30 years old

Well this is my last post. As promised I want to recap the last thirty weeks. My first burger was made on August 29th 2009. It was a simple Bacon Cheddar burger. My last burger was on March 21st. It was the classic cheeseburger. Two very plain and simple burgers as bookends to my blog. I made thirty burgers. I grilled fourteen of them and steamed five of them. I also pressed one, the Cuban burger. When I started the blog it was in the hot August days of summer. It was also 2009. As I ended the blog the spring was just starting to peak its head out although not quite there. I cooked fourteen burgers outdoors and sixteen of them inside. Since the blog began we have seen Thanksgiving, Christmas, and St Patrick's Day. I went to see Bruce Springsteen. The yankees won the World Series and The Giants tanked down the stretch. I went to a wedding and spent a weekend in Baltimore for my wife's birthday. I made a lot of different burgers with plenty of themes. I used a St Patti's day theme, a Thanksgiving theme, a Philly cheesesteak theme, and a breakfast theme. I also made burgers in very different styles, I made a Cuban burger, an Italian burger, two Mexican burgers, an Irish burger, a Greek burger, a Japanese burger, a Thai burger, and a southwestern burger. During the course of this blog I made a pretty big lifestyle switch. During the making of "The New American Burger" I decided to eat organic for all produce, meats, and dairy. The most popular meat was obviously beef. However, I also used Lamb, Buffalo, chicken, turkey, sausage, and portobello. The buns were mostly soft wheat hamburger rolls but I also used a few other types as well. I used Kaiser rolls, Sesame buns, potato rolls, and my favorite the Portuguese roll. I used Cheddar cheese five times and gorgonzola cheese twice. I also used feta, American, swiss, imported Irish cheddar, gouda, Parmesan, asiago, fontina, and cheese whiz. I used seven different types of buns including one burger with no bun at all. My most common vegetables were peppers. I used several different types. I used anaheim peppers, poblano peppers, bell peppers, pimento peppers, cherry peppers, piquillo peppers, and lots of jalapenos. I even used a homemade jalapeno guacamole in my Mexican Hamburger. There were two different elaborate spice rubs but the most common spice trio was salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. The most unusual ingredient that I used would have to be peanut butter. I definitely tried several new things that I never would have made or ordered before. I made several homemade sauces and dressings. My favorite was a the three cheese green chili sauce. I condiments as simple as ketchup and mustard. I also created my own mixes such as a chipotle mayo. I used two fruits in my burgers. The obvious one is tomatoes and the other was pear. I used three different types of bacon and two types of sausage. Lots of people have commented on their favorite burgers but the most common question that I received was which burger was your favorite. I think answering this question is kind of like asking who are the greatest baseball players of all time. Sure I can give you a list but once you get to the top two or three you are splitting hairs. So in no particular order my five best burgers in the last thirty weeks are:

The Cuban Burger

La Hamberguesa Mexicana

Lamb Gyro Burger

Philly Cheesesteak Burger

The Classic Cheeseburger

Thanks for everyone who read this blog and for those who made suggestions and commented online and to me in person. It was a lot of fun to do and to eat as well. The funny thing was throughout the whole process I never got sick of burgers. The possibilities were and remain endless. I even had two burgers out at restaurants outside of this blog in the past thirty weeks. Hopefully I inspired some of you to try a new idea for a burger, or a sandwich, or a meal. Take care everyone and thanks again for reading.

