Greek Burgers

What’s Been Cooked

  • 1 lb ground beef, bison, etc. (the folks prefer bison or grass-fed beef)
  • salt, pepper, or Dizzy Pig Raising the Steaks (Montreal-style) seasoning to taste
  • 1/4 C packed, crumbled feta cheese
  • 2 Tbsp olive tapenade (preferably kalamata)
  • fresh farm tomato (not that mealy, crappy supermarket kind)
  • ciabatta rolls, sliced in half thickness-wise or crusty artisan bread slices

Shape the burger into 2 HUGE or 3 normal patties that match the ciabatta roll or slice shape and season both sides.

Slice the tomato.

Mix the feta and tapenade, roughly 2 parts cheese to 1 part tapenade to make a burger topping. For 2 HUGE half-pound burgers, Mom uses 2 tablespoons of tapenade and 1/4 cup packed, crumbled low to non-fat feta. Not to worry, when she makes them this big she and Dad split one and save the other to reheat for lunch the next day).

Grill the burgers. Right before they are done, put the bread on the grill just long enough to get marks on both sides. Assemble burger on grilled rolls/bread with the feta/tapenade mix and a slice of tomato. These will probably need to be cut in half to handle. Enjoy!

(Mom says you can make your own tapenade by chopping some kalamata olives, a little fresh thyme, capers, and garlic together into fine crumbles and add just enough olive oil to help it bind together. You can add a minced anchovy if you like and you have them.)