Tapenade filling makes for quick and delicious burger

Our first grilled burger of the 2011 summer season was absolutely sensational.
   My husband and I made Tapenade-Filled Burgers (click for the recipe) for the first time last week, and were blown away with how delicious they were.
   The inner layer of store-bought green olive tapenade provided a perfect level of pickly saltiness to the moist meat.
   The lipsmacking goodness of the burgers was even more amazing considering they were a breeze to make.
   The recipe I linked to above on epicurious.com, the site of recipes from the former Gourmet magazine, says lean ground beef can be used for the burgers. However, the recipe I used, from a special edition of Gourmet magazine about grilling, says to use ground beef that is not lean (*See also below a difference in cooking time between the two recipes).
   While it’s obviously going to add more fat, I would strongly recommend going with the full-fat beef. It creates an amazing flavor, and makes the patties easier to form.
   Definitely go with the recipe’s recommendations for accompaniments of mayonnaise, coarse-grain mustard, thinly-sliced pickles (we used sandwich-stacker pickles) and lettuce. These condiments and toppings complete the burger, particularly the grainy mustard. We skipped the thinly-sliced red onion as we prefer them cooked instead of raw.
   In Canada, we found green olive tapenade at a Sobeys supermarket. The recipe says green or black olive tapenade is sometimes also labelled olive paste.
   To make the burgers, the beef is divided into six equal portions. Each portion is in turn divided in half, and each half flattened to form a thin four-inch-wide patty.
   Tapenade is spread onto one patty, the other is placed on top, and the edges are pinched together to seal.
   The burgers are grilled. The recipe I linked to says to turn the burger over once, three minutes total for medium-rare. *The recipe I used from the magazine said to cook the burgers five to six minutes per side until the internal temperature reaches 160 F on an instant read thermometer. I would highly recommend using the longer grilling times instead.
   Mayonnaise and mustard is spread on hamburger buns, then the burgers are assembled with the patties, pickles and lettuce.