Mushroom Blue Cheese Burgers

I love how one ingredient can spark so many recipe ideas in my head. Last week, I bought an excess of mushrooms and wanted to use them in a recipe to get rid of them quickly. I haven't ever made stuffed mushrooms before so I wanted to make those, but I definitely was not going to be able to eat up so many stuffed mushrooms by myself, so I made only a fraction of the recipe. (Expect a recipe for those soon!) I decided to make burgers with the remaining 8 oz mushrooms. It's been a while since I've made some burgers and since I've had beef, actually! These are originally made with ground turkey, but I've been eating turkey sausages for breakfast so I thought I'd go for the beef instead.

I discovered, while in Paris, that I'm not a fan of stinky cheeses eaten as a block. I ordered a Roquefort crepe and it had just a huge chunk of the cheese inside. The smell was so intense that I could not bear to finish the whole thing. Then, this summer I got Panera's Chicken Cobb Salad for lunch every day and that had blue cheese crumbles. Crumbles worked better for me because I could taste just a bit of the strong blue cheese in every bite.



That was how it was with this burger. I increased the amount of cheese from 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup, which was a good decision... It was just enough. I could still taste the mushrooms and the beef without getting an overpowering taste of the cheese. I love it! I also baked the burger instead of cooking it on the skillet. I wanted to cook it in the morning so it would still be somewhat warm by lunchtime. Since I'm the only one up at 6:30, I didn't want to make too much noise. Baking was the quietest and easiest way for me to get my burger cooked. I did 28 minutes in the oven, flipping once, and it came out medium well. I can't wait to try this again but with different kinds of cheese!



Mushroom Blue Cheese Burgers
Adapted from Allrecipes

- 1 lb ground beef
- 8 oz fresh mushrooms, finely chopped
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the ground turkey, mushrooms, onion, soy sauce, and blue cheese. Season with kosher salt and pepper. Form into 4 burger patties.
2. Bake at 375F for 30 minutes, turning once. If cooking on the stove top, heat skillet to medium heat. Add patty and cook for 7 to 8 minutes on each side, or until meat is cooked through.