Patty Melt Night

With my parents on their weeklong Mexican cruise, we're back to being on our own for dinner again. When asked what they wanted for dinner, the kids said they wanted something "non-Asian" since, as my son put it, "when Grandma gets back, we'll be eating lots of Chinese food again." He felt that we had better get our fill of American food because once my parents get back from their cruise, it'll be Chinese food for another two weeks straight until their departure. He had a point, so I obliged.

I happened to have a couple pounds of thawed lean ground beef so my son suggested that we have hamburgers for dinner but since we didn't have any hamburger buns, I decided to make Patty Melts instead.

If you're not sure what a Patty Melt is, it's basically the fat, artery-clogging sibling of the typical hamburger. It's basically a hamburger patty placed on buttered sourdough or rye bread and stacked with grilled onions and sliced cheddar cheese then pan fried on both sides until golden brown. No, it's not good for you and yes, it tastes really good. Don't make this if you're on a diet or are trying to lose weight. Do make this if you've just won the lottery or just received a promotion and want to reward yourself with some feel-good food. It has no fresh veggies in it so you might as well not even bother putting any on your plate in the form of a salad just so you can feel better about having eaten something healthy along with the Patty Melt. It is what it is. No need to even try. Just go ahead and pile some fries on your plate alongside the Patty Melt. That's a good duo right there.

You want to eat healthy? There's always later. Or tomorrow.

THE PATTY MELT

Makes 4.

Ingredients:

1 lb. of lean ground beef

1 medium onion, diced

4 slices cheddar cheese (or other cheese of choice such as Swiss or Pepper Jack)

8 slices sourdough or rye bread

Salt and pepper

Butter, softened

Method:

Dice the onions then saute them in two tablespoons of butter for about 5 minutes or until caramelized. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Form the ground beef into patties. Try to make them into rectangles, or as the same shape as your toast.

Using the same pan, fry the beef patties over medium heat until browned on both sides and cooked through. Season them generously with salt and pepper as you cook them.

Get your sourdough bread out on a platter. We used two kinds: Green Chile Sourdough and Parmesan Sourdough bread. 

Generously butter one side of each piece of bread.

Lay the bread butter side down and place a hamburger patty on it followed by the grilled onions.

Next, add the cheddar cheese then top with another slice of bread, butter side up.

Pan fry the sandwich on a hot pan over medium heat until golden brown. Flip the sandwich over carefully and repeat with the other side. (This is the Mister's sandwich so he gets double cheese.)

Serve the Patty Melts immediately with a side of fries to complete the artery clogging process.

Look at that gooey melted cheese and grilled onions...yummy!