Burgers with Goat Cheese, Bourbon Caramelized Onions, & Fig Jam

Juicy beef burgers topped with cream, tangy goat cheese, bourbon caramelized onions, and sweet, earthy fig jam. It’s got that sweet salty thang going on that is just irresistible!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend, friends!

There is a lot of celebrate….

1. All those who serve our country and make it a better, safer place.
2. It’s beautiful and sunny here in Chicago.
3. It’s a three day weekend. Hooray!
4. AND…..Grill season is officially upon us!

I absolutely love summer’s in Chicago. After a LONG, seemingly NEVER-ENDING, super COLD winter, summer is a much missed and needed friend. When people ask how I endure Chicago winters, I always tell them it’s the hope of summer.

Every winter, you ask yourself why do I live here and maybe it’s time to leave the city…

Then summer comes and makes its appearance again…and you take bike rides to the beach, enjoy cocktails on the patio at great restaurants, and grill out in your backyard…and you remember why you fell in love with this great city in the first place.

As soon as summer hits, my husband and I take advantage of the good weather and spend countess night out on our quaint but perfect backyard. My favorite thing to do during the warmer months is sit outside on the patio with my hubby, enjoying the beautiful weather, a glass of wine and each other’s company. It’s pure bliss!

And of course, we grill a lot. First thing on our menu are these AMAZING burgers with goat cheese, bourbon caramelized onions, & fig jam.

Your mouth is watering….right?!?

This may be a bold statement, but I think these are the best burgers I have ever made.

They are pretty darn delicious. There are so many fun, interesting flavors going on. You have the creamy, tanginess from the goat cheese. The sweet earthy flavor from the fig jam. The rich, smoky, sweet combo from the caramelized onions. That goes perfectly with the rich, salty, and beefiness of the burgers. It’s the perfect bite.

If you have ever made my roast beef, Boursin cheese, and fig jam crostini’s, you understand how additively delicious the creamy cheese and fig jam combination is. If you haven’t made these crostini’s yet, you need to! They are always a crowd-pleaser at any party!

The beef burgers are a welcome guest to the fig jam and goat cheese party. It’s that sweet and salty combo that I just love.

Let’s not forget the bourbon caramelized onions. You can never go wrong with delicious, rich, sweet, perfectly browned caramelized onions. Then you add a splash of smoky, boozy bourbon and you take this already delicious burger topping to the next level.

All together, it’s a wonderful marriage of flavors.

Let’s get to cooking. 

We will start with the caramelized onions. This is the only part of the meal that takes some time to make. To achieve the perfect caramelized onion, you need to let the onions cook low and slow. This gives the onion a chance to break down and release it’s natural sugars.

In a large skillet, heat about a tablespoon and a half of olive oil over medium low heat. Add in one onion cut into thin slices. Allow the onion to cook for about 20 minutes, until the onions become soft and translucent. Add in the salt and cook for another 10 minutes. The salt causes the onions to release any excess moisture and break down further.

Then add in the brown/coconut sugar and bourbon baby! The sugar helps achieve that golden brown flavor and add that delicious rich, molasses like flavor. The bourbon adds this nice hint of smokiness, with just a touch of actual bourbon flavor.

Beware. The smells in your kitchen from the caramelized onions will be intoxicating. Your neighbors may come over and ask for a dinner invite!

Seriously though, my husband came home and asked if I bought a new candle. Uh nope, just the caramelized onions. But may have a genius new idea for a candle scent!

Now that the onions are done, the rest of the meal comes together quickly.

First, form the ground beef into four patties. A cool tip I learned from Carla on ABC’s The Chew is to use the lid of a tubber ware container to create uniformed sized patties. Find a lid top that is about the same size as your bun, add some plastic wrap on top so it doesn’t get contaminated by the raw meat, and press down the burger meat to get a round even sized patty.

I also used 90% lean meat for my burger patties. The more lean the meat, the less fat (and healthier it is for you). However, a leaner meat will be a little less moist than a meat with a higher fat content. If you want a slightly juicier burger, you can grab 80% lean. But I think the 90% lean still leads to a very juicy and delicious burger!

Once the patties are formed, sprinkle each patty with onion and garlic powder and salt and pepper. And really any seasoning mix you prefer!

Grill each patty for 3 minutes per side over medium high heat. This will give you a perfectly medium rare patty!

I also toasted my buns to give the buns some charred flavor and texture.

Time to assemble. Add the goat cheese to the top bun. Smear on the fig jam to the bottom bun. Top the bottom bun with the burger patty. Then top the burger patty with the caramelized onion, some arugula, and the top bun half with the goat cheese.

Your burger is ready to be devoured.

Take a bite. And enjoy all those delicious favors. The juicy beef burgers topped with cream, tangy goat cheese, bourbon caramelized onions, and sweet, earthy fig jam.  It’s perfection!

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