very easy to make. The first step is to slice 3 large onions - 1 yellow, 1 white and 1 red very thinly. This should yield about 7 1/2 cups of sliced onion. I know the technical term here is "A whole lotta". This is one of those times I wished I had one of those garden and home show vegetable mandolin slicers. You know…it slices, it dices, it juliennes! However, I don’t. So I just started thinly slicing, and truth be told I’m not sure, in total, how many cups it took, I really couldn’t see through the tears. The amount can vary. I just sliced up all 3 onions.

Grab a large skillet and melt 4 tablespoons of Butter with Olive Oil & Sea Salt - what a great idea for a cooking butter!

When the Butter with Olive Oil & Sea Salt starts to sizzle, add the onions to the skillet. Cook the onions on medium-high heat. Oh, by the way when I started to cook the onions, I noticed that the kids were picking up toys and my husband was emptying the dishwasher. I think they were too scared to ask if I was ok, they just started cleaning when they saw me "crying". I was totally fine, just a few onion tears (but don’t tell them that!).

Next add in 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to the onions.

Continue cooking the onions, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to soften. It will take about 15 minutes and they will start to look like this:

When the onions start to soften, stir in 2 teaspoons sugar. Keep stirring frequently - don’t forget to scrape the pan for all the amazing brown bits on the bottom of the skillet. This is what real cooking smells like! Continue cooking about 20 - 25 minutes until onions are golden brown. Then stir in 1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar.

Remove onions from pan, set aside in a bowl and cover them to keep warm.
In another bowl place 1 pound lean ground beef. Add in 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce.

Then sprinkle the meat with 1/2 teaspoon salt and a 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

Next, with your hands mix the burger mixture or feel free to delegate that task to whoever failed to do chores that day. When the meat is mixed, shape into 8 patties like this:

In the same skillet you cooked the onions in, melt 2 tablespoons Butter with Olive Oil & Sea Salt and melt until sizzling.

Place patties into skillet.

Cook for about 5 - 6 minutes, then flip burgers over to cook throughout; mine usually take about 12 - 13 minutes in total.
When the burgers are just about done, take the onions you set aside and place them back into the skillet with the burgers to heat the onions throughout.

You can almost taste how good these are going to be. The smell is amazing - I feel like my own personal extreme burger chef at this point. Take 8 silver dollar or dinner rolls and cut each roll open. Place a patty on each bun.

Top with onions like this, in my book the more the better!

Then place the top bun on the burger and serve immediately!

Nothing says comfort food to me better than a great burger and with these Caramelized Onion Butter Burgers (sliders), mission accomplished! Enjoy!

Come back in a few days when Amanda will share a spicy taco recipe.

Alex is paid to write for the Land O’Lakes Recipe Buzz® Blog.