If you’re not from Ogden, Utah, you probably don’t know what is so special about this burger. OK, it’s not all that special. In fact, it’s rather simple. But simple is sometimes exactly what your heart (and your tummy) desires. This burger really makes me think of my childhood days in Utah. Of licking every morsel of secret sauce off my fingers, savoring each and every bite of my Mt. Ogden Burger, and sucking on a Lime Rickey. Lime Rickey? Remember, we’re talking Utah, so it’s not the Lime Rickey your thinking. The virgin creation is pretty darn tasty, but I think I’ll have to make me a nice cocktail the next time we make Mt. Ogden’s. Something tells me it’s gonna be beautiful!
Mt. Ogden Burger (Warren’s, Ogden, Utah):
1 1/2 lbs Ground Beef (80/20 fat ratio) – $3.47
12-15 sliced honey cured ham – $1.80
6 slices sandwich style Swiss Cheese – $1.15
Secret Sauce – We’ll talk about that later!
6 Hamburger Buns – $1.25
1 tsp Fresh Ground Pepper – pantry
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder – pantry
1/2 tsp Salt – pantry
1 Tbsp Worcester Sauce – pantryCOST: $7.67
Preheat grill. Medium to medium high on a gas grill should be fine. You can do burgers on the stove, but grilling is best.
With beef at room temp, place in a mixing bowl and add pepper, salt, garlic, 1 Tbsp Worcester sauce and mix. Separate into 6 balls. Form 1/4 lb patties and place on hot grill. Cook to desired doneness.
Once burgers are cooked, place slices of ham on grill to give a quick warm up and then place on burgers. Add a slice of swiss cheese and shut grill for 15-30 seconds. When cheese is melted, place burger on bun, cover with secret sauce (it’s a Utah thing) and serve.
So, secret sauce, or what Warren’s calls their “house” sauce is really just a mix of ketchup and mayo. Probably some other stuff, like chopped pickles or thousand island. But really, the idea is ketchup and mayo mixed together with a dash of garlic and paprika, pickles if you like and maybe even some mustard. You can make it to your taste. It’s so simple, but boy or boy is it good with burgers and fries. It does add a good amount of fat, so definitely not something you’ll want to eat all the time, however, perfect on a good old fashioned Mt. Ogden!
We served our burgers with Sea Salt and Cracked Pepper Kettle Chips (Warren’s fries are just not re-creatable. Wish they were. They are awesome!). Chips were $1.99. A bit pricey for a rather small bag, but they are so delicious and since my tomatoes were fresh from the garden, they were free, so I could afford to splurge. A quarter head of lettuce and you only need to add $.25 more. Excellent!
GRAND TOTAL: $9.91
