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