The Pioneer Woman: Favorite Burgers

As much as I am a Californian at heart, there's something I love about the country. "Country" to me, in California, is the suburbs. I don't mind driving 10 minutes to the supermarket, and I hope one day I will have to. I am not a city girl at all. And, because of that, I love following the Pioneer Woman's blog. Ree Drummond, who lives in Oklahoma with her husband and four kids on a cattle farm, has the most wonderful blog. She focuses on "Confessions," or life around the farm, "Cooking," which features the most wonderful homemade recipes, "Photography," "PW Home and Garden," and "Homeschooling."

While I love all of her posts, the foodie in me adores her cooking section. For the last month, I've been hankering for a cast iron skillet, just so I can make some of the recipes she does. On Sunday, I broke down about bought myself a 12-inch pre-seasoned cast iron skillet from Lodge Logic, which Ree recommends. I've used it twice now: once to make the most fabulous grilled cheese (melty on the inside and crunchy crisp on the outside, mmmm...), and once to make Ree's favorite burgers, which I highly recommend making at your soonest opportunity. You can get the recipe here: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/01/my-most-favorite-burger-ever-for-now/
I highly recommend making these burgers. Tonight. Seriously.
I'm not a big blue cheese fan, but I tried it as the recipe calls for. Oh man, these burgers are heavenly and quite possibly the best burgers I've ever eaten. Ever in my life.

The spiciness of the Tabasco in the meat, combined with the sweetness of the caramelized onions and the tangy saltiness of the blue cheese nearly made me cry when I was eating it. The combination is seriously an explosion of beautiful flavors. My husband, who always loves my cooking so is semi-biased but wouldn't lie, literally couldn't speak. When he did, he said, "Wow, you're awesome." And later, "This burger made me fall in love with you all over again."

So, thanks, Ree. I'll be making these again very soon!