Fig-Glazed Burgers with Red Onion Jam

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My rockstar husband earned enough incentive points at work to buy us a new, awesome grill. When it arrived, we were so excited to try it out so I planned a few grill meals this week so we could break it in. Tonight was one of those nights. But sadly, mother nature had other ideas. Grilling in a little rain doesn't bother me much but grilling in golf ball sized hail does so I made these delicious burgers on the stovetop instead. You can actually make a very tasty burger by melting butter in a cast iron skillet and cooking the burgers in that instead.

I found these burgers on Pink Parsley who originally found them in Southern Living magazine. This is probably one of my favorite burger recipes now. I don't usually like onions but the onion jam was so good I could eat it out of the skillet on it's own. The fig added a nice sweet glaze to slightly salty crust on the burger. The recipe calls for Meunster cheese but I topped two of them with smoked gouda, since we loooooove smoked gouda. You could really use any cheese you like.

Fig-Glazed Burgers with Red Onion Jam
makes 4 burgers

Red Onion Jam
4 cups thinly sliced red onions (about 2 medium or 1 large)
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
3/4 tsp. chopped fresh thyme

Cheeseburgers
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
2 Tbs. chopped fresh oregano
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
3 Tbs. fig preserves
4 (1/2-oz) Meunster cheese slices
4 hamburger buns, split and toasted

Saute the onions in hot oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet for 10 minutes. Stir in the sugar, vinegar, and thyme, reduce heat to low, and cover and cook an additional 10 minutes, or until onion is very tender. Remove from heat and keep warm.

Prepare grill and heat to medium-high and grease grates with vegetable oil using a paper towel and tongs. Gently stir together all the ingredients for the burgers (through black pepper) and shape into 4 (1/2-inch) patties.

Grill patties 5 minutes on each side. Brush each patty with fig preserves and top with a slice of cheese. Grill an additional 2 minutes, or until beef is cooked and cheese is melted.

Serve on buns with red onion jam.