Big, fat, juicy burgers, seared in a skillet and finished with a covered steam.

Big, Fat, Juicy Skillet Burgers

I don't know about you, but I don't just crave a good burger in the summer. I crave them all year round and especially after the big turkey and ham holidays.

While grilling isn't all that seasonal down here in the Deep South to begin with, there are times when the wind is whipping up some chilly air, and we aren't fond of standing out in that, any more than we are the sweltering humidity of high summer. Or, we just don't feel like hauling everything outside. I grill plenty of burgers, but I sure do love doing them in a skillet too, and this is my favorite method.

 

Cajun Pork and Shrimp Burgers made with onion, bell pepper and celery, the Trinity of Cajun vegetables, Cajun seasonings and a blend of raw ground shrimp and pork.

Cajun Pork and Shrimp Burgers

Pork rules in the south, that's for certain.

Part of that comes from the fact that back in the day, just about everybody raised their own hogs, and believe you me, every part of that pig was utilized in some form.

These days we pretty much get our pork from the grocery store like most the rest of y'all, but pork still rules down in this part of The South.

A diner classic, Patty Melts are made with very thin, oval shaped burger patties, and served on thin grilled rye bread, with caramelized onion, and Swiss cheese. Just amazingly delicious!

Classic Patty Melt

Patty melts have been around forever and are a classic diner food, but I don't hear much about them anymore. I happen to love them though and what's not to love? A thin burger - read that again, thin burger - on grilled rye with caramelized onion, sandwiched between melted cheese - it's pretty much good ole comfort food.  When's the last time you had one?

To me a good Cowboy Burger should have a smoky element and a spicy element - Worcestershire, BBQ & steak sauce, just a dash of Liquid Smoke, and a bit of cayenne and chipotle chili powder. Top it with thick cut peppered bacon.

Cowboy Burgers

I love burgers on the grill and there are about a million ways to make them I suppose. Some people are burger purists - insisting that burgers must be meat and nothing more, putting all of the additional flavors on top of the cooked burger.  Others don't mind mixing flavor accents right into their burgers. I personally like burgers both ways, and this recipe is one of those mix-in types.

I have no idea how Cowboy Burgers came to be named, but I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with football and everything to do with hard working ranch hands. They do usually involve some element of steak sauce and bacon at minimum.

Grilled Pimento Cheese Turkey Burger with POM Coca-Cola Glaze

 

A moist flavorful turkey burger, filled with sweet onion, apple, pepper jelly, fresh herbs, a touch of oatmeal and finished with a pomegranate glaze, pimento cheese and coleslaw.

Turkey Burger with POM-Cola Glaze

I represented POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice in the POM Wonderful Recipe Battle with a Take 2 rematch against another blogger representing Coach's Oats. The recipes were required to be both savory and summertime BBQ related, and make use of both products.

I have certainly shared my love of POM Wonderful, it's amazing antioxidant properties and great taste, both straight up out of the bottle and as an ingredient in beverages and cooking, but Coach's Oats were new to me. Well, I know that some of you are big fans of steel cut oats, so I tell ya, these are definitely worth a look y'all. Imagine a 100% whole grain oatmeal with the texture of steel cut, that is stovetop ready in 5 minutes, and can also be microwaved! Yep! Not 30 to 45 minutes - but only 5 minutes - thanks to a special process called Cracked n' Toasted™.

Delicious little mini burgers made with very thin meat patties, melted cheese and real minced onion.

Homemade Mini Burger Beef Sliders

These aren't an authentic copycat of the original White Castle sliders, because I haven't actually ever had a White Castle slider. They weren't a part of my south, though we did have Krystal's little yummy burgers. They sure were a favorite late night after-party snack after a long night of dancing back in the days of disco.

Yes, y'all... I am that old. In the craziness of the world we currently live in, I actually kinda miss those days a bit.

The Grilled All-American Burger

The good ole classic All-American Burger to me means a good ground chuck beef burger, pickles, tomato, grilled onion, mayo, mustard and ketchup on a toasted bun & topped with bacon and cheese, if you like. 

Grilled All-American Burger

Saturday was a gardening day so supper had to be simple. Grilled burgers and southern style potato salad.  Grilled corn on the cob would be good too, but we just had that the night before {and yeah, I know, that's a lot of starches} so I settled on the burger and tater salad and it was plenty.

Oh, well, there might have been a bit of leftover banana pudding involved there too. 

Country Bob's Pepper Jack Stuffed Burgers

 

Burgers stuffed with Pepper Jack cheese and flavored with an all-purpose sauce like Country Bob's.

Pepper Jack Stuffed Burgers

I got this idea from my Mother-in-Law, when she made some stuffed burgers that she had seen in an issue of Woman's World magazine. They were delicious!

I had won a couple bottles of Country Bob's sauce, which I had never tried before, and the wheels started turning. I thought, "hey, I'll bet I can make something like this using some of that Country Bob's sauce!"

So, I took the general idea of that recipe and came up with this one. They turned out excellent and got a big thumb's up from The Cajun.

Juicy and delicious onion burgers made with an envelope of onion soup mix (or equivalent homemade), tomato sauce and Worcestershire are a long loved classic.

Classic Onion Burgers

I do love a grilled burger, and like many of you, I've been making these burgers for years. It just produces a tender, yummy burger full of onion flavor - by far one of my favorite ways to eat a grilled burger.

A simple packet of onion soup mix provides all the onion flavor you need (or you can make up your own homemade version of the packet too), the Worcestershire sauce gives it a tasty punch and the tomato sauce - my change from the water in the original recipe - helps to keep the burger nice and moist.

Yummy Loose Meat Hamburger Sandwich

Dry onion soup mixed with ketchup, mustard and sweet pickles, combined with cooked ground beef, makes this loose meat sandwich sort of like a deconstructed hamburger.

Loose Meat Hamburger Sandwich

I just love this Hamburger Sandwich! Kind of like a cross between a po'boy and a sloppy joe, it's a loose meat sandwich with all of the flavors of the typical All American Burger packaged in a saucy ground beef.