Joe

The classic cheeseburger

For my last burger I really didn't know what I wanted to do. I thought about a fancy sauce. I thought about using a new cheese that I have never tried. I thought about using thirty separate ingredients. I thought about using two pancakes as my buns and covering it with maple syrup. No, I really did think about that. At the end of the day it hit me. What's better than just a good cheeseburger? When a burger is done well you don't need fancy ingredients or themes. You just need the basics. Excellent quality fresh ground beef. Melted yellow American cheese. Crisp romaine lettuce. A slice of Jersey fresh tomato. Sliced Kosher pickles. All on a sesame seed bun with mustard and ketchup. I went to Whole Foods and had the butcher freshly ground 80% lean beef. I wanted the beef to be the star here and not the toppings. I made a monster burger with lots of ground beef. This ground beef looked and smelled great. It was the type that you could almost eat raw. I hand formed a pattie and seasoned it with just some salt and pepper. I also used my thumb to make an indentation on one side. I learned this from Bobby Flay. He does this to all of his burgers because it creates a pocket to help keep the moisture in when you cook the burger. For those of you who live in New Jersey the weather this past weekend was gorgeous. It was in the 70's with sun and no humidity. Because of this I was able to break out the grill and cook my last burger outside. I can't remember the last time I was able to cook outside on the grill. It was probably back in November. After I cleaned the grill off I was able to turn the heat up to high. When the grates were nice and hot I placed the thick burger seasoning side down to sear in the flavor. It has been a while since I last cooked outside so I had to really watch the burger to make sure I didn't overcook it. Also, this burger was a lot thicker than the ones I had made the past few weeks. I closed the lid to create a convection like cooking enviorment. I had to really create an even heat or the burger would be charred on the outside and raw in the middle. After I cooked the burger for about 8 minutes I flipped it over to see beautiful grill marks that you just can't get from cooking inside. I then covered with two slices of yellow American Cheese and covered again to melt. At this point I lightly toasted the bun on the grill. When the bun was done I added the ketchup and mustard on the top half. After about 14 minutes total cooking time the burger was done and I placed the burger on the toasted bun and covered with one piece of lettuce, a slice of tomato, and three kosher pickle slices. Wow was this burger good. In the end I have learned that sometimes less is more. The burger itself was really good and without a doubt it was the star of the show here. A lot of times a restaurant will make up for their lower quality beef by using a sauce to mask the flavor. When you make a good burger you really don't need all the other toppings. The fresh lettuce and tomato just compliment the burger. The pickles with the ketchup and mustard are up to the individual to decide but they are generally considered part of the classic cheeseburger. Well, the time is here for this burger blog to be done. Next Friday I will be thirty years old. What first seemed like an impossible task is now done. Honestly, I feel like I could keep going. I learned that burgers are limitless. Whatever your individual tastes are you can create into a burger. I am not sure what I plan to have for dinner next Sunday but I do have some left over chopped ground beef in the freezer. I do have one more blog entry to write before I say goodbye. Next week I plan to write a recap of the last 30 weeks. That should be fun. I want to take a look back at the highs and the lows and recap all of the different burgers. I guess I will finish with a quote from Tim McGraw's "My Next Thirty years". Oh my next thirty years, I'm gonna watch my weight. Eat a few more salads and not stay up so late. Drink a little lemonade and not so many beers. Maybe I'll remember my next thirty years. My next thirty years will be the best years of my life. Raise a little family and hang out with my wife.

St. Patti's Day Burger

In honor of St Patrick's Day I decided to make an Irish themed burger. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to cook a burger at all. Because of the torrential downpour and heavy winds we lost power from Saturday night until Sunday afternoon. We were without power for twenty one hours. When the power went back on at about 3:30 I had to rush out to the store and buy the groceries for this week's burger. For this burger I decided to use ground lamb. I seasoned the lamb with salt and pepper and then poured in a bottle of Sam Adams Boston Lager. If I really wanted to get Irish I probably should have used Guinness or Smithwick's. However all I had was the Sam Adams and I didn't feel like making an extra trip to the liquor store. After soaking the seasoned lamb in the Beer for a few minutes I then poured the contents of the mixing bowl into a strainer. After straining out the excess liquid I put the meat back into the mixing bowl and again seasoned with salt and pepper. During this process I preheated the oven to 450 degrees. I really wanted to find Irish bacon. However, I was on a time crunch and I looked at two different stores and could not find it anywhere. I had to settle for Canadian bacon. It is very similar to Irish bacon so that would have to do. I cooked the bacon in the oven on a wire rack until the edges crisped up. This took about 15 minutes. After I let the ground lamb which was soaked in the beer sit for a few minutes I then took my Irish butter and cut it into small cubes. The butter was Kerry Gold Irish butter. I took a few patties and used them to coat the bottom of my cast iron skillet. I also used some semi soft butter cubes to fold right into the burger pattie. I got this idea from Paula Dean on the Food Network. If you have ever seen her then you would know her love of butter. She used to make butter burgers for her kids when they were little. I thought the ideas was crazy but when you put the butter cubes actually inside the burger then it melts and gives the burger a great flavor from the inside out. It also helps to keep the burger moist while it cooks. I placed the burger on the cast iron and let it cook in the Irish butter. After about 6 minutes I flipped the burger over and covered with my cheese. My choice of cheese was an imported Irish Cheddar called Dubliner. I took two thin slices and covered the burger and then I covered with a lid to really melt the cheese. When the burger cooked it released the beer into the pan. Then when I covered the burger with the lid it created a steam to help cook the burger thoroughly. What can be better for flavor than a beer and butter steam bath? Because of the liquids steaming the burgers you don't get a crust like you would when you cook on a dry pan or on a grill. You do get a very moist and flavorful burger with a consistent texture. My choice of bread was of course a potato roll which I sliced and covered with a horseradish mustard. I again salted and peppered the bun with the mustard spread. When the bacon was done I seasoned that with fresh cracked pepper as well. I have learned from Bobby Flay that the key to a good meal is to layer your seasonings. Every layer needs to be properly seasoned. I then placed the burger on the roll and then the bacon on top. My first impression of the burger was the flavor of the beer. It really made a huge difference. Secondly was the moist burger with a crunchy piece of Canadian bacon on top. Last was the horseradish mustard. It provided a great kick for the burger. I definitely plan to use it again on Wednesday when we are having corned beef and cabbage. I can't believe I only have one burger left. If anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear them. I really do not know what I plan to make next week. I also plan to write a 30 week recap of all of the burgers on the week of my 30th birthday. So with two posts to go until this blog is officially done I am excited. Take care and don't forget to send in suggestions for my last burger.

