Burgers as painkillers

I did not work Monday due to needing another day of rest for my hands. I figure they won't heal if I keep beating them up. My boss was cool with it and thought it might help. Here I am Tuesday, not working again, due to a wind-induced power outage in parts of La Grande and Elgin, where I work. I got a call this morning at 6:00 a.m. from my boss explaining that we could not work without power at the shop. Luckily, I did not lose my electricity. At 11:00 a.m., I got another call from him telling me the band saw had taken a shit. We really couldn't do much without that either. We called it a day, and should be up and running tomorrow. My hands feel a bit better, but I have given up on them. I just need to push forward and work as hard as I can despite the pain.

Last night, I decided to treat myself to the things I bought at Bella over the weekend. It will probably be the last time I am able to do this considering the wages of butcher's apprentices these days. I am sure everyone has their version of a great burger, but I wanted to share how I make a decent one in my apartment without a grill or any really good equipment.

All the ingredients here can be replaced with commom alternatives, but I would recommend keeping the gorganzola blue cheese. Here is what I used for my Oregonzola bacon wagyu burger:

1 lb. Sutton Creek ground wagyu beef

4 thick slices Hill Meat Company Ranch Style Smoked Bacon

4 regular grocery store hamburger buns (freshest possible)

1/2 oz. Rogue Creamery Oregonzola Blue Cheese

1. Form package of beef into (4) 1/4lb. patties. Add salt and pepper after they have reached room temperature. Don't handle the patties too much. Just make them into thick, small, rounded patties.

1. Cook bacon is extremely hot skillet to crisp. Place to the side on paper towels.

2. Grill buns in skillet with bacon drippings from step 1. Place to the side with bacon.

3. Place beef patties into skillet with remaining bacon fat. Press them down gently to make sure they form a nice crust on the side that is in contact with the skillet. There should be a lot of great- smelling smoke and lots of hisses and pops. Also, gently press your thumb down into the middle of the patties so when they plump up, they are uniform in shape. This way, they do not look pregnant when they are cooked.

4. Let patties cook for about 3-4 minutes on each side or until they have a nice crust on each side.

5. Transfer the crusty and bleeding patties into the oven at 350 degrees.

6. Heat in the oven until they are about 120-125 in the center or a nice ruby red. I really wouldn't condone cooking or eating them at any temperature higher than this. If you want any flavor, they need to be no warmer than medium rare.

7. While you are heating the burgers in the oven, you can add the buns and bacon just to warm before assembly.

8. Take burgers from the oven and place oven on broil setting. Assemble burgers without buns (place bacon in X shape over patty and then top with crumbled blue cheese).

9. Place burgers under broiler in oven until cheese and bacon are bubbling and sizzling.

10. Now place burger onto warm, bacon infused buns.

11. Enjoy.