May is National Hamburger Month and I couldn’t be more excited.  I love burgers, they are one of my all time favorite foods.   To celebrate America’s beefy sandwich I’m going eat and cook burgers all month long.  I will probably need to start taking cholesterol medication as a result, but that’s the lengths I’m willing to go to for quality blog content.
As part of the burger celebration I will be visiting some of favorite local burger joints for for some inspiration and then recreating my version of the burger at home.  Sounds like fun, huh? 

The Holy Cow Burger with Bacon Wings!

The first burger joint on my list is Holy Cow. If there is one word to describe the Holy Cow burgers it would be, FRESH!  From the buns to the toppings everything is fresh. But what really sets their burgers apart is the thick patty of grass feed beef. It has a rich beef flavor that has a slightly sweet taste that is just fantastic!  Add a couple of long thick strips of apple wood smoked bacon and a fried egg and you’ve got yourself a burger to die for.

Cooking Burgers on the BGE over Mesquite Charcoal

After devouring my Holy Cow burger I went out shopping for my burger ingredients with one thought in mind, FRESH.  I picked up a package of bakery buns the ripest, best looking produce I could find. Yet, finding the grass feed beef was a bit of challenge so I settled for organic, hormone free, ground beef, fortunately it had the 85-15 lean to fat ratio I was looking for.  Now I don’t normally buy organic beef, but this stuff was really good. It cooked up really well and had a rich beef flavor that I was looking for.

Topping the Burgers with Blue Cheese

What I really love about the Holy Cow Burgers is the big thick patty that showcases the quality beef.  I also wanted the quality beef to be the star of this show so I formed it into thick 1/2 lbs patties and seasoned them with my Red Chile BBQ Rub.  As for cooking the behemoths, I loaded up the Big Green Egg with mesquite charcoal and fired it up to about 500º.  I cooked the patties for about 15 minutes to an internal temp of 130º. They cooked up perfecty with a nice brown crust on the outside with a pink and juicy middle.

My version of the Holy Cow

I pulled the burgers of the egg and topped them with heaping spoon full of blue cheese and allowed the cheese to melt and the meat to rest for a few minutes.   I assembled my burger and topped it with a couple of strips of my homemade bacon.  And don’t think for a minute I was skimping on my bacon, after that photo was taken I added two more strips.  My lovely wife Cheryl was kind enough to cook up a batch of hand cut fries to accompany our fresh burgers.  After a few more photos it was time to sink my teeth into this beefy creation.  Oh man, was is good, the fresh bun, the homemade bacon, and that big thick patty of quality beef cooked over mesquite charcoal made it one of the best burgers I have ever grilled.  So when your grilling up some burgers this summer, remember “Fresh is best”.