Since the onset of warm weather, every night when I walk home from work, I am wrapped in the heavenly aroma of grilling burgers on rooftops and back bar patios. By the time I get home and walk Ollie, my mouth is watering and I am craving a fat, juicy, burger with all the fixings. To be quite honest, I never really liked burgers growing up. I was always more of a hot dog kind of a gal. Burgers were always dry, mealy, chewy, and greasy with nothing more than a strong oily meat flavor – that could have been just about anything. My parent’s are both burger lovers. They loved to dive into a greasy burger from any corner burger joint, meaty juices and cheese dripping down their chins, as their arteries quickly harden. I would, on occasion, partake in a burger but it was always followed with vast disappointment and a queasy stomach. I did reach a point in high school where if I poured enough BBQ sauce or ketchup and had several layers of cheese and tomatoes, it was almost fairly decent. And considering I was from the land of the In & Out Burger, this was greatly disappointing.
A few years ago while living in Athens, GA, I conceded to making burgers for a grill out at my house. Now usually, I would make roasted pork loin, steaks, or chicken. However, Rachel (my old roommate from GA and still one of my bestest, closest friends) and I had about 17 people coming to our little apartment patio for dinner. It was a small dinner invite that grew and doubled in size within a few hours – something that became a trend as the years went on. Not having a ton of money and realizing that we had much more than meat we had to sling at these people for dinner, we weren’t sure what we were going to do! We went shopping and discovered something quite amazing at the store… ground beef is really cheap! Even the really lean beef is cheap! And right then and there, burgers and I began a beautiful friendship that has developed fiercely over the past 5 years and I can even say it… yes, we’re in love!
Our relationship began as most relationships do, sort of stumbling through the preambles and trying to get to know each other better. I stuck to the basics, garlic salt, Worchester sauce, and onion powder – this seemed to be something I saw my mother do to a burger once. Then our love grew bolder. I started using fresh garlic and onion, a dash of soy sauce, sometimes even a little red wine. I’d wrap the luscious concoction around a thick slice of feta or Gouda and roll my eyes as molten cheesy goodness came oozing out. I’d play daringly with the meat mixture, mixing it with chorizo, Italian sausage and sometimes, or do dare I even admit it – silky, delicious, ground veal! I started making my own condiments, spicy ketchup mixtures, and sweet, spicy mustard relishes. Burgers and I were falling madly and deeply in love.
My burgers were getting rave reviews at cookouts and on vacations, but none so lovely of accolades as at the beach. I’m quite sure everything tastes better at a beautiful beach house, but when I finally created the perfect burger recipe, it was at an adorable pink beach house in Tybee Island, GA, a couple years back. They are still talked about to this day! And as my friend Jeff’s brother Dave (my designated grill master) said, “Chef, you done good!” as he wolfed down two.
The brainchild for this delicious burger had come down to 3 things:
1. I had to be able to make the meat mixture up a day ahead of time because I wanted to be able to pack it and bring it to the beach house – over 5 hours away – for an easy dinner that same night.
2. It had to be a mixture that would keep the meat moist, but not be so over marinated that you couldn’t taste the meat any more.
3. It had to be damn good!
I stared at the enormous poundage of meat (enough for 16 people to have seconds) in the huge mixing bowl before me. I sighed my “thinking” sigh- which actually does help me think by the way, and started raiding the pantry and fridge. Thus, an amazing burger was born:
Nicole’s "Oh My God These Are Good" Burgers
2 lbs lean ground sirloin or chuck
½ red or sweet onion
1½ jalapeños, seeded
3 large garlic cloves, peeled
Sea Salt & Fresh Ground Pepper
½ cup of Signolia’s Balsamic Vinaigrette** (or some other balsamic vinaigrette that isn’t too sweet)
In a food processor, finely chop the onion, jalapeno, and garlic together until it’s still recognizable, but in small little shreds. In a large bowl add the veggie mixture, meat, salt, pepper, and dressing. With your hands, gently mix the meat until everything is well distributed. Allow this to marinate at least 30 minutes and up to 1 day ahead.
I can get about 8 good size patties out of 2 lbs, but you can make them as big or small as you like. Grill them over a medium-high heat for about 3 – 4 minutes on each side, that will put them about medium rare – which is how I like it! Throw whatever cheese floats your boat on top of them when they only have about 1 minute left. Let them rest for about 2 minutes and then serve them up!