Thai Burger

Let me start by saying that I have never had Thai food. From what I know about Thai food it involves a lot of spicy sauces and peanut sauces and dressings. I eat peanut butter pretty much every day. I also love spicy foods so this seemed like a pretty good idea for a burger. I literally googled "Thai peanut burger" for an idea of how to go about this. I found one which seemed pretty good and went at it. Of course I tweaked it a little to my liking. I went to Whole Foods and bought out the Thai food section. In a large mixing bowl I hand mixed the ground beef with the seasonings. I used salt, black pepper, red chili flakes, and garlic. Then I mixed in the wet ingredients. I used soy sauce, teryiaki sauce, Worcestershire sauce, ginger paste, fresh lime juice, and a store bought Thai roasted red pepper paste. Lastly, I used Skippy peanut butter. I heaped on two large tablespoons. I used my hands to mix up all of this into a pattie for my burger. This was extremely messy but I formed the burger and placed it on a piece of tin foil. I coated my cast iron pan with habenero butter and turned the heat to high. When the butter melted and the pan was hot enough I placed the burger on it. I could see the peanut butter starting to melt but the outside of the burger was getting crusty in sections. After 6 minutes I flipped the burger over which was not easy to do. The peanut butter melted and the burger was not staying together in the pattie form. For the bun I used a hard sesame kaiser bun. I cut the bun in half and covered one half in honey while I used a "Hot Thai chili sauce" on the other half. I let the burger cool down and then placed it on the bun and covered with a little bit more of the Thai hot sauce. Overall I would say that this burger was pretty good. I am not quite sure how to describe it. Like I said I have never had Thai food before but this was my impression of what it is like. The burger was definitely spicy and definitely creamier than a normal burger. But I could still get a some texture from the beef searing on the pan and the hard crusty bread. It was unlike any burger I had ever had before. The overall flavor profile was heavy on the peanut butter but after you start to eat the burger then the spice hits you on the way down. I am glad that I decided to make this burger. Several times on this burger journey I got the opportunity to try something that I probably never would have decided to try. I look forward to next week because I don't have many left before the big 3 0.

