50 Shades of Food: The ultimate burger fantasy

Pull up a chair and settle in for our 50 Shades of Food series, where we introduce you to mouthwatering, shiver-inducing, hot, sexy food porn. It’s safe-for-work browsing, sure to get your heart racing and your palms a little sweaty, and the only drawback is a possible hunger pang or two after viewing.

Sometimes you just need a burger. It can creep up on you, unexpectedly, and when it does, the thought of having a big, juicy piece of meat between a soft bun with all the fixings consumes you. Whether you’re a melted cheese fan, like to top it off with crispy, salty bacon, plain ketchup or all of the above, there’s nothing like the feeling you get biting into your favorite burger.

In restaurant critic Jonathan Gold’s recent review of Plan Check Kitchen and Bar, he introduced readers to the restaurant’s “Chef’s Favorite Burger.” This bad boy is topped with a thin layer of crispy fried cheese, a slice of house-made American cheese, crisp bacon, house-made ketchup leather, hot sauce and a fried egg with a yolk ready to burst at first bite.

Bring on the meat sweats!

If we’ve put you in the mood to tie down a burger of your own tonight, here are some recipes from our annual battle of the burgers:

The Italian Turkey Burger

The BLT & E Burger with quail eggs and a buttered English muffin

The Howie Burger with gastrique of red onions and a homemade recipe for Dijonnaise

If you’d like to get in on the food porn action, upload photos of your food to our What did you eat this weekend? gallery -- and we’ll be on the lookout for photos that make our eyes pop. You can also share photos with us on our Facebook page or on Twitter. Be sure to include your name, a description of the photo and any personal blog or Twitter handle you’d like us to give a shout-out to.

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