Mmmm... Butterburgers....

As I've mentioned before, Wifey and I are, once again on the Atkins diet, the first two weeks of which limits us to pretty much just meat, cheese and salad. Breaking the chains of monotony during the first two weeks is dependent upon getting creative with how those three foodstuff interact. So, last week, Wifey suggested we try a tip for burgers that Paula Deen suggested to keep the patties moist on the BBQ (we do a lot of BBQing on this diet) - put a pat of butter inside each patty before cooking. Not only is it a great tip, but I had, in fact, used it before. "OK, smart guy," my wife said, "then you make the burgers!" Here's what I came up with:

Radioguy's Butterburgers

Ingredients

• 3 pounds ground beef
• 4 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups finely ground pork rinds
• 2 tbls. liquid smoke
• 2 tbls. onion powder
• butter
• sliced cheese

Directions

• In a large bowl, thoroughly combine the beef, eggs, liquid smoke and onion powder.
• Mix in the pork rinds.
• Shape into 1/3 pound patties. Make an indentation in the center of each patty. Place a pat of butter (or butter substitute) into the indentation. Fold meat from the sides of the patty over the butter-filled indentation, smoothing the meat out so as it doesn't show any butter "peeking through" (essentially placing the butter in the center of the patty, like the jelly of a jelly-filled donut).
• Cook (or BBQ) the patties as you would normally do. Top with sliced cheese (we used Sargento Chipotle Cheddar slices).
• Serve as patty melts or as "regular" burgers.

Makes 9 burgers.

The important thing about this recipe is - aside from the butter - the pork rinds. As the patties cook, and the butter melts into the meat, the rinds keep the butter from escaping, thereby keeping the patties very moist.

These burgers are Atkins friendly, but are great for anyone.