Turkey Burger BLT

First of all I am sorry about the late post. I was very busy yesterday and did not have the time to go shopping and cook. My sister in Law is on a diet and therefore she is starving. Becasue of this she sits around all day and thinks of burgers she wishes she could have. Out of about twenty suggestions one sounded pretty good and also doable. The burger was supposed to be similar to a classic BLT that you can get in any Diner, Drive In, or Dive around the country. Add some turkey and you have a Turkey BLT. I used peppercorn bacon again just like I did last time I used bacon for this blog. I preheated the oven to 400 and cooked the bacon on a wire rack for about 15 or 20 minutes. The ground turkey I wanted as simple as possible. I just added a little bit of salt and black pepper. I tried to make the patties really thin and more rectangular so that it would fit well with the bread as opposed to a bun. I cooked up the turkey burgers on a cast iron skillet with just a little bit of vegetable oil to coat the pan. I cooked them for about 8 minutes on each side to make sure the turkey was cooked thoroughly. For the bread I used a light Jewish Rye bread which I toasted lightly. A typical BLT has Mayo for moisture. I found a bottle of a garlic aioli in the store. An aioli is just oil infused with some flavoring. This one was a garlic flavored sauce. I mixed some of the aioli with some Helman's mayo and used that in between slices of bread. Finally it was time to put the sandwich together. I started with the toasted bread slathered with the garlic dressing. Then I topped it with a thin turkey burger. Next was the peppercorn bacon, lettuce, and tomato. I repeated the entire process for a double decker turkey burger BLT. Three slices of bread, two turkey burgers, 2 tomatoes, 4 pieces of lettuce, 4 slices of bacon, and a delicious garlic dressing. This burger was a big one. Good thing I was pretty hungry after going back to work today. I stuck a large steak knife through the sandwich for the effect and this was a delicious burger. It was a simply good combo just like the classic BLT. I am running out of time folks. If you have any suggestion please send them in. Remember, if you like the blog then sign up to become a follower and don't forget you can enlarge the pictures by clicking on them. See you next week.

Coffee rubbed spice burger .

This burger had the special honor of having my mom come and visit. While she is not quite as adventurous as I am in eating she played along and ate the burger anyway. But as I told her, my blog would be pretty boring if every week was a plain cheeseburger. For this burger I created a spice rub which was similar to one I saw Bobby Flay use on a steak. The rub consisted of Mexican chili powder, sweet smoked paprika, garlic salt, yellow mustard seed, coriander, salt, black pepper, red chili flakes, and the main ingredient coffee grinds. The yellow mustard seed and the coriander I grinded myself and the rest was in powder form. Then I dumped all of the spices into a bowl on top of the ground beef and hand mixed until all the seasonings were soaked up by the beef. Then I hand formed into three even spice rubbed patties. The next step was to grate the cheese. For this burger I decided to use an aged Gouda cheese. For those of you who have never had Gouda it is probably my favorite cheese. I would recommend a 3 year aged Gouda. It is similar to cheddar but has a fuller and deeper flavor. It is also kind of a nutty cheese where a little goes a long way. I heated the cast iron skillet with a little vegetable oil and turned the heat up to high. Then when the skillet was hot enough I placed the burger on it to get a nice sear and really crust up those spices on the outside of the burger. Then after about 4 minutes I added some water onto the skillet to create the steam and covered it with a lid. Another 3 minutes and I flipped the burger over and covered with the grated Gouda. Then I added some more water and recovered just until the cheese was melted on top. For the bun this week I chose a Portuguese roll. The last step in the burger was a slathering of Mesa Grill barbecue sauce on top. The variety of pepper in this burger was evident from the first bite. Between the Mexican chili powder, the smoked paprika, and the black pepper the burger had plenty of flavor and a great crust. For those of you who have never used coffee as a rub before it really doesn't overpower the other flavorings. In fact the coffee just added a little richer flavor to the burger. If you didn't know it was coffee rubbed you probably wouldn't be able to pick it out by taste. I wouldn't say this burger was spicy but more so it was heavily seasoned. The spices make the different textures in the burger. The beef remains moist on the inside while the spices form a nice crunchy crust. The BBQ sauce from Mesa Grill is a nice touch as well because it has a little kick to it with great flavor and obviously moisture. The burger was solid. I wouldn't put this is my top five but it was definitely good. I recommend clicking on the picture of the burger to zoom in and really see the spice crust. I am down to only four weeks left.

