Earlier at the start of the lockdown, I went through a very elaborate effort to make burgers including making the buns and patties from scratch. It tasted great but it was oh so, exhausting. Then, I was flipping through my Cravings Hungry for More cookbook last week and I discovered a recipe that I’d never paid attention to before. It was a Crispy Bacon & Sweet Pickle Patty Melt. I tried it out a couple of times and I loved it so now I’m happy to share my adapted version of Chrissy’s original recipe. If you’re trying to make the exact original recipe, you can find it on Google.

Ingredients

Serves one

• 90 grams ground beef

• 2 slices bacon (cooked)

• 1/8 medium onion (finely chopped)

• 2 small garlic cloves (minced)

• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (a little more if you’d like)

• 1/2 teaspoon of cajun spice (optional)

• 2 slices of cheese (cheddar preferably)

• Butter

• Oil (any neutral oil is fine like canola, vegetable, groundnut)

Method

1. Cook the bacon according to your preferred method until crispy. I used the hairdryer for about 8 minutes to achieve that. Cut the bacon into small bits but cutting lengthwise first and then cutting the two strips into smaller pieces that are about 1cm or less.

2. Combine the onion, garlic, spices, bacon and ground beef in a bowl and mix it all together using your hands. When I used a spoon to do it, I found that the spices and other ingredients weren’t well distributed so just use your hands.

3. Form a thin patty by forming the meat into a ball and then press it flat and as much into a square as you can. I prevent cross-contamination by having a clean flat plate ready to set the formed patty on it and washing my hands immediately after handling raw meat. Flat is important can you’re going to use a spatula to slide it on to the hot pan when that’s ready to avoid touching the meat with your later clean hands.

4. Heat some vegetable oil in a heavy pan and let it get really hot.

5. Once it’s hot, using a spatula (or sliding it), transfer your patty into the hot pan and cook for 2 - 3 minutes on each side. Pressing down from time to time as it tends to shrink while cooking and you don’t want it to be a ball in the middle of your bread.

6. While the patty is cooking, generously butter one side of bread each (I sometimes do both sides cause I love butter.

7. Remove the patty from the frying pan when it’s cooked.

8. Reduce the heat on the frying pan to a low medium and add the buttered bread. Toast both sides for like 30 seconds.

9. Layer one slice with cheese, patty, then cheese. Top with the second slice of bread.

10. Cook for 2 - 3 minutes on each side till bread is golden brown and the cheese is melted.

11. Eh voila, you’re done. Serve warm.