Super French Onion Burger

The secret ingredient is............... ONIONS!!!

This burger idea came from my wife. She suggested that I use the Lipton French onion dip mix in a burger and then cover it with cheese like they do for a French onion soup. The idea sounded great but I wanted to kick it up a notch. I wanted to do an onion burger but really expose the onions as the main ingredient. To start I sauteed two yellow onions in a cast iron pan with some good olive oil. I seasoned the onions in the pan with garlic, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. After they were a nice and creamy texture I then put them aside for later. The next thing that I needed to do was mix the ground beef with one Lipton Onion dip mix package. It is the same mix that you use to make an onion dip. It has a lot of onion flavor and it mixes well the beef. I then finely diced a half a yellow onion and added that into the bowl with some more olive oil. I mixed it all together by hand and formed the patties. The last burger topping was French onion dip. To make this you mix one package of the Lipton mix with equal parts sour cream. I used the same pan that I sauteed the onions in and the burgers soaked in all of that great flavor. After searing the burger on one side I flipped the burger over and covered with a slice of swiss cheese. About 5 minutes on each side and the burger was done. The last step was smearing the French onion dip on both sides of, of course, an onion roll. The burger was incredible. All of the different onion flavors melted together beautifully. Perhaps I was just looking for an excuse to use an onion roll again but this worked great. The dip and the sauteed onions were creamy while the burger had an outer crunch and the inside was a nice medium rare to rare. When you look at the picture you might think the burger looks too rare but I didn't mind it at all. The contrast of textures created a great burger. Here are the pictures for you to enjoy. See you next week.

Chicken Burger with Bruschetta topping

Ok, so I guess this one isn't a burger as much as it is a chicken sandwich. I just thought chicken would work better for this rather than beef and I was sick of turkey. None of you complained when I did a portabello sandwich so this will have to do. The idea came from Lori Jewell who suggested that I do a bruschetta burger. I love a bruschetta so I decided to run with the idea and after she e-mailed me the suggestion I immediately became hungry so that is always a good sign. Most of this burger consists of pre-made items that I got from the store. I wanted to get either preformed chicken patties or just plain ground chicken and make the burgers myself but I guess since the snow storm the store was very picked over. I did find a nice chicken breast that was already stuffed with mozzarella cheese and spinach. As Lori suggested I put the burger on a nice thick piece of garlic Texas Toast. To start I fired up my cast iron pan with some good olive oil and preheated the oven to 400 degrees. Then I slathered the chicken breast with some olive oil and liberally covered it with parmesan and basil. Then I put it into the pan skin side down and seared the parmesan basil crust for 3 minutes on each side. After the parmesan crusted nicely into a thin flake I put the entire pan into the oven for 10 minutes. Next I used the toaster oven to cook the Texas Toast with a thin slice of fresh mozzarella on each piece of toast. When the toast was nice and crusty and the cheese melted evenly I took it out and sprinkled with some fresh black pepper and a little more basil. After letting the chicken cool for five minutes I put it on the toast and covered it with the bruschetta. This burger really was a nice change of pace. It was salty and just really good. Let's be honest any burger where you use garlic bread as your bun is going to be pretty good. All of the components were equally good on their own and the sandwich as a whole was a success. Merry Christmas everyone! See you all next weekend after Christmas for another burger.

