- 01 Jul 2008
Let me start off by saying that I have flown over Cuba, smoked real Cohibas, listened to Gloria Estefan (forcibly), have a Cuban-born coworker, but never actually been to Cuba and am not an expert on Cuban culture or cuisine by any means. But, I love pressed cuban burgers. I have been wanting to make this for a while and La Cense gave me good reason. Their lean, healthy, individually pre-packaged ground beef patties were great pickins for this dish. Below is my recipe with these great tasting patties (well, 2 were La Cense and 3 were 80% lean)Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs ground beef for 4 good sized burgers
- salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 3 cloves roasted garlic, pureed (see below)
- Dijon mustard
- 4 hamburger buns with sesame seeds
- 8 slices thin slices of Provolone (true Cuban-style would be Swiss, but I like provolone)
- 4 thin slices of smoked ham
- 2 dill pickles, sliced into 1/4-inch thick slices (you can buy a jar of long sliced pickles)
- Olive Oil
Roasted Garlic Mayo (prep ahead of time)
Remove the skin of 3 large garlic cloves. Cut the top off (about 1/8 inch). Place the cloves in a foil packet and drizzle some olive oil over the garlic cloves, then season with salt and pepper. Wrap in foil and bake for 45 min at 300 degrees. Remove from oven, and use a spoon to smash the cloves. Combine the mayonnaise and roasted garlic in a small bowl.
Season the burgers with salt and pepper on both sides and cook on the grill over medium heat for about 10 minutes per side to reach medium-rare. The La Cense burgers (on the left) cooked a bit quicker since they were a little more lean and you will get more flare-up on burgers with more fat (you can see this in the photo). 
Prepare a foil packet (lightly oiled) for the burgers in the following layers:
- Bun
- Mayo/Mustard
- 2 slices of pickle
- Cheese
- Ham
- Burger
- Cheese
- Mayo/Mustard
- Bun
Wrap the burgers in the foil and press them flat with your hand (they should lose about 2 inches of height). Put them back on the grill for about 4-5 minutes until the cheese melts and the buns get a little toasted. Serve up with your favorite Cuban side dishes. In this case, I served some simple black beans. And who knows if tossed salad with Italian dressing is actually Cuban, but I seriously doubt it.
-GrillDude
July 2nd, 2008 at 7:05 am
Let me say that I too have flown over Cuba, but did not see or smell these flattened burgers on the grills. In fact, I didn’t see any grills, just too cloudy. They look delicious and lowfat heart healthy. Another great presentation with the flavor cooked in! Thanks, BB
July 10th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
An interesting variation on the traditional Cuban sandwich. Having lived in Key West we are familiarr with good Cuban cooking and this sounds like a good meal to us.
July 15th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
GrillDude, there’s nothing I like better than a juicy, spiced up burger, if you know what I mean. Girl’s love burgers, but not the regular kind. Beef is boring, pork is not the new beef, trust me, neither is turkey. You can use those carnivorous substitutions, but in a girl’s opinion, these days it is not the meat, it’s what you add to it. Your garlic mayo is perfect, but there are a lot of other “additives” most people don’t even realize that can be prepared on the grill right with the meat and can make the burger of your dreams.
I recently combined a grilled onion ring recipe I saw Bobby Flay do to a thinly sliced chicken breast, mounted on a mouth watering piece of egg batter bun that was to die for! I could tell you more about my burger sensations, but I guess you will have to give me permission to do so. I have a Hawaiian combo planned for Labor Day, you might want the recipe…
August 1st, 2008 at 12:28 pm
I love to grill, but sometimes I get in a rut. This sounds like a delicious alternative to a regular burger — and I love the idea of serving healthy black beans on the side. I have just one dilemma: my husband dislikes mayo. Do you have any ideas for substitution? Plain yogurt, perhaps?
Thanks again for the recipe. I’m looking forward to trying it out!
August 2nd, 2008 at 6:08 pm
@Christna – Hmmm…I haven’t actually tried subbing mayo, but I supposed plain yogurt may work. Cooks.com has a recipe for a mayo sub that sounds pretty good too. http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1730,156174-230200,00.html
August 2nd, 2008 at 6:22 pm
@hotgrillergirl – I’d love to hear about your Labor Day meal. post away…