Keto Jalapeño Bacon Cheeseburger Stacks

It's amazing the deliciousness you can create when you are forced to use your ingenuity. My husband and I collaborated last night to create the following meal, using only the dregs of our nearly grocery-less refridgerator. (It also helps to only buy keto-friendly items on the regular!)

Yumminess embodied.

Jalapeño Bacon Cheeseburger Stacks (served on Garlic Cauliflower Mashed Faux-tatoes)

For the Stacks:

• about 3/4 to 1 pound ground beef
• 1 large jalapeño pepper
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 large egg
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 slices thick cut bacon, each slice cut in half
• 8 large "button" shaped portabella mushrooms
• cheddar cheese (we didn't have slices, we cut off a block, it looks a little silly in the pics, but it melted down beautifully)
• little bit of olive oil to lightly grease burger pan
• dill for garnish

For the Faux-tatoes:

• 1/2 to 3/4 of a head of cauliflower, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 4 tablespoons butter
• salt to taste

Serving Size: 2
Preparation and Cooking Time: approximately 40-45 minutes

1.) Finely mince the jalapeño pepper and garlic. We used our Ninja chopper.

2.) Mix ground beef, mixed veggies, spices and 1 egg well in a large mixing bowl, until beef shows no signs of texturization and is "sticky" to touch.

3.) Start boiling some water for your cauliflower. At a good, roiling boil, add the cauliflower and a bit of salt. Cauliflower should boil until tender, but not mushy. You want a nice and hearty mashed faux-tatoes, not gruel! Ours took about 10 minutes. 

 

4.) As your cauliflower boils, evenly form your meat into 4 patties and place in a greased pan to cook. Eleni has a George Forman grill (which I am jealous of and which would make the burger cooking process easier) but cooking on a stovetop works just fine. Simultaneously start cooking your halved bacon slices in another pan.

How awesome are our cast-iron pans? They are non-stick, work wonderfully and create less mess!



 

5.) With one eye on your busy stovetop, chop up your mushrooms and get your slices of cheese ready for the stacking, which is coming soon!

6.) Bacon cooks fast! Place your cooked bacon on a small, paper towel covered plate to the side. Then immediately add the mushrooms to the hot bacon grease to cook.

7.) Make sure you flip your burgers as needed and get your cauliflower off the stove as soon as it is tender. Transfer the cauliflower and all the other faux-tatoes ingredients to a food processor and blend well. (We used the large Ninja blender for this).

8.) Make sure burgers and mushrooms are completely cooked to your temperature and taste specifications. We cooked the burgers medium well and only lightly sauteed the mushrooms. Obviously, there are many possibilities.

9.) Stack time! First is a generous portion of faux-tatoes. Then place a burger patty on top of each faux-tato portion. Top this burger with cheddar. Place the second patty on top of the cheddar. Place your bacon on top of the second burger patty. Top the whole shebang with freshly sauteed mushrooms. We then garnished with a bit of dried dill.





Pure joy for your mouth.

 

I really can't overstate how awesome these were. They were quickly devoured as we made "mmm" noises and nodded haughtily at one another, proud of our last minute creation.

 

Enjoy!

 

-Alex

 

P.S.

 

I am planning to make a bunch of low-carb/keto Greek food soon. Including an experiment with low-carb phyllo dough (I think of it as Franken-Phyllo...). Stay tuned!