Asian turkey burger with wasabi

Let me start this blog by saying I generally am not a fan of Asian food. Given the choice between ordering Chinese or going to an American Pub or steakhouse I would choose the latter almost every time. However, I do occasionally like Japanese restaurants. A nice selection of sushi or a teryaki flavored beef is always good. Because of my affinity for spicy food I love the flavor of wasabi. For this burger I have to give special thanks to Katie Porter. She sent me a few ideas after reading my blog last week and many of them were very good. This one in particular stood out because it was unique. I also have to give special thanks to my two beautiful sous chefs. My beautiful wife Ann Lopez and my beautiful and very single sister in law Krissy Luciano helped with the knife work. I have included some behind the scenes pictures of the prep in this week's edition. Now for the burger. I started with a large mixing bowl and some ground turkey. I then added one large egg for binding purposes. Next I added the dry ingredients. All of them were diced finely. They included red bell pepper, cilantro, basil, scallions, fresh garlic, panko bread crumbs and red cabbage. Then came the wet ingredients which were sesame oil, low sodium soy sauce,a little bit of the wasabi, and a ginger paste which I bought at the store. You could certainly use fresh ginger as well. For the scallions I cut up both green and white parts and I was pretty liberal with the ginger as well. Then I hand mixed all the ingredients and formed them into a few nice patties. Now that the winter is here I have started cooking my burgers inside on my cast iron skillet. I heated a few tablespoons of vegetable oil and let the iron get screaming hot before I placed the burgers on it. I am still working on my technique for cooking burgers inside. Out on the grill I have it down pretty good but it seems to take a little longer for whatever reason inside. However, The flat iron creates more of a crust on the outside of the burgers that you really can't do on a grill with grates. It gives the meat a totally different texture. Great burger places like White Manna in Hackensack cook on a flat top because of this. The roll I chose for this burger was a sesame seed kaisar. Finally, I made a sauce to put on the bottom bun to further enhance the already moist burger. I used equal parts wasabi and mayonnaise. Then I added two parts sesame oil and one part soy sauce and added some fresh black pepper to taste. Lastly, I added some fresh red cabbage for some crunch on top. All I have to say is WOW. This burger was really good. I could have just eaten the burger with a knife and fork by itself. That is how moist and tasty it was. However, when you added the wasabi sauce it gave it another kick which was great. I always make two burgers every week and I usually only eat one or I sometimes take a bite or two out of the second and then throw it away. I ate both burgers in their entirety. This was exactly what I was looking for when I asked for suggestions. I never would have made this type of burger but it turned out to be a hit. Please keep the suggestions coming.

La Hamberguesa Mexicana

I was in the mood to make some fresh guacamole so I decided to use that for my burger this week. I prepared the guacamole the night before. I learned to make an authentic guacamole on my honeymoon in the Riveria Maya, Mexico. But as my wife always says I never use recipes so I always make it my own unique way. I started with four avocados. Keep in mind that I made more than I needed for my burgers. I halved and pitted the avocados and then scooped out the middle with a spoon. Then I juiced two limes over the avocado and mashed it up into a paste. Then I diced up finely one tomato, one red onion, four jalapenos, and some fresh cilantro. I finished it off with a good amount of salt and pepper. I used two whole limes because you need the juice to counter the effect of the hot peppers. Then today I started with the beef pre-made burger patti and I applied some vegetable oil and covered very thoroughly on one side with sweet smoked paprika and the other side with just a little salt and pepper. I decided to cook inside today because it has gotten very cold. I used a cast iron skillet and heated that up with a couple of pats of butter to coat the pan. Then I placed the burger paprika side down into the hot cast iron. This formed a nice seared in crust and it smelled great. After I cooked the burger for a few minutes I flipped it and put a small handful of grated cheddar to melt. Lastly, I cut the bun in half and covered the bottom bun with a heavy dose of store bought sour cream and a tablespoon of jalapeno and tomato salsa in the middle. After I placed the burger onto the bun I then covered with a healthy portion of the homemade guacamole. The burger was cooked a perfect medium rare and I loved the Mexican flavors of the guacamole, sour cream, and salsa. I also really enjoyed the burger's flavor from the paprika. That was the pleasant surprise in the whole thing. I knew the guacamole was very good but the entire burger was a delicious mess of Mexican delight. Another week down and another success on the burger blog. Keep the idea's coming. P.S. sorry for the late blog.

Thanksgiving leftover burger

For the week of Thanksgiving of course there will always be leftovers. I had a few to go containers left from my big Thanksgiving day meal. I had some stuffing which is by far my favorite item on the Thanksgiving table. I also had some sweet potatoes which is my wife's favorite. This was a really good burger for us. I bought turkey patties which were stuffed with spinach and garlic to create the theme. I fired up the grill to as hot as I could get it and I seared the turkey burgers for about 8 minutes on each side. At the same time I heated up the sausage stuffing and also put two tablespoons of the sweet potatoes in a microwave safe dish and heated that up until it became very soft and spreadable. My roll of choice was an onion roll. I sliced the roll in half and spread the sweet potato on top and a little mayo on the bottom. You can see the orange on the underside of the top of the onion roll. Turkey tends to be dry so you need something to moisten the burger. This combo was delicious and made for what seemed like a complete Thanksgiving in one burger. I had turkey, onions, spinach, sweet potato, stuffing, and bread all in one bite. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I can't wait until Christmas.

