Super Hamburger (Stuffed with Short Ribs)

Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 lb Ground Beef (sirloin or chuck is best, if possible buy a steak and ask the butcher to freshly ground it for you)
1 Egg (beaten)
Pepper
Salt (I used truffle salt since we already had it, but regular is fine too)
1/4 cup Chopped Onions
Leftover short ribs, defrosted (one large short rib fills two burgers)
4 Brioche Buns (I went a little fancy here, but you can just use regular buns)

Suggested Fillings/Condiments:
Lettuce
Tomato
Mustard (As Jason's French coworker always says, buy Maille and NOT Grey Poupon)
Mayo
Ketchup

Instructions:

In large bowl mix ground beef, egg, pepper, salt and chopped onions. Shape into 8 thin patties. Top 4 patties with short ribs and top them with the other 4 patties. Seal the edges tightly.

You can then broil these like a traditional burger. However, I wanted a softer and more tender burger, so I put the patties on a skillet over medium heat, browning each side for two minutes. Then I turned the heat to medium-low, put a lid on it, and let it sit for another 10 minutes. You can play around with the timing to see what kind of texture you like.

Serve immediately atop toasted brioche, with fillings/condiments.

Budget rundown:
1 lb Ground Beef (Safeway)-$4.99
Brioche Buns (Whole Foods)-.99 each

Total cost: $8.95
Cost of each meal: $2.46 (since the cost of short ribs was accounted for in the previous recipe)

If you combine the amount I spent for the short ribs recipe with the amount for the hamburgers, it comes out to $5.07 per meal (we got eight meals out of the two recipes). Okay okay, so it's still not "under" $5, but hey, it's pretty darn close, right? And don't tell me that burger isn't worth twice as much...