KITCHEN ADVENTURES: BURGER TIME! I pretty much never cook meat, but this week the fever came upon me.

I used ground beef, jalapenos, salt, freshly-ground pepper, a couple different kinds of rolls (mealhada, and then today something where I don’t know its name), butter, cinnamon, cayenne, cumin, ground ginger, dried thyme, and Port Salut cheese.

What I did: I’d never actually made my own patties before. First I sliced the rolls in half lengthwise and put them cut-side-down in the toaster oven, letting the yummy breadcrumbs fall onto the cutting board. Then I finely diced a jalapeno. Then, at last, I grabbed a big handful of ground beef and began working it.

I’d thought I could just make a big flat patty with a depression in the center (to help it cook). This turned out to be surprisingly difficult. So I ended up doing what all the recipes had told me to do, and making a much rounder patty with a depressed center (your “sort of like the American electorate!” joke there). I got the jalapeno all worked into the meat. Then it went into the pan, on high. I don’t have a grill, or even a grill pan, so I just put it in a flat nonstick and hoped for the best. I spiced it with (in about this order) cumin and/or thyme, salt, ginger, and a bit of cinnamon. Once it was really sizzling I started toasting the roll halves.

I let this thing cook for a while–much longer than I had in the past. I was worried about the smoke alarm, and while I never saw or even really smelled smoke, I could feel it catching in my throat. Nonetheless, I turned the burgers without making the alarm sound. I let the burgers cook just as much on the other side while I sliced up some Port Salut. Then I turned them one last time, ground some pepper over them and added the sliced cheese and a bit of cayenne, and buttered the bottom halves of the rolls.

The result: stupidly delicious. Seriously, this was amazing. I’d never been really satisfied with home-cooked burgers before, because I hadn’t let them cook quite long enough. When you can grill a burger it’s fine to worry about whether the inside will still be a deep pink, because you’re guaranteed a caramelized outside crust. But in a saute pan you’ve got to be much more patient.

The herbs, spices, and jalapeno didn’t overwhelm the burger at all. The Port Salut was… melty and yummy, a rich but nonaggressive taste. I’d almost call it a hyper-cheddar.

I don’t plan to do this often, but for Independence Day week it was pretty swift.