Inside Out burger with chorizo and bacon.

The concept of the inside burger is basically that all of the stuff that traditionally goes on the outside or top of the burger is put in the middle. For this burger I used ground beef, chorizo, bacon, and red onion. To start I fired up the grill and oiled the grilling stone with some good quality vegetable oil. This was my first ever attempt at bacon on the grill but I have to say it was great. The grilling stone gets very hot and cooks evenly. The bacon was crispy and just as if I did it on the stove top or in the oven on a rack. At the same time I cooked the Spanish chorizo on the grill. After the bacon and the chorizo were cooked throughout I took them off the grill and placed them on a sheet of paper towel to help drain the grease. Then when they were cooled off to room temperature I hand crumbled the crisp bacon into a bowl with the ground meat. I also diced up one chorizo into small cubes and mixed that in to the bowl. Lastly I finely diced red onion to give the burger some of that crunch and flavor. Then I hand mixed the entire bowl with a touch of extra virgin olive oil until everything was blended nicely. After a good mix I formed the mixture into small patties. Then I topped each patti with a folded piece of thinly sliced swiss cheese. Then I put one patti right on top of the other and again hand formed them into a burger with the cheese in the middle. Then I pinched the edges tightly so that the burger doesn't fall apart. Again the concept was an inside out burger so the cheese was in the middle before I put it on the grill. Since it was a pretty thick burger it had to cook for a while on the grill. It took about 8 or 9 minutes on each side to get it to a perfect medium doneness. For the bun I used a portuguese roll which I halved and toasted back on the grilling stone. Then I sauced the bottom of the bun with a mixture of 3 parts ketchup, 1 part Worcestershire sauce, and 1 part Frank's Red Hot sauce. The last step was a slice of tomato and a fresh piece of lettuce and this burger was awesome. The chorizo in the burger was incredible and the the red onions added a different crunchy texture while the sauce on the bun was really good. Overall this burger was excellent. If you look at the picture of the burger cut in half you can see the chorizo, bacon, and the cheese inside the meat. Sorry about the late post but I completely forgot to do this last night. I am thinking about this week's burger all ready. It has to Thanksgiving themed of course. I am open to all suggestions.

Lamb gyro burger

This week's burger was based on a Greek gyro sandwich. My love of the gyro started with getting them at Yankee stadium or behind Yankee stadium before the games. Since I was at the stadium today to run in the first annual Damon Runyon 5k for Cancer research I decided to recreate the gyro. Traditionally a good gyro uses thin sliced lamb that is slow roasted on a spit while the fat drips down. Another great place to get a gyro which I discovered this past summer is Gyro Bob's on Route 206. It is a little place that serves gyros, burgers, and hot dogs. The lamb gyro is my favorite served by Gyro Bob himself with an order of fries. Anyway, the traditional gyro is thin sliced but I am making burgers so I formed a ground lamb patti. In a large mixing bowl I hand mixed ground lamb, crumbled feta cheese, cumin, red pepper flakes, chili powder, onion powder, garlic, salt and pepper. The cumin is the star of the seasonings. At gyro Bob's there is a definite cumin flavor to the lamb so I tried to mimic that as much as possible. I think mixing the seasonings into the burgers rather than coating the outer layer makes a huge difference. Its totally changes the flavor of the meat. Also, the crumbled feta in the burger instead of melted on top creates a more balanced burger where you can taste the lamb much better without the cheese melted on top. I am not sure of it was the lamb or the feta inside but these burgers when I put them on the grill and closed the lid really created some drippings which flamed up the grill big time. The grill got up to 600 degrees when the cover was closed. It didn't take long before I flipped them and the lamb burgers were done a perfect medium. Finally I used a whole wheat flat pita and topped with fresh diced tomato and fresh romaine lettuce. To give it some moisture and to add a final touch I topped it off with some plain Greek yogurt and a touch of honey. This burger was a hit. I have to say that Gyro Bob himself would have liked this one. The lamb was excellent and the cumin perfectly added a smoky flavor while the Greek yogurt with honey made a great sauce. It was to tough to get a good picture because I couldn't get the sandwich to fold over in positions to take a picture so I just took the picture flat. If I were getting these behind the stadium they would wrap it up in some butcher paper and it would be deliciously messy. The gyro is meant to be a messy sandwich on the go. I might have to come back to lamb again before this blog is over. Week 12 here I come. See you next week.

