Recipe:Juicy Lucy

The beginnings

All assembled and ready to cook

End product

The Juicy Lucy is a Minnesota invention, first created back in the 1920's in the old speakeasy days of St. Paul and Minneapolis (hence the name). At its essence, a Juicy Lucy contains cheese and other ingredients grilled in between two hamburger patties.

For this recipe, you need:

• Two half-pound patties of lean, 93/7 hamburger per serving. Make sure the hamburger is raw and not frozen
• two 1.5 inch cubes of 4 year cheddar cheese between them.
• Any other condiments or garnishes you want with your burger (chopped onions, pickes, etc.)

Of course, this recipe can be modified to cheeses and additions that suit one's taste. I've often used Swiss cheese and fresh mushrooms in the middle instead of cheddar and, in some places around here, you can even get them cooked with habaneros and Pepper Jack in the middle.

Cut the cheese into cubes for best results, and then sandwich the cheese in between two burger patties. Seal it up by folding the patties over each other and "karate chop" along the folded crease. Then, grill for, at least, 12 minutes or until the burger patties are cooked to suit. Top it off with whatever condiments you want, and then sandwich in a bun. Caution: the cheese in the center will be molten hot, so eat slowly and carefully at first.