Cheddar Bacon sliders with a honey mayo dressing

This week's burger was on Saturday night because my wife and I have a valentine's dinner date tomorrow at the Spanish Tavern in Newark. I wanted to go back to using my slider maker. I bought all of the ingredients at Whole Foods. I used beef for this burger. The ground beef was organic grass fed and was 85% lean meat. For the bacon I used an uncured peppercorn seasoned bacon that was delicious. I used a rack and set the oven to 400 degrees. While the bacon was cooking in the oven I prepared the beef into thin little patties and seasoned them with some sea salt. After the bacon was about half done I wrapped each burger with a thick slice of peppercorn bacon and covered it with some grated extra sharp cheddar cheese. Then I preheated the slider maker and the press and cooked the bacon wrapped cheddar burger until it was about medium. I found these great little rolls in the bread section at Whole Foods. These were soft and had a nice outer crust. I would say they were sort of like Potato rolls. The last step was to make my dressing to go on the buns. In a mixing bowl I combined some olive oil mayo and some honey. Then I seasoned it with salt, pepper, and red chili flakes. Lastly, I mixed in some brown mustard for taste. This burger was really good. The peppercorn bacon alone would have made anything taste good. It was seasoned very heavily which I loved. The dressing was a little sweet and a little spicy and provided a creamy back taste to the rest of the burger. As a whole the burger was another success. And finally for dessert I had a Reese's peanut butter heart and a chocolate covered pretzel which were valentine's day gifts from my wife and my mother in law. I better get to the gym early tomorrow morning because after this dinner and the Spanish Tavern tomorrow I will need to cut back for a while. To all of the people who read my blog please sign in as a follower. Also, I am not sure if everyone knows this but if you click on the pictures of the burgers you can see them zoomed in for a better look. See you next week.

Buffalo Chicken Burger

In honor of the super bowl I tried to recreate America's favorite game time food. The buffalo wing is a Super Bowl favorite which I am sure is being consumed by the dozens all over the country today. To make this burger I used ground chicken and formed it into a patty. I seasoned with salt and pepper and tossed with the wing sauce in a large mixing bowl. The sauce I used was Frank's Buffalo wing sauce which can be found in any grocery store. I coated the chicken patties nicely with the sauce and then placed it onto a hot cast iron pan. After A good sear for about six minutes I flipped it over. Then I cooked it on the other side for another six minutes. Then I turned the heat down to medium and I added a handful of crumbled blue cheese on top of the burger. I poured a little bit of water onto the pan to create some steam and covered it with a lid to steam the burger and to melt the blue cheese into a sauce. After two more minutes the burger was done. I placed it on a whole wheat bun and covered with a little bit more of Frank's extra hot sauce. The only thing missing was some celery sticks. The blue cheese and the wing sauce goes together incredibly and the bun was nice and soft which helped absorb the sauce. The chicken remained moist but the outside had a great crust. Another burger down and not many more to go but I have to get going because this game is getting interesting.

Italian Burger

Sorry that this post is late. Someone who will remain nameless had to have pizza and ice cream last night so I had to wait until today to make this week's burger. This burger was a mix of Italian seasonings and flavors. I decided to steam the burger once again this week after the success of last week's steamed delight. I heated my cast iron skillet with a little bit of olive oil and some habenero butter. Ok so maybe the habenero butter isn't exactly Italian but I couldn't help myself. Then I seasoned the pan with some red pepper flakes and some fresh cracked black pepper. I mixed the grass fed organic chopped beef with garlic, basil, parsley, and oregano. Then I folded the seasoning into the patties and pounded them nice and thin. After placing the burger on the flat top I added a little water and covered the burger with a lid to steam it. One of the nice things about steaming a burger like this is that you don't have to flip it. Also, it doesn't take very long at all to cook. After 3 minutes I covered the burger with a slice of genoa silami and provolone cheese. Then I added more water and covered again for three minutes. When the burger was done I put it on a potato roll. Again not exactly Italian bread but I didn't want to waste what I already had. Perhaps this Italian burger had touches of Irish and Spanish just like me. Then I covered the gooey salami and provolone burger with some spicy vinegar cherry peppers. Lastly I covered that with a nice thin piece of prosciutto and again topped with a few more cherry peppers. I didn't need to add any salt because between the prosciutto and the salami this burger was salty enough. The burger was really good. It was salty and spicy with a tang from the peppers. The bun was nice and soft while the burger was moist and cooked to a medium temperature. Each bite was as moist as soft as a burger can be. The prosciutto was fatty enough to melt right in your mouth. I am looking forward to next week's burger. I do have to give a shout out to a new website I found about burgers. It's called A Hamburger Today. It is a really excellent burger blog that has ties to a pizza blog and a general serious eats blog as well. It is very extensive and I found myself just shuffling through all the pages. Go check it out.