Honey Pear and Blue Cheese Burger

This weekend it was my wife Ann's birthday so I had to make my burger on Friday because we were going away for the weekend. Happy birthday Annie. For her birthday dinner we went to a Tapas restaurant in Baltimore which gave me lots of inspiration for new burger ideas. Anyway, I decided to go with an ingredient that was in season right now and that is pears. Pears are in right now so they are plentiful and very fresh. I chose a Bosc pear. The Bosc pear is brown in color but very sweet and juicy. If you read any gourmet magazine or talk to a cheese enthusiast they will tell you that pear and blue cheese are a great combo. You will often see them paired together in a salad but I figured why not in a burger. So, first I halved the pears skin on and drizzled honey over the flesh side of the pears. I then placed them flesh side down on my grilling stone after it had been preheated to 500 degrees. Then I closed the lid and just let them roast in the grill for about 15 minutes. When finished the honey from the pears carmalized and created a coating that was almost a dark brown syrup on the fleshy side of the pear. I then thinly sliced off that dark pear flesh to put onto my burger. Then I started on my burger which was a beef burger from Omaha steaks. I cooked the burgers for 7 minutes before flipping them and covering with a few slices of Gorgonzola blue cheese which I sauced with Frank's Red Hot Wing sauce. One of the reasons that pear and blue cheese go together so well is because of the salty and sweet. So for me when I think of blue cheese I also think of Buffalo wings. This Frank's Red Hot if you have never had it is really good. It has a little kick but it is also tangy. I like to use it on a lot of things as a sauce to add some flavor. When the blue cheese melted it had a reddish coloring melted in that was just that extra kick that I was looking for. The last piece of the burger was the bun. For this burger I choose a whole wheat oat bun which I lightly drizzled honey onto the outside. The bun itself was outstanding and the honey just made it even more incredible. This burger was just a hit. It was salty, sweet, tangy, and when I used some more of the Hot Sauce for dipping it just made this a perfectly balanced burger. This was a definite success. 10 Burgers down and 20 to go.

No Carb Turkey Burger

After a few too many slices of pizza and garlic knots I needed a low carb healthier burger. For those of you who watch "The Biggest Loser" on NBC I have to admit I stole their idea for a healthy burger alternative. Of course I never use a recipe so I added my own mix of fresh vegetables and seasoning. The only thing I stole was the idea for a turkey burger with no bun. Instead of the bun I used a portabello mushroom cap. I diced up a red onion, cubanelle pepper, green bell pepper, and two jalapeños and mixed it in with the ground turkey and a touch of vegetable oil. Then I hand folded in the seasoning which was salt, black pepper, garlic, white pepper, and smoked sweet paprika. Then I formed the patties and set them aside in the refrigerator for a few hours. When it was time to make dinner then I preheated the grill and dusted the inside of the cap with some salt and black pepper. Then I started the portabellos on the grilling stone. I flipped the mushrooms and when they were done I immediately put them on a piece of paper towel to soak up the excess juices. Then after a few minutes I put the turkey burgers on the hot grates and let them sear in the seasoning. After the flip I topped each burger with a piece of cheddar cheese and garnished with two slices of fresh avocado. I have to admit that this burger in theory was a great idea for a light burger but a few things went wrong. First of all I have never cooked a turkey burger before so at first I undercooked it and had to return the burgers to the grill for a second try. Secondly I used too much paprika. The paprika flavors overtook the rest of the burger. Lastly, the idea of not having a bun sounds good but it is impossible to eat a burger with no bun. I had to use a fork and knife for this one. The one positive was the the flavor from the diced fresh vegetables and the crunchy texture from the seasoning and the raw veggies. I think if I had a chance to make this burger again I think I could make it a pretty good burger but this one was not quite there.

