Fig-Glazed Burgers with Red Onion Jam

Southern Living (July 2010)

As we've noted several times before, we're always on the lookout for a great new spin on grilled burgers.

So we were extremely excited to see these Fig-Glazed Burgers with Red Onion Jam in the current issue of Southern Living. The promise of a tart onion jam touched with a hint of sweetness from the fig preserves, topped off with creamy, smooth Muenster cheese seemed like the perfect topping for a smoky grilled hamburger.

We did make one error, though, that nudged these burgers slightly toward the "Dessert" category.

We used a whole jar of fig preserves.

Well, okay. Not exactly. But the recipe calls for 3 tablespoons of jam, to be glazed on four hamburger patties.  When Zach was tending to the grill, he called out to Clay, "How much of the preserves am I supposed use, again?" And Clay called back, "Three tablespoons."  Well, Zach thought he meant three tablespoons...per burger. So he set about glopping great little gobs of preserves on each patty before smothering the burgers in cheese.

By the time dinner was ready, Zach had gone through most of a jar of preserves (to be fair, we were making 10 burgers instead of four, since we had guests joining us).

So the burgers were quite sweet.

Honestly, though, we don't think our guests even noticed. The mix of flavors was still terrific, and the sweetness from the fig preserves -- and the onion jam itself, which develops a nice "tart sweetness" of its own -- made for one delicious burger.

Note 1:  As always, we ground our own beef for this. In addition to the health risks of pre-packaged, store-bought ground beef (which you can read more about here), grinding your own meat just makes for much tastier burgers. We always rely on Mark Bittman's method of freezing the meat just slightly, then grinding it in a food processor. For these burgers, we used a mix of sirloin and chuck steak meat. Pack the meat just enough to keep it together: The looser the burgers, the better they'll taste.

Note 2:  For the life of us, we can't figure out why this recipe indicates that it takes "52 minutes" to cook these burgers. In addition to being oddly specific, it's just way more time than is actually required to make these. If you've got one person manning the jam, and another one grilling the burgers, you can have these on the table in under a half hour, even if you do freeze and grind your own meat.

Anyway, if you're looking for a way to jazz up a burger, this is a sure winner. (Just don't go overboard on the preserves!)

Fig-Glazed Burgers with Red Onion Jam
Southern Living (July 2010)
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Total: 52 minutes

Yield: Makes 4 servings (serving size: 1 burger)

RED ONION JAM

    •    4  cups  thinly sliced red onions (about 2 medium)
    •    1  teaspoon  olive oil
    •    1/4  cup  sugar
    •    1/4  cup  red wine vinegar
    •    3/4  teaspoon  chopped fresh thyme  

CHEESEBURGERS

    •    Vegetable cooking spray
    •    1 1/2  pounds  ground round
    •    2  tablespoons  chopped fresh oregano
    •    1  teaspoon  salt
    •    1/4  teaspoon  garlic powder
    •    3  tablespoons  fig preserves
    •    4  (1/2-oz.) Muenster cheese slices
    •    4  hamburger buns, toasted

Preparation

1. Prepare Onion Jam: Sauté onions in hot oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat 10 minutes. Reduce heat to low; stir in sugar, vinegar, and thyme. Cover and cook 10 minutes or until onion is very tender. Keep warm.

2. Prepare Burgers: Coat cold cooking grate of grill with vegetable cooking spray, and place on grill. Preheat grill to 350° to 400° (medium-high) heat. Gently stir together ground round and next 3 ingredients. Shape mixture into 4 (1/2-inch-thick) patties.

3. Grill patties, covered with grill lid, 5 minutes on each side. Top with preserves and cheese; grill 2 minutes or until beef is no longer pink in center and cheese is melted. Serve burgers on buns with desired amount of Red Onion Jam.

Comments

[via_ostiense]

Mmm the onion jam sounds great! Not sure what else I'd eat it with, though. Maybe a grilled steak? How long does it keep?

[Zach @ The Bitten Word]

@via-ostiense: I think the jam would keep at least a week in the refrigerator. It would be very good on steak! Also chicken, and I think it would be extremely tasty on pork.

[Natalie]

I love the idea of jam on burgers. I make excellent southwest turkey burgers with a hot red pepper jelly addition. People always look at you a little funny when you mention it, but adding jam is so fantastic.

Thanks for another great burger recipe to try!

[Zach @ The Bitten Word]

@Natalie: Your turkey burger and pepper jelly recipe sounds amazing! I've got to try that...

[Cookware Hampshire]

These look brilliant, certainly a unique take on something most would consider quite 'standard'. I'm having a barbecue in a couple of weeks so I might give these a go. Thanks for sharing!

John.

[fotographiafoodie]

Red onion Jam. That sounds amazing. Almost like a non-spicy chutney. I have to try this - I love sweet and savory meals. Thanks!

[Val]

Here's my grandma's lamb burger: ground lamb (2lbs), half an onion, 2-3 garlic cloves, one raw potato, parsley, plenty of mint, salt and pepper. Process all together (except for meat) until almost pulpy, mix with meat, grill: amazing. You can add some feta cheese over the meat after it is done cooking but that's all you need.

[Cher]

That sounds fantastic! I can't wait to try it!

[amelia from ztastylife]

oh: they look tantalizingly sweet (in all the meaning of sweet: slang and dictionary):)

[andrea @ Food Not Fuss]

These sound great! I'm head over heels for anything that combines sweet and savoury, so I actually think I'd dig your heavy handed preserve application. :)

[Damaris]

red onion jam? really? Love it

[Eric]

Made these Monday night with Bison meat instead of beef and put them on fresh baked kaiser rolls that I grilled lightly, and I served them with a side of freshly grilled veggies.

The bison was fantastic--lighter and in my view far more flavorful than beef would have been--and I think it was a nicer consistency for the overall sandwich. I've found beef burgers--even those I don't work too much--to be a bit dense or ...hard. The bison was strong enough to hold together on the grill but light enough to almost melt in your mouth. I'm thinking about grinding some duck to use next time and switching it up with cranberry preserves or orange marmalade. I've also got some ground venison from last season that I'll likely try with blueberry preserves. Oh the possibilities this one recipe has sparked Thanks for posting this one on your blog, Zach; it's definitely a keeper.

[Foodiewife]

I made a LOT of fig jam, last year. I've been scratching my head on different ways to use it. You two are GENIUS and I'm so glad I found your blog. First, I forgot all the technique of grinding our own meat. I am SO going to start doing this, even though I shop at Whole Foods. We love burgers-- OMG, I'm making this with beef...then with lamb... thanks so much for the inspiration!
Debby

[PmmeDG]

I suspect the noted, "52 minutes," was a simple transposition of, "25," when they posted the original recipe.

[Wizzythestick]

Wow, I never would have thought to put jam of any kind on my burgers. Now that you've suggested it, I'm thinking why not!

[Kathryn]

That burger looks amazing! You should submit the recipe to the Recipe4Living Juiciest Burger Recipe Contest here: http://www.recipe4living.com/articles/the_juiciest_burger_recipe_contest.htm

[Jeanette]

We loved the Onion Jam. It was a keeper that is for sure. I used a similar burger recipe, only it had some worchestershire in it. We served it all on Rosemary Foccocia. Yum. Thanks for a great recipe.

Jeanette

[Heather]

I was married just last weekend on a camping trip in the mountains of Central Idaho. I saved this recipe to make for dinner the day after the ceremony after all of our guests had departed and only our immediate families remained at the campground. Everyone looked at me like I was insane when they found out what I was making. But, these burgers didn't disappoint. Every single person loved them. I will turn them into foodies yet! :)