The Secret Recipe Club: Award Winning "Logan County Hamburgers" (2024)

Regular Lavender and Lovage readers will know that I am a member of The Secret Recipe Club – and no, it’s not furtive baking or cooking by moonlight in a distant log cabin on the second Thursday in the month, but it’s a on-line cooking challenge and a great way to meet new people and try out different recipes from all over the world. The plan is simple, you are sent a link to your “secret blog” at the beginning of the month – you then make a recipe from that blog and then post the recipe on a designated “reveal day”, where you get to see who was assigned your site too. This month’s “reveal day” is today, Easter Monday, and my “secret blog” is written by Des over at SteakNPotatoesKindaGurl, and if the title of her blog is anything to go by, she is also my kinda girl too! Des seems so bubbly and friendly and you can read more about her here: About Des.Des lives in Cincinnati in Ohio and she describes herself as being:…..”indecisive, messy, a night owl, emotional, guarded at times, an introvert, shy, impatient, stubborn, sarcastic, and pessimistic at times, yet loyal, detailed, empathic, silly, intelligent, hard-working, friendly, humble, mature yet a kid at heart, open-minded, and thoughtful”…..

You will have already gathered from my photos and the title of today’s post, that the recipe I decided to make was for a BURGER! Not any old burger however, but an award winning hamburger that was created by Katie Lee, ex-wife of the singer Billy Joel and author of the cookbook “The Comfort Table”. It certainly wasn’t an easy decision, as Des has lots of really tasty sounding recipes, and I was very tempted withCheesy BBQ Sloppy Joes,Baked Creamy Chicken Flautas,Buttermilk Chicken,Garlic Oven Fries,Endive, Avocado, and Bacon Salad with Chipotle Ranch Dressingand the very comforting soundingCheddar-Mashed Potato Casserole. I am more a “savoury person” than a “sweet person”, but I was also drawn to her recipes forHomemade Twix BarsandChocolate Fudge Brownies with Chocolate Buttercream Frostingtoo, maybe another time!

However, it was the recipe forKatie Lee’s Logan County Burgers that I finally decided to make, mainly as I wanted a tasty and easy meal for for mid-week, and this recipe looked amazing and fitted the bill.The recipe appears to be very famous as when I researched it, it was EVERYWHERE on the internet! It’s not a burger or a hamburger as we know it in the UK or Europe, in fact most people over the pond would also say it is more like a “patty melt”, but whatever the name, it was absolutely delectable and I can see why Katie Lee won an award for best burger with her recipe, which is based on a recipe her grandmother used to make during hard times. It’s basically a grilled cheese sandwich, or a “toastie” as we call them, with onions and a seasoned onion hamburger in the middle. It was simply fabulous, and we both enjoyed it with salad and tomatoes, as well as a dollop of mayonnaise.

To make this tasty sandwich, just follow the recipe instructions I have shared below, they are slightly adapted from the original and are listed in metric measurements for my European, Canadian and Australian readers.Do pop over to Des’s site and you REALLY must give these hamburgers a try too, think cheese and onion toastie but with a burger! Enjoy the last day of the Easter holidays, and I’ll be back very soon with more recipes, news and general kitchen chat. Karen