Mushroom Swiss Burger

This week's burger had to wait until Sunday because of a wedding that my wife and I attended on Friday. Well the rehearsal dinner was om Friday and the wedding on Saturday. It was a busy weekend for me and I didn't really have time to come up with an idea for a burger. Instead I went with this classic burger that is served almost anywhere there are burgers on the menu. I decided to use baby sliced portabellas for my mushrooms. It was nice enough to use the grill outside so I began by coating the mushrooms in a light vegetable oil and then adding in some butter. I dumped the whole thing on my Italian grilling stone and the flavor from the butter and the mushrooms on the hot cooking stone immediately smelled great. I just wanted to give the mushrooms time to really become soft and tender before I threw the burger on the grill. After a few minutes and a quick flip of the mushrooms I added the burger onto the hot racks of the grill. The sizzle happened right away and it provides a great sound of a quality burger in the works. I closed the grill and let it sit untouched for about 6 minutes. Then I opened the grill and slid the spatula underneath the burger to test if it was ready to be flipped. It was and I quickly flipped and turned the burger at approximately 45 degrees to get great grill marks. I know the cheese will cover the grill marks but I still want my burger to look good at all of the stages. After the flip I then put the mushrooms on top of the burger and covered the mushrooms and the burger with the swiss cheese. I then toasted the buns slightly on the grilling stone which still had the melted butter from the mushrooms that were cooking there not too long ago. I think the butter on the rolls really made a difference as they were being toasted. As soon as the cheese was fully melted over the mushrooms I then took the buns off the grilling stone and plated the burger. I then covered the top of the bun with a a dash of chipotle mustard and a good portion of ketchup. Served with a whole dill pickle and this burger was a delicious Sunday dinner. It was buttery, crispy, creamy, and just plain good. Although this was not my most imaginative burger it was one of the best. I am looking forward to next week already.

Buffalo burger with mexican flavors

I went into this week thinking I was going to do a different type of meat for my burger. I wanted to get lamb but couldn't find any at my local grocery store. I did, however, find some nice buffalo meat. If you have never had buffalo before it really is very good. It has a great flavor similar to beef but somehow different. Also, it is a healthier alternative because it is leaner and has less fat than traditional beef. I formed the ground buffalo into patties and covered them lightly with some oil so that the seasoning would stick. I then coated the burger in a spice rub of chili powder, ground yellow mustard, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Then I set the grill on high and got the temperature way up so that the spice rub would really sear into the burger. On top of the burger I decided to go with two sauces. One was a little spicy and tangy and the other was cooling and creamy. I covered the burger with pureed jalapeños for the spiciness. Next I zested a lime and added the juice from a half of a lime into some sour cream. This added the traditional lime Mexican flavor which cooled down the spiciness of the jalapeños. Lastly, I used a toasted Portuguese roll cut in half as my bread of choice. When I took my first bite of this sandwich two things stood out. First the flavor of the buffalo meat stood out as being so different and very tasty. I will definitely feature another burger with buffalo meat before this blog is done. The second thing I noticed was the lime sour cream. It was deliciously cooling after biting into the hot peppers and the chili seasoning. Another week and another successful burger. I would definitely repeat this one again.

Meatless Burger

This one is late because I went to the Bruce Springsteen concert on Friday night. The concert was incredibly good despite none of the rumors that were swirling around the parking lot actually happened. I heard everything from Bon Jovi appearing to Bruce playng until 1:00 a.m. So, therefore, I had to delay this week's burger until Sunday. The burger I made was not really a burger but a portabello mushroom cap. I lightly brushed the mushrooms with some vegetable oil and liberally seasoned with salt and pepper before I put them on the grill. Then I sliced some red onion into thick pieces and put them on my Italian grilling stone. I decided to use some sauteed onions and some fresh raw onion. Basically, I couldn't decide because I love using my grilling stone. It gives the onions a smokey flavor with a soft texture that is incredible. However, I also wanted some form of crunchiness in the sandwich since everything else was a soft texture. The raw onion gave it that crunch. After grilling the portabello for about 6 minutes I flipped it and covered the open end with swiss cheese and left it to melt. On the suggestion of my wife Annie I used a soft onion roll as the bread. It turned out to be a great suggestion because the onion bread was fabulous and really made for a great sandwich. Whenever I have onion bread it reminds of the rolls at Peter Luger's Steakhouse in Brooklyn. The last step was a slice of vine ripened tomato and the sandwich was complete. Another week and another success. Still looking for suggestions and still looking forward to next week.

