To me the word Summer is synonymous with grilling!  Well, that statement is somewhat misleading as we grill year round in my house.  Summer just means we can grill 5+ days a week, which is no exaggeration.  Heading into Fourth of July weekend, I thought I would share some of my favorite easy grilling recipes.  I stress easy because 4th of July has always been a weekend filled with long days, old and new friends, dinner over the grill and late night fireworks.  Allow the long days to be extra time with family and friends and let the dinner prep be as whimsy and carefree as your mood.

BBQ Bacon Cheddar Burgers

I’m not a chef, but my 3 years as a waitress at a burger joint in college taught me a thing or two – BBQ Bacon Cheddar Burgers was one of those two.

The secret is mixing the ingredients into the burger meat to allow for an even distribution of taste.  This tip will work for any flavor combination:  Blue Cheese Bacon, Southwest, Mushroom Swiss.  I even use this technique with my meatloaf.  That will be a separate post someday.  Tonight I was making BBQ Bacon Cheddar sliders.  The reason I went with sliders is because I had a million little buns leftover from the Vow Renewal.

• 1 lb Ground Hamburger – the fresher the better!
• 1 lb Bacon – we prefer thick cut applewood smoked bacon
• 8 oz. Cheddar Cheese – the sharper the better for me  
• BBQ Sauce
• 1 Medium Onion – 1/4 finely chopped, 3/4 cut into rings
• Butter
• 1 Egg
• Salt & Pepper – optional, the BBQ sauce has salt & pepper, so you might not want to add more 
• Waxed Paper
• Buns

Start making the bacon in whatever fashion you prefer.  I generally fry it, sometimes I bake it in the oven.  I also start to slowly simmer the onion in a couple tablespoons of butter at the same time.

Cut cheese into small cubes.

Thoroughly mix hamburger, cheese cubes, bbq sauce, the finely chopped onion and egg. Play with the amount of BBQ sauce to fit your taste.  The first time you make this I suggest mixing all of the ingredients except the BBQ sauce and break it up into a few smaller batches.  Play with the amount of BBQ sauce in each batch and grill up some small sliders.  Try one of each and decide for yourself.

{ENTERTAINING TIP}  The burger patties can be made ahead of time and refrigerated.  Then you only need to grill on party day.  The onions and bacon could be made ahead of time as well and just warmed up on party day, but for some reason I think those taste a little better when made simultaneously with the burgers.

Preheat grill to high – around 450- 500 degrees.  Put the burgers on, cover and reduce heat to medium.  Let the burgers sizzle.  Placing the burgers on an super hot grill helps the burger seal in the juices and provides great grill lines for looks.

Timing will depend on the size and desired wellness.  I prefer a medium to medium rare – technically called a medium rare plus.  For sliders I have them on the grill for about 2-3 minutes on each side.  For full size burgers I’m closer to 4-5 minutes per side.

Top with fried onion and bacon for the last minute of grilling.  For the real cheese lover, you can top with another piece of cheese to melt in the last minute of cooking.  A star shaped cheese would be cute for the Fourth!

For this instance I served in the red baskets with the checkered liners I used in the picnic the day before.

BBQ Chicken Bacon Provolone

While I occasionally LOVE a good cheeseburger, red meat isn’t always my thing.  I generally prefer chicken or fish.  I’ve used the same BBQ and bacon aspects and replaced hamburger with chicken and cheddar with provolone.

As I mentioned, we are complete grilling nuts!  In this particular instance, I decided to fry the bacon in a pan over the grill.  We were outside enjoying the weather and I didn’t want to go inside to fry bacon.  I couldn’t get the side burner to work (more of our bad luck), so I just placed the pan on the grill.

In the last minute or so in cooking I top the chicken breasts with BBQ sauce, bacon and provolone cheese.

Ryan prefers it on a pretzel bun, which is delicious.  During swimsuit season I ‘try’ to cut back on carbs, so I enjoy as is.  To be honest, the flavors are so bold, I do not miss the bun.

Corn generally serves as the perfect side dish to any summer meal & it can be grilled!

Cheers to long summer days, fun summer nights and dinner on the grill!