One thing that makes cooking so special is the adventure of combining two or three common foods. The hamburger omelet is a fine example of bringing two ordinary foods into one dish—a good homestyle omelet stuffed with a whopper grilled hamburger!
In this recipe, I used my Weber Kettle Grill and fired it with lump charcoal. I grilled the burgers directly on the grate like I always do. I fried the eggs and sauteed the vegetables in cast iron skillets on the grill.
Ingredients
Here is what you’ll need to make one omelet. Multiply this by the number of omelets you want to make.
Egg mixture:
- 3 large eggs
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Filling:
- Sliced mushroom
- Chopped onion
- Chopped green pepper
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Ground beef
Amounts are explained later in this recipe.
Prep Work
Eggs: Crack the eggs into a bowl, then add the milk, salt, and pepper. Beat this mixture, and it’s ready for the pan.
Fillings: Chop enough mushroom, onion, and pepper to suit you. Feel free to go light or heavy and add or remove ingredients here. Tomatoes would be a delicious upgrade. Remember, these things will shrink during cooking.
Burgers: For this recipe, I simply formed ground beef into 6-ounce patties and seasoned them on both sides with Meadow Creek Brisket Seasoning. I usually prefer some additives in my burgers; normally I would mix other ingredients into the beef, such as salt, pepper, cracker crumbs, egg, milk, and Worcestershire sauce. You can go simple or elaborate here; either way works. It takes one large third-pound burger or two small ones per omelet.
Light the Grill
Once you have the prep work done, light the grill. If you’re in a hurry, you could light the charcoal before you start prepping the food—better yet, get a helper to fire the grill.
A $10 charcoal chimney does a great job of lighting charcoal. Fill it with charcoal, stuff some newspaper in the bottom, set the chimney on the fire grate, and light the paper. Within 20 minutes, the charcoal should be ready to spread out.
I used lump charcoal which, as a rule, burns hotter and faster than briquettes. It’s great for short cooks, but if you plan to make several omelets, I’d use briquettes.
Cook the Food
Since lump charcoal burns very hot at first, you’ll want to cook with the lid closed, at least for the first half hour. This will make it easier to cook the burgers to perfection and help you get some smoke flavor into the food. Once you’re ready to grill, throw in some wood chips for extra flavor.
Set your cast-iron skillet on the grate and arrange the burgers around it. Melt a healthy dab of butter in the skillet and throw in your vegetables. Sauté them while the burgers are grilling. Cook the burgers on both sides until they are well done. (Optional: As they’re finishing, top each burger with a slice of cheese.)
As you’ll see in the photos, my timing was a bit different, but it works just the same. Basically, you’ll want to have the burgers and vegetables done by the time the omelet is ready to fill. The vegetables only take about 5 minutes once the skillet is hot, while the burgers will take 10–20 minutes, depending where you put them and how hot you fire your grill.
Once the vegetables are done, transfer them to a bowl (or swap skillets on the grill), melt another dab of butter, and pour in enough egg for one omelet.
This is where it starts getting fun! Close the lid of the grill and pace the deck for a few minutes while the intense heat of the charcoal blisters the bottom of the eggs and steams the top of that delicious bubbly mass. As soon as the top of the eggs are barely set up, layer the veggie mixture, two burger halves, and a generous amount of shredded cheese onto one half of the egg.
Fold the omelet shut and take a moment to admire your work. It’s time to shovel this meal onto a plate and dig in!
If you’re making more than one, transfer the omelet to a covered pan to keep it hot, add some butter to the skillet, and pour in another round of eggs.
A delicious variation to the hamburgers would be sausage patties. Served with home fries, toast, and homemade grape juice, this dish is off the charts!
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This recipe first appeared in Issue 37 of StoryQue magazine.