Pesto Burger with spinach and feta.

Basically, I wanted to find a way to get some veggies into my burger. Perhaps one of these weeks I will do an actual veggie burger or perhaps not. This burger was as green as I could make it with a basil pesto sauce slathered on the toasted bun and topped with spinach sauteed with onions and feta cheese. I started by melting some butter in a sautee pan and letting the diced white onion and garlic become translucent together. Then I topped the onins with the chopped spinach leaves. At the very end I added about a half a cup of crumbled feta cheese. I could have just eaten the spinach by itself without the burger. It was incredibly moist from the onions and had the right flavor from the garlic and the feta melted in added a creamy texture to it. The pesto sauce was just a blended mix of basil leaves, pine nuts, olive oil, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese. When the burger was put together it really blended well as a meal with different textures and different flavors. I could taste all of the components of the burger individually and nothing was overpowering. Maybe it wasn't the healthiest way to do it but I reached my veggie quota for the day.

Black and Blue burger with pickled peppers

This burger was a throwback to my days of waiting tables at Houlihans. On the menu was a black and blue burger with a Cajun seasoning and a melted blue cheese. I used to order it all the time when I worked there. Of course I had to kick it up a notch so I switched the blue cheese to a Gorgonzola and I added the pickled jalapenos and pimentos. Personally, I love blue cheese. I love it on steak. I love it on salads. I love it on chicken. When you melt it it takes on a whole new texture which is creamy and delicious. The first step was to use vegetable oil to coat the burger on both sides. Then I crusted and rubbed in the blackening seasoning which consisted of Cajun flavors mixed with the typical salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Then I seared in the crust with the burger over high heat on the grill. After one flip I put the big chunk of Gorgonzola and closed the lid to thoroughly melt the cheese. I chose two types of peppers to add to the burger. I love jalapeños especially when they are pickled. It adds a bit of tang and a bit of spice to the burger. My second peppers was a tribute to my man Jose Andres who my lovely wife Ann introduced me to last year. He has a show on PBS called "Made in Spain." One of his favorite types of peppers is the Pimento. It is grown in Spain and he often pairs it with aged cheeses and olives for a tasty snack. The Pimento is a sweet pepper so it pairs well with the more spicy Jalapeño. I also like the color combo of the red and the green peppers on the white cheese. It makes the dish look very appetizing. All of this was on a soft fresh kaiser roll and I used ketchup on the burger to really make this one of the best burgers I have had. I am still looking forward to next week and again if anyone has any suggestions please feel free to write them in.

Cuban Burger

This week's burger was one of my favorites. A Cuban sandwich inspired burger. I grilled the burger over high heat with a little salt and pepper coating. The burger had perfect grill marks when I flipped it after about six minutes. Then I put two thinly sliced pieces of swiss cheese and closed the grill cover to melt the cheese while I prepared the rest of the burger. I always like to initially grill the burger with the cover open to form a high heat from below to sear the meat and then close the cover to create an oven like effect to melt the cheese and to finish the burger. I chose a Ciabatta bun for the Cuban burger to make it more like a sandwich. The sauce for the burger was equal parts mayo, Dijon mustard, and chipotle mustard. After mixing the sauce in a mixing bowl I added it to both sides of the ciabatta and covered the bottom with two pieces of smoked jamon and two flat "sandwich stackers" dill pickles. After the burger was ready and the cheese was melted I then took the burger off of the grill and placed it on the ciabatta. I then returned the entire sandwich to the grill and used my heavy duty cast iron skillet to act as a press. I placed the heavy skillet on the sandwich and closed the grille cover over it. I then flipped the burger and did the same on the other side. When it was done after about 4 minutes on each side I had a panini like burger in between a pressed ciabatta bread sauced with a chipotle cream sauce and topped with smoked jamon, swiss cheese, and dill pickles. The sandwich was killer. Definitely the best one so far on this burger trip. You could taste the sauce with just a little kick and the ham was very tasty and didn't overpower the fact that it was a burger at all. I also just love ciabatta bread with the hard exterior to add some texture and the tasty interior and it is just a great sandwich bread. Overall this burger is moved to the top of my list as a great burger with Cuban flavors to die for. I know I have lots of fans so if you have any suggestions please e-mail them to me. See you next week with another burger.