Cheesy Western

This one most of you probably don't know. A Cheesy Western is a staple from the "Texas Inn" otherwise known as the T-Room in Lynchburg, Virginia. The T-Room was the late night after party munchies place when I was in college. It was a hole in the wall type of place where there were 6 bar stools and a counter. The waitresses were known as being very surly. I guess that's what will happen after years of serving drunk rednecks and college kids looking for a greasy hangover cure and maybe a fight or two. In the T-Room you have to know how to order or you were not getting served. The T-Room basics were burgers, hot dogs, and chili. The chili was referred to as a "bowl". A burger was called a "cheesy". A glass of water was referred to as "off the James", in reference to the James River which ran locally. A Cheesy Western meant you wanted a fried egg on top of your burger and "All the way" meant you wanted them to add relish. My standard T-Room order was a Cheesy Western all the way with a bowl off the James. It sounds confusing but they knew exactly what you wanted. The entire place was tiny. The waitresses were probably ten feet from the cook yet every time you ordered they would scream your order to the cook where he would flip a burger off of his stack onto the flat top. The whole thing was quite hilarious. So, today I tried to recreate the famous Cheesy Western at home. First, I used the grass fed organic ground beef although somehow I seriously doubt their beef was that good. I formed them into a thin beef patti. Then I added some olive oil into the cast iron pan and seasoned the pan with salt and red pepper flakes. I decided to use a different technique this time to cook the burger. A lot of burger joints steam their burgers. Places such as "White Mana" in Hackensack steam their burgers. The T-Room is no different. This allows you to cook the burger faster and it seals in the juices and cooks very evenly. Once the pan was hot I poured a little water around the burger and covered it with a lid. After four minutes I cracked open an egg on top of the burger and covered with American cheese. Then I added a little more water and covered the entire thing until finished. The one thing that was not quite authentic was the roll. The T-Room uses a soft white roll. I used a Potato roll just because that is what I had. After you put the burger on the bun you then add the relish and press the sandwich nice and thin with the spatula. I have to say I did a pretty good job with this one. It was definitively a taste of Lynchburg, Virginia. Also, I have to say that steaming the burger is really good. Other than outside on the grill this might be my new favorite way to cook a burger. Even my wife Ann loved her steamed burger. She noticed a big difference this time around in flavor and texture. Every bite I took was deliciously juicy with a soft bun to soak up some egg yolk and the relish to add some sweetness. This was a successful blast from the past. Eight burgers to go and I feel like I am just getting warmed up.

Green chili 3 cheeseburger

This burger was inspired by Food Network's Bobby Flay. I have seen him make a green chili sauce before in an episode of "Throwdown". Apparently, in New Mexico green chili burgers are on every menu in every restaurant. I also used another Bobby Flay item that I have seen him make on TV which is a cheese sauce. I saw him make a provolone cheese sauce for a cheesesteak throwdown episode. I decided to combine the two and make a beef burger with a chili and 3 cheese sauce topping. To start I went to Whole Foods and picked out my ingredients. Let me start by saying that I am loving my decision to go organic with all my meat, eggs, and produce. You can really taste a difference. The burger itself just tasted really good without the toppings or anything on it. The quality meat makes a huge difference. Anyway, for my chili sauce I decided to use a red bell pepper, two poblano peppers, and an Anaheim pepper. I cooked the peppers whole on the stove top until the skins were black and charred nicely. Then I put them in a paper bag and sealed tightly for about 20 minutes. The next item was the sauce. In a small sauce pan I melted a tablespoon of unsalted butter and a teaspoon of habenero butter for flavor. Then I added a spoonful of flour to form a roux. When the roux was done I slowly added my three cheeses which were a combination of asiago, fontina, and parmigiano reggiano. After each helping of cheese I also poured in a little bit of milk and stirred until creamy. The last part of the sauce was the peppers. I took the peppers out of the paper bag and placed them on a cutting board. I peeled the charred skin off of the peppers and then sliced into small pieces and put in a food processor with some olive oil. Then I slowly added the pepper mixture into the sauce pan while gently mixing with the cheese sauce. Lastly, I added some salt and black pepper and the sauce was ready. Now for the burgers it was pretty simply done. I formed the patties with the grass fed organic ground beef. Then I heated the cast iron pan with some of the habenero butter to coat the pan. Then I cooked the burgers for about 6 minutes on each side until medium rare. The bun was a large kaiser roll which I toasted. When the bun was ready I put a healthy portion of the green chili 3 cheese sauce on the bottom and a little bit of ketchup on top. Then I placed the burger in the middle and was ready to enjoy this southwestern burger delight. The cheese sauce was creamy and little spicy. The ground beef tasted really fresh and clean. The ketchup cut the spice by adding some sweetness. The bun was crunchy. This burger was very balanced flavor wise and texture wise. This was the best burger I have had in a while. I was a happy guy tonight. I have so many other burgers that I want to try and I only have nine weeks left.

