Burgers and Onions and Cheese, Oh My

We love these onion cheeseburgers. They're easy, quick, tasty, and the right amount of messy. So here's a step-by-step guide. Note: you can follow the same technique to make sliders, just use appropriately sized buns (we prefer Martin's potato rolls, hamburger-sized for the big burgers, dinner roll-sized for the sliders).

Here we go: (1) slice up about 2 onions, really thin. A mandoline, or a good sharp knife, or a cheapo v-slicer, is helpful.

(2) Put a few pretty much unshaped hunks of meat (no bigger than 4 oz or so) in a very hot pan, with a little bit of oil in it.

(3) Top with more onions than seems reasonable. Add some salt and pepper.

(4) Smash down on the patties, so the onions get smashed into the beef, and it sizzles, and things really start cookin'. Cook for a couple minutes, until the bottoms get nice and brown and crusty.

(5) Flip the burgers over. The onions, on the bottom now, cook in the rendered beef fat and get crispy and tender at the same time. Cook for a couple minutes more, til the burgers are just about your desired level of doneness.

(6) Put cheese on top of the patties. Look, I think processed American cheese is absolutely awful most of the time. But it's the only cheese to use here. I promise.

(7) Put the top bun on top of the cheese, and the bottom bun on top of the top bun.

(8) Add in a bit of liquid - water is fine, beef or chicken stock can work too. Then toss a lid on, so the whole thing (thanks to the liquid) steams - the cheese gets nice and gooey, the bun gets soft, the onions get even awesomer.

(9) Take the bottom buns, and put the burger/onion/cheese/top bun on top of it. Add whatever you like - ketchup, pickles, etc. If you feel like you owe your body something healthy once in a while, pile a salad next to the burgers.

(10) Dig in!