It's what's inside that counts

Sometimes a hamburger is just a hamburger - your basic weeknight meal from ground meat seared to your personal preference of doneness placed on a bun and served with sides.  And that's pretty much what I served for last night's meal.  Sort of.  I'd like to say that the meat was something more exotic than that of the bovine variety in the 85/15 fat range (any more and it's greasy any less and the burgers are dry IMHO) but it was indeed cow.  I wanted to try something a little fun though so after adding some seasoned salt I took half of one patty and made it flat and took a slice of cheese and folded it into a small pillow and stuck it in the middle and then from the other half of the ball of meat I made another flat patty for a top - basically sandwiching the cheese inside and then smooshed the edges down so the cheese wouldn't ooze out.  I know this is certainly not a novel idea, but it was pretty cool for the kids to see.  One point I'd make is that pan frying seemed to work better at keeping the cheese inside rather than the George Foreman (it oozed). 

I made Pretzel Buns to serve it on

NOW one point on this - they are a major PITA!  Lot's of fussing and futzing but hey, they were really good (so I heard - again the no wheat thing!)

I have a great breadmaker so I used it for the dough part most of the way. 
Take
1 1/3 cup warm water
1/2 cup brown sugar
pinch of salt
2 T of warm milk
4 cups of flour
1 package of yeast

let the machine work for at least 30 minutes set to dough cycle

cut your blob into 12 equal balls and roll out onto about 2 oiled cookie sheets then oil up some plastic to cover and then cover with a towel.  Let them rise again in a warm place.  About 30 minutes or a little more.    Heat up a big pot with 2 quarts of water and bring to a boil with 1/2 cup baking soda.  Take the buns - only a couple at a time and boil for about a minute - turning them with a slotted spoon.  When they are all done and well drained - REGREASE your cookie sheet and put them on this pan and salt with kosher or sea salt and bake at 350 until they look done (about 8-10 minutes but your mileage may vary).  DO not over bake them - they aren't as good.

I made baked homemade potato chips (thinly slice potatoes on a mandolin -  soak in water  - drain and bake at 400 until crisp)

Salad and you are set to eat!  I ate my stuffed avocado burger wrapped in a lettuce leaf and as per normal made a huge slippery mess of it - but it was worth it!  Enjoy!