BBQ sliders

This week's burger came about in two ways. First, my mother in law bought me a Billy May's slider maker. For those of you who haven't seen this on the late night infomercials it is sort of like a cupcake pan with a press. You can use it on the stove top. Sliders are all the rage the last couple of years. These small burgers are on every restaurant menu from the average chain to a high end restaurant. I recently saw Bobby Flay endorse a 50 dollar slider made with Kobe beef and all top of the line ingredients. To start my slider I mixed the grass fed ground beef with organic cheddar cheese and an organic egg. Again, I have made my new year's resolution to buy all my meat and produce organically. Then I mixed in the seasoning which was salt, pepper, garlic, red pepper flakes, and hot smoked paprika. After I hand mixed the patties then I formed into little balls. There is no need to flatten them as you would for a full size burger because the slider maker presses them down into the uniform shape. My wife Ann suggested that I make my sliders as you would a pulled pork sandwich. I really liked this idea because I love a pulled pork. So I decided to season my burger with the typical pulled pork style dry rub which is garlic, paprika, and garlic. Then we used a barbecue sauce and some cole slaw to top the burger. We just bought some store made cole slaw. It had a sweet flavor which was good for the smoky and spicy burger. For the BBQ sauce I used my favorite store bought sauce which is K.C. original and mixed it with a chipotle mustard. To prepare the sliders I put a small amount of a habanero butter into the pan. Then I preheated the pan before I put the meat into it. Then I pressed the top down and cooked the burgers nicely on both sides without flipping. The buns were nice and soft and we slathered the top with the chipotle BBQ sauce. Then when the burger was finished we topped the burger itself with a bit of a sweet cole slaw for a delicious slider. It had a smoky flavor with a little bit of late heat in the throat after you swallow. Overall the burger really did taste just like a pulled pork sandwich. If I only had a nice piece of corn bread then it really would have been a meal. But this burger was yet another success. As you can see above even one of my dogs, Millie, was excited for these little burgers. I can't believe it but I only have 10 burgers to go. I am looking forward to next week. Another type of slider might definitely be in my future. If you have any suggestions please send them my way.

"The New American Burger"

This burger was inspired by a Men's Health article I read in last month's issue entitled "The New American Diet." The article was inspired by the book with the same title. The basic point of the article was that hidden chemicals in our foods are making us fat. Even things like fruits, vegetables, and lean meats such as chicken and fish are full of steroids and pesticides that are causing us to store more estrogen which in turn leads to less muscle and more body fat. So for this burger I ventured to Whole Foods for some good organic meat and produce. To start I hand mixed some grass fed ground beef with no hormones included with a large organic cage free egg. Then I added diced red onion and organic fresh spinach leaves which I chopped finely. The last two ingredients were organic shredded cheddar cheese and one cup of old fashioned oats. Not instant oats like you would make oatmeal with but old fashioned whole oats which are a great source of fiber and can be really filling. When they make oats into instant oatmeal it completely takes away all the nutrients. The reason that instant oatmeal is all that you see is because it is a lot easier than boiling water and infusing and slow stirring the oats. I hand mixed all of these ingredients and formed them into patties to cook on the cast iron. Of course I seasoned the beef with salt and red pepper flakes before I put them on the pan. I cooked the burgers for about 8 minutes on each side to medium rare. The buns were whole wheat which I toasted in a toaster oven. I topped the burger with a slice of organic tomato, two slices of organic avocado, and some Guildens brown mustard for moisture. The burger was very good. It was just a nothing fancy, good tasting, filling burger. I really liked it and because it was made with healthy fresh organic products it made me feel good to eat it.

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.