Grilled Hamburgers with Blue Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

I love blue-cheese hambugers. You can purchase them in a specialty meat market, but you will pay a premium price. It's important to use ground sirloin/lean ground beef to prevent fire flare ups that will melt away the blue cheese to nothing. When forming the patties, be sure not to taper the edges to prevent burning. You want a thick burger. I like mine served plain with maybe just a smidge of mayo so I can taste the tomatoes, chives and blue cheese. I buy my blue cheese by the wedge to crumble myself. And I save the "tomato water" as the liquid when making rice. Just freeze it in a plastic bag until ready to use. Yea--I'm frugal!


2 pounds uncooked lean ground beef
1/3 to 1/2-cup diced sun-dried tomatoes
6 ounces blue cheese
1/3 cup minced fresh chives
Tobasco (several shakes)
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard



DIRECTIONS:

Pour boiling water over sundried tomatoes and allow to soften. When cool enough to handle, remove tomatoes and squeeze out excess moisture. Dice to measure preferred amount.

In a large bowl, mix the ground beef, sun-dried tomatoes, blue cheese, chives, Tobasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper, salt, and mustard. Cover and refrigerate for several hours.

Preheat an outdoor grill. Firmly form mixture into large, firm patties about 4-5 inches across and at least 1/2-3/4 inch thick. Grill burgers to desired doneness. Serve on rolls.