For those of you who love cheeseburgers and anything fried, I’ve got a recipe for you that I promise you’ll want to make again and again—chicken fried hamburger. The first time I tested this out, I used brown gravy and it wasn’t quite right. This time, I had the idea of making a cheese sauce to in effect create a cheeseburger, and then added a tomato-pickle relish to cap it off. Success! The only warning here is that we don’t suggest telling your cardiologist about it, okay?

Ingredients:
Relish:
½ large tomato, seeded and chopped
4 crunchy dill pickle spears (such as Claussen), seeded and chopped
1-2 Tbsp ketchup
1-2 Tbsp. prepared mustard

Sauce:
½ stick butter or margarine
2 Tbsp. flour
½ cup whole milk (or more as needed)
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 tsp. hot sauce
Salt & pepper to taste

Burger:
1 pound ground beef
½ cup flour
2 eggs, beaten in a bowl
½ cup panko breadcrumbs
2 Tbsp. vegetable or canola oil
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine relish ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

For sauce, heat butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. When melted, whisk in flour for about 20 seconds. Add milk, and continue to whisk until it starts to thicken. If it’s too thick, add a splash or two more of milk. Then add cheese, hot sauce, and salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat, set aside, covering to keep it warm.

For burgers, form beef into four oval patties. Then set up three shallow bowls in a row with flour, egg, and breadcrumbs, respectively. Add a sprinkle of salt and pepper to each. Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Then dredge the patties in the flour, followed by the egg, followed by the breadcrumbs. Gently add each patty to the pan, and cook for about 4 minutes per side or until crispy on the outside and at least medium to medium-well on the inside.

Slide patties onto a plate, top with cheese sauce and relish, and serve. Makes four servings, or two two-patty servings for you guys with big appetites.