First cookout of the year

Who would have ever thought that it'd be over St. Paddy's Day weekend?!

Unheard of to have sunshine and 77 degrees in mid-March here,

but I will take it!

Today's recipe shall be called:

French Onion Burgers with Mushrooms & Fontina

Yummy.

Ingredients

Burgers:

1 lb lean sirloin

Seasoning salt (like Lawry's) and pepper, to taste

4 kaiser or brioche buns, toasted

Topping:

1 red onion, chopped

4 oz white button mushrooms (half package), thinly sliced

Dash cayenne pepper

Salt, pepper, herbes de Provence (to taste)

1 tsp sugar

1/4 c water or stock

Fontina cheese, shredded (enough to top 4 burgers)

(Any quality, white, melting cheese could be substituted.  Example:  Gruyere, provolone, mozzarella)

Sauce:

1/2 c light mayo

~1/4 c finely chopped parsley

2 cloves garlic, minced (4 if they're small!)

1 tsp mustard

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

Salt, to taste

Directions

Shape your sirloin into 4 patties.

Tip:  Make an indent in the center of each patty...this helps prevent them puffing up into a ball-like shape and being too small for your buns.  (You can thank Rachel Ray, the self-acclaimed Burger Queen, for that one.)

Season with seasoning salt and pepper, to taste.

Set aside.  (Or in the fridge if you're planning on grilling later.)

Make your topping.

Saute onions in olive oil for approximately 7 minutes, or until soft and slightly browned.

Season with dash of cayenne pepper, and salt and pepper to taste.

Add mushrooms.

After approximately 1 minute,

add 1/4 c of liquid (water or stock) and teaspoon of sugar.

Cook for an additional 6 minutes or so, until mushrooms are tender.

Set aside in a small bowl until you are ready for it.

Note:  If grilling later, you can re-heat in the microwave to ensure a warm topping.

Shred cheese.

Meanwhile, make the sauce.

Mix mayo, parsley, garlic, mustard, salt & pepper together well.

Set aside.

Fire up your grill to medium-high heat.

Grill burgers for a total of 7 minutes, flipping once.

Then, add a generous spoonful of the topping to each burger.

Top with shredded fontina cheese.

Cover the grill and let cook for an additional minute or so.

(Until the cheese is ooey gooey!)

Meanwhile, toast your buns.

Spread the sauce on one (or both) sides.

Assemble, and enjoy!!

So garlicky and good.

(Reminds me of "The Dane Burger" for those of you who have been lucky enough to try one at the Great Dane in Madison, WI.)

Serve with your favorite veggie salad, chips, & cold beverage.

(We thought the sea salt and cracked black pepper kettle chips were a perfect fit.)

And why not a festive St. Patrick's Day brownie? 

Mmmmm.

While you've got the grill going,

you might as well go ahead and cook up some brats & sausages for the next day.

:)

Hope the sunshine and heatwave lasts!

Cheers to the rest of a fabulously relaxing weekend, m'dears.

P.S.  GO BADGERS!!

Who are you rooting for in this year's NCAA tourney?

~photos by b~