Spicy sausage burger with bacon and eggs

In week three I decided to play with some classic breakfast foods. I took some spicy sausage patties and mixed them with regular beef and added in a cracked egg to act as a binder. Then I hand formed a burger with the mixed spicy Italian sausage and the beef burger. It was pouring raining out so this had to be an indoor burger. I used my cast iron grill pan to sear the burger with a little butter on both sides while the thick cut bacon was in the oven on the racks. After a quick sear on both sides and the American cheese I put the pan in the oven with the bacon at 400 degrees. Then I went to work on my fried egg. With a little salt and pepper I fried the egg over easy so the yolk was still slightly wet. When all was said and done I took the sausage burger covered with melted American cheese out of the oven and put it on top of a sliced kaiser bun. Then I topped with two pieces of bacon, the fried egg, and a little ketchup to complete my breakfast burger. When I sliced the burger in half the yolk from the egg dripped down onto the rest of the burger creating a very breakfasty sandwich with a little kick from the spicy burger patty. The only thing I wish I had thought of was to add a little hot sauce into the ketchup. Overall the burger had great flavor and textures. Week three was a success. Looking forward to next week's burger.

Philly Cheesesteak Burger

This was my take on the Philly cheese steak. The classic cheese steak option is what they call a whiz "wit" which means you want cheese whiz and onions. I started with a fresh Portuguese roll and smothered it with a gooey warm cheese whiz sauce. Then I sautéed the black pepper seasoned white onions on my cooking stone on the grill with a little butter and vegetable oil. The onions caramelized until they were almost a creamy texture. Next I cooked the burger to a perfect medium rare only flipping it once with some beautiful grill marks from the close to 500 degree grill. After the burger was finished which takes about 5 minutes on each side I then put the burger aside to let it rest so that the juices could recollect. Then I placed the burger on the cheese sauced bun and covered it with another layer of the cheese sauce and finally topped it with a heaping spoonful of the caramelized white onions and topped it all off with some ketchup. I don't now if it was the better quality bun or the fake processed cheese sauce but this burger was a hit. Its gooyness from the cheese and the different textures inside made the best burger I have had in a while. This was definitely a winner and one I would certainly recreate again but not for another 30 weeks. I am looking forward to next week in my trip to create the perfect burger. See you next week.

Bacon Cheddar Burger

My first burger had to be a simple classic. I crisped the bacon in the oven while I brushed one side of the burger with vegetable oil and sprinkled it with a mixture of salt, pepper, and garlic powder. I preheated the grill to high and got it up to about 500 degrees. I placed the burger seasoned side down on the hot grill. I only like to flip a burger once. After the spatula could slide easily underneath the burger without it feeling like it was going to break apart or stick then it is ready. This takes about 6 minutes. I immediately placed the cheddar on the burger because there is nothing worse than a burger where the cheese is not melted. With a toasted bun and a slice of tomato this classic burger is almost ready. The last touch is the bacon straight from the oven. I like to pepper my bacon as soon as it comes out of the oven. Here it is the Cheddar and peppered bacon burger on a toasted bun with a thick slice of tomato. See you next week.

I am turning 30

I am turning 30 years old on March 26th. I also have recently purchased two cases of Omaha steak burgers. The next logical step would be to come up with a theme and blog about it. So I decided to make a new and different burger every Friday for the next 30 weeks and write about it. I hope you like it.