Cordon Blucy Burgers to Tailgate To: A Juicy Lucy Twist

Prosciutto and Gruyère stuffed and grilled into the center of the cheeseburger, creating an oozing center of delicious to your Juicy Lucy tailgate eats. Try this along with a side of Bush’s Boston Recipe Baked Beans for a complete tailgating meal.

Tailgating in the summer is easy. It’s often done in t-shirts and flip-flops, and the variety of food available is vast. Nothing more than a few hot dogs or a thin cheeseburgers are required for a main course and they can be casually ingested on a balmy afternoon.

The same cannot be said for late fall or winter sports. To tailgate a football or hockey game your preparation needs to be a bit more tactical. Wimpy hot dogs can turn into meat-sicles in a matter of minutes and that puny quarter-pounder can turn into a hockey puck before you sit down. Luckily, however, there is a little known Minnesota specialty that just so happens to be the perfect fit for a crisp autumn tailgating session.

As the story goes, two bars on the same street in Minneapolis both claim to be the original inventor of what’s known as the Juicy Lucy (or the Jucy Lucy). It consists of a generous portion of cheese pressed between two uncooked hamburger patties and then fried on the flat top until the cheese transforms into a molten core. A trip to Minneapolis is not complete without consuming at least one of these.

It turns out, this technique lends itself perfectly to outdoor, cold weather cooking because the volcanic cheese will keep the burger hot for an extended period of time, even when the air temperature is quite low. This translates to a more pleasurable and leisure dining experience in the presence of cold air. Another plus is that all of the hard work can be done before hand thus making it easier for the cook on game day. Add a side of baked beans, and your tailgate meal is complete.

Today, we’ll be making something we like to call a Cordon Blucy. This borrows flavors from the classic cordon bleu palate, by using a slightly sweet and savory Gruyère cheese and salty chopped prosciutto on the inside and a topping of tangy Dijon mayonnaise and baby arugula, which pair perfectly with the sweet and rich Boston Recipe from Bush’s. All the steps prior to grilling can be done beforehand in the comfort of your own home and packaged for later use in the parking lot of your choice.

For each burger, slice up about 1 ½ ounces of cheese, chop about 3 slices of prosciutto and gently form out two quarter pound patties, being sure to make them fairly thin. Place the cheese and prosciutto on top of one patty, and then cover with the other. Here is the important part. Lovingly press the edges of the patties together making sure to completely seal in the cheese. Any breach between the pocket and the outside will result in your cheese being lost as an offering to the grill. Nobody wants that, so take care when sealing the burgers. And they’re ready for the trip to the big game.

WARNING! When you pull the burger off the grill, it is not time to eat. Your burger needs to rest for a good five to ten minutes, although the outside air temperature will determine the exact rate of cooling. Nobody wants a mouthful of burning cheese. Give it a minute to come down to a reasonable temperature.

So take a few minutes, breath deeply, and prepare to enjoy a big bite of Minnesota food heritage, a hearty burger that will stay warm, and keep you warm during the cold months of the year.

This post was sponsored by Bush’s Beans. Their Baked Beans make a great side dish for your tailgating session. Opinions, recipes and photos are my own. You can get more tailgating in with these sweet and sticky chicken wings and a few tailgating tips.