You can do a myriad of fun toppings and other fabulous manipulations to this. Here are a couple flavor combos for ya:
1. Goat cheese and roasted red peppers. Skip melting the cheese on the burger, and spread goat cheese on the bun and top the burger with drained, roasted peppers.
2. Caramelized onions and a red pepper mayo. Cook down a bunch of sliced onions in a little EVOO until nice and golden; add about a tablespoon of brown sugar and cook down a minute more until caramelized. In a food processor, swirl about a ½ cup of drained, roasted red peppers and ¾ cup of mayo, add some salt and pepper to taste and serve all together on a good burger!
3. Stuff that bad boy! Get some good cheese! No, I mean, really good cheese. Extra sharp cheddar, smoked Gouda, Greek feta, jalapeno jack… cheese that is sold at a cheese counter – not already pre-sliced! Cut a thick round or square of cheese, about 2 – 3 inches wide, squared, and about a 1/3 of an inch thick. Mold the burger around it and throw it on the grill. Trust me – it’s divine.
4. The Bleu burger. Buy some good quality bleu cheese about 4 - 6 ounces, mix it up with some good salty butter (at room temp), about 4 Tbsp, and a minced garlic clove. Mold it into a log with plastic wrap and freeze it for a while until hard but not frozen solid. Cut it into 1/3-inch thick disks and again, mold the burger right around it. It’s out of this world. This is also good stuffed in a steak or just sitting on top of one!
This weeke
nd Burgers and I reached a new height in our relationship… chicken burgers. A year or so ago, my lovely friend Charlotte – who is this amazing chef and food stylist and will some day probably be running food network or Food and Wine Magazine, I have no doubt oh, go to her website... it's awesome www.emulsionfoodphotography.com – made these delicious chicken burgers at our company’s grill out. Much how I approached beef burgers, the chicken burger and I had to flirt across the room at each other as I hmmed and hawed on whether or not I wanted a closer look. After much consideration, and generally how I make all my romantic decisions, I decided what the hell? They were divine! Moist, flavorful, and downright unchicken like! Her secret ingredient??? BBQ sauce! And that was it!So, given that it was July 4th on Friday I too wanted to grill out. I had a good friend coming that doesn’t eat red meat, but I wanted juicy burgers so I decided to give Charlotte’s chicken burgers a whirl – with my own little tried and true recipe intermingled as well of course. I shot her an email and asked what her ratio of chicken to BBQ sauce was and this was her response in fabulous Charlotte style, “Hmmmm...Can't remember the exact ratio, just mix it in till it's super sticky and it feels like they will never make a burger, and they're ready. They'd probably be good with some spices and what not... you know what to do!” And boy, was she right! As I suspected, it was hands down delicious! I served it with organic whole-wheat buns, thick slices of sharp cheddar, a side salad and some BBQ chips… oh and a nice cool pitcher of Mojitos. It was 4th of July perfection.
Slammin’ BBQ Chicken Burgers
2 lbs ground chicken
½ red or sweet onion
1½ large jalapeños, seeded
3 large garlic cloves, peeled
2 tbsp of brown sugar
Sea Salt & Fresh Ground Pepper
½ cup or so of your favorite BBQ Sauce (this is something I will be doing some experimentation on)
In a food processor, finely chop the onion, jalapeño, and garlic together until it’s still recognizable, but in small little shreds. In a large bowl add the veggie mixture, meat, salt, pepper, brown sugar and BBQ Sauce. With your hands, mix together the meat until the ingredients were well distributed. Charlotte was right, the mixture is sticky, super moist, and pretty goopy. My friend Rachel said to me, as I was mixing and she was adding the BBQ sauce, “Wow, that looks pretty disgusting. I think it’s done.” And she was right. Cover with plastic wrap and let marinate 30 minutes to 1 day in advance.
I found it easier to form the patties right at the grill and then put them on to my medium-high grill, they were too sloppy to pre-make. Cook for 6 minutes on each side. Add a thick slice of sharp cheddar cheese to the burgers with only a minute to go. Let them rest for 1 – 2 minutes and serve them on up.
I have a feeling that I’ll be playing a lot with chicken burgers over the next few months… ah, burgers – will the love ever end??
** I prefer Signolia’s Balsamic Dressing for about a 100 reasons, I could actually drink it straight out the bottle it’s so dang good. But specifically, I like that it’s tangy, has a nice spice blend, it’s not super sweet, and uses liquid amino for the saltiness – it’s a good balance! I highly recommend trying it… on everything!
