Burger Throw down!!

Last weekend, my husband's work friends came over for a BURGER THROW DOWN!

It was so much fun, and such good food - there were all kinds of burgers... but our camera was (always is) on the fritz ~ so I am posting the pictures that are actually focused.

There were burgers stuffed with portobello mushrooms, sauteed white onion and marscapone cheese (one of my favorites...)

Another burger was blended with steak sauce and smeared with a jalapeno ranch secret sauce and topped with spicy pepper relish and sat on a hawaiian bread sandwich roll.

The winning burger (I know, I can't believe I didn't get a good picture of it) was made with ground rib-eye, smeared with a horseradish cream sauce and topped with sauteed mushrooms and swiss cheese. The rib-eye was so rich and delicious and the sauteed mushrooms were very flavorful.

I hope these burgers inspire you to make something a little different...

The health-nuts of the group made this one. It was a bison burger - with some dried cranberries in the burger (sounds weird, but was really good), topped with spinach, sprouts, avocado, red onion... They cooked it perfectly, it was very tender.

These were lamb burgers/sliders. Mixed inside the meat was chopped mint and some garlic. They were cooked over a charcoal BBQ instead of the gas grill. Then topped with feta, rosemary and more mint, and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. The marble rye bread was brushed with olive oil and lemon zest and broiled. Again - cooked perfectly and so many fresh flavors.

This was one of my husbands burgers -- inspired by a Cricket Burger he had on his trip to Denver, CO recently. It was a half pound burger of lean ground beef, seasoned with tapatio sauce, salt & pepper. Then topped with (gulp) cream cheese and fresh diced jalapenos! The spicy hot was cooled by the creamy cream cheese... good job babe!

ok, this is the other burger entry by my husband - inspired by our favorite appetizer at our favorite family restaurant, Outback Steak House.

Again, a half pound burger made with lean ground beef seasoned the same way. Then topped with (drum roll, please!), CHEESE FRIES!! French fries fried to golden perfection (by me), then smoked cheddar and crumbled bacon were piled on top. He popped them under the broiler to melt the cheese a bit... ooohhh -- heart attack on a plate, but so good!