A few years back we did a post featuring some local and some house-created burgers, in which we went into the history of the burger at some length. We mentioned the patty melt and by many accounts it appears to have originated in California. But that didn’t stop us in our effort to create the Ultimate Patty Melt here at Great Lakes Cuisine.

A patty melt is pretty universally defined as a burger patty served on griddled bread with melted cheese and caramelized onions. I love to add a bit of ketchup and mustard and enjoy this in all it’s gooey messiness. We were headed up to the lake in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and a stop at Stefano’s Slo Food Market in Sheboygan provided the inspiration.

It all started with meat. We spotted 1/3 lb Elk Burgers from Navarino Valley Elk & Bison and decided we had to try them.

Then there was the Black Sheep Truffle Cheese from one of our favorite cheesemakers, Carr Valley. Caramelize some red onions low and slow, then add malt vinegar and sugar with a bit of fresh thyme, reduce until the onions are glazed. Burgers are pre-cooked to medium rare.

The bread is a hearty, multi-grain sourdough made in-house at Stefano’s Slo Food Market. And we cooked this whole meal over the campfire by the lake.

Potatoes are roasting with garlic and herbs in the packet on the far side of the fire. The patty melts are cooked until the griddled bread is golden and the cheese has begun to melt out at the sides. If you are going to try this, enjoy it with an ice cold beer, lakeside if possible.

I was going to be bold and call this post “The Ultimate Patty Melt”, and then in researching the origin of the patty melt I came across the article linked above. If you didn’t click through, here’s what you missed, Chris Kronner at his Kronner Burger in Oakland made his patty melt with a bechamel sauce in addition to the cheese. Oh my, the gooey-ness multiplier! Along with some Dijon mustard? Yes!

Well, I guess there is always another level. The quest continues.