The other day, we had a cookout. Our local Hy-Vee’s meat department makes their own bratwursts. They have your standard Wisconsin fare: bacon and cheddar brats, bacon-cheddar-jalapeno brats, and beer brats. The pineapple pork brats and green onion brats are two of my particular favorites.
But on this day I also ground up some bacon end fat I had reserved just for this occasion, and I made deer burgers. Last time I made deer burgers, things went a bit… awry. I made up the patties and did not take my eyes off of them except to close the grill. Sorry, dog. No deerburger for you.
You see, I made my burgers up with something special this time. I can’t have cheese really, but Matt loves it. I made him surprise cheese-curd-stuffed-cheddar-cheese-topped-Wisconsin-Burgers.
No prep pictures, as handling and grinding cured hog fat means no camera touching.
Matt ate two brats and about half the burger, plus a few bottles of Hacker-Pschorr, and declared himself nigh unto bursting. We had a bonfire later that night & his buddy bill polished off the second Wisconsin Burger, along with his half a case of Mickey’s.
Hunt/Fish/Play 
These look AMAZING
My cheese-less avocado ones were pretty tasty. And the boys reported that the cheesed ones were good.
Oh, what I’d give for some of that burger right now. You got the cheese just right and it’s nice and thick. I’m not sure what “cheese curd stuffed” means, but it makes my mouth water. Exactly what are cheese curds? Matt was able to sleep in right? Cause a burger like that needs a good 10 hours of sleep following it.
He had to be up for work the next morning, and the half a case of Mickey’s he drank did him no favors 🙂
Cheese curds are sort of pre-cheese. Milk is heated to over 200F, which alters the protein structure (I know this from making my own lactose-free yogurt) enough that the solids actually solidify, and sometimes rennet is added (the stuff made in calves stomachs). The curds are little pieces that have to be pressed into the wheels we usually think of with cheese. Wisconsinites sell and gobble up these little nuggets of cheese (usually cheddar) like they’re going out of style.You might have seen them in gas stations when you were up here. http://www.seguinscheese.com/product_images/w/631/CHEESE_007__85640_zoom.jpg