A Burger to Adore

It may be that my brain begins eagerly anticipating the weekend, on Tuesday…

or, it could be that despite living in California, Memorial Day still signals a green light to fire up the grill more regularly. 

or, it could be that I'm just strange and food-obsessed.

For the past two weeks not a day has gone by that I have not thought about or talked about The Burger That Will Blow Your Mind.

It all started a couple weeks ago, innocently enough. 

Friends coming over for Memorial Day. 

My menu planning zigged (maybe an early French-y-Bastille-Day-inspired meal?) and zagged (a Southern feast, featuring ribs of some kind?) and then, yes,

they zig-zagged (what about ribs, with French flair?!  They exist!  Look for the Travers au Porc Caramel recipe in the totally awesome My Paris Kitchen from David Lebovitz.)  Until, I turned to Suzanne Goin, my hero, and the rock star chef at two of my LA restaurant favorites…Lucques and A.O.C.  Her book,

Sunday Suppers atLucques has a pork burger with slaw that stopped me in my tracks. 

The few times I’ve chosen to go with pork burgers on the grill have been simple affairs…take ground pork…season liberally with a couple glops of BBQ sauce…shape into patties and grill.  NBD.   Now, you may well choose to go that route when you want to change things up a bit, BUT I urge you to be bold and go the way of the restaurant chef!  Just this once!  I know I know…any excursion into cooking-from-a-restaurant-cookbook means extra steps, fancy ingredients and more often than not, LOADS of extra pots, pans and dishes.  (For me, it’s hard to restrain my bitterness at this inevitability.  THEY have dishwashers on staff for heavenssakes!  GAH!)  But, therein lies the secret.  That extra time and those additional  steps mean multiple layers of flavor that will give you The Best Burger Ever. Food 52 calls it “genius” and they’d be right.  I’d venture to call it a complete burger overhaul which will spoil you forever.

This burger is epic, people!  Built from a mixture of ground pork combined with a fragrant sauté of shallots, garlic and herbs, a dose of zippy Mexican chorizo and finely minced bacon, it’s a total flavor bomb of gigantic proportions. 

The stroke of genius for me though are the accoutrements.  In this case, a brioche hamburger bun, toasted on the grill, of course.  A slice of Manchego cheese on top.  Manchego.  Yes.  A sheep’s cheese from Spain.  (What did I tell you about those chef types and their recipes?!)  Don’t ask questions.  Just get yourself to a market with a proper cheese section and get some!  And, then the true brilliance…aioli and Romesco sauce in place of mayo and ketchup.  I know you’re cursing me right now, but I say ‘in for a penny, in for a pound’!  Know that you are building The Best Burger Ever, suck it up and KEEP GOING!  Because, wait…there’s more! 

You top this monumental burger with, but of course…The Best Slaw of All Time.

Called Rob’s Famous Slaw in the book, it’s a mix of  shredded green and red cabbage with some grated carrot, bound with a syrupy, vinegar reduction-enhanced (you know it…the extra step!)  mayo.  It is the perfect tart and tangy foil to the porky goodness of the burger. 

There you have it ladies and gentlemen.  Burger Nirvana from which there is no return.  Recruit your favorite dishwasher and do it!

Lucques Pork Burger with coleslaw

adapted from Sunday Suppers at Lucques 

serves 6

For the burgers

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for grilling
1/2 cup diced shallots
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon thyme leaves
1 large pinch chili pepper flakes
2 lbs. ground pork
1/4 lb. fresh Mexican chorizo, casing removed
3 oz. apple-wood-smoked bacon, finely diced
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
6 slices Manchego cheese
6 brioche burger buns

Aioli and Romesco (in place of mayo and ketchup) + handful of arugula, for garnish

1.  In a medium saute pan, toast the cumin seeds over medium heat a few minutes, until the seeds are fragrant.  Pound the seeds in a mortar or spice grinder until coarsely ground.

2.  Return the pan to the stove and preheat over high heat for 1 minute.  Add the olive oil and shallots.  Turn the heat down to medium-low, and cook a few minutes, stirring once or twice, until the shallots start to soften.  Add the garlic, thyme, ground cum and chile flakes.  Season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and a few grindings of black pepper and cook 3-4 minutes, until the shallots become translucent and set aside to cool a bit.

3.  In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground pork, chorizo, bacon and shallot mixture with parsley being careful not to over mix the meat.  Season with 1 1/4 teaspoons salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.  Shape the meat into six patties.  Chill in the refrigerator if you're not grilling right away.

4.  Grill burgers 3-4 minutes per side.  Add cheese if using and continue grilling until pork is just cooked through.  Serve on toasted buns slathered with aioli, Romesco and garnished with some arugula leaves on top.  
Plate with side of coleslaw.



For the coleslaw

1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons honey
1/2 small head red cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
1/2 small head green cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1 carrot, peeled and grated
1/2 cup mayonnaise
large pinch of cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons minced chives
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1.  In a small saucepan, reduce the vinegar by half over medium heat.  Cool 5 minutes and then stir in the honey until it dissolves.

2.  Combine the cabbages, onion, and carrot in a large bowl.   Pour the vinegar-honey mixture over the vegetables, and toss well to combine.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Let sit 15 minutes for flavors to meld, tossing occasionally.

3.  Add the mayonnaise, cayenne and herbs, tossing well.  Taste for seasoning.  
Serve alongside the pork burgers.

Grills Just Wanna Have Fun

There is something about cooking outdoors...over open flames. For me, just about year 'round, there's a kind of primeval yearning to sear food over hot coals.
I'm filled with envy when I watch Jamie Oliver throw things into his outdoor wood-burning oven and I can recall years of bitterness over not having access to a grill when we lived in a pre-war apartment building in Chicago with no outdoor space.
That meant summer holidays at our place were celebrated with 'urban' barbecue-- burgers under the broiler, or on a ridged, cast iron pan... and a kitchen hallway smoke detector perpetually disconnected.

The move to San Francisco changed all that. The apartment we moved into came with a gas grill on the deck and a small brick terrace...perfect for a charcoal grill. Now, I'm not going to get into a big debate between gas and charcoal, but just know that we never let go of our chimney starter -- a relic of the years in Boston where we had outdoor space for a charcoal grill. The chimney starter accompanied us from apartment to apartment, and even cross-country, with the hope that some day we would find a place to have a grill.

A couple weeks ago, Steve found a neighborhood garage sale and, wouldn't you know it... a barely used Weber kettle grill. $25 later we were lugging it into the back patio, giggling like two teenagers and plotting our first meal. (Shrimp kabobs.)

So, when my friend, K., said it was time to get together for one of our Sunday evening cook-a-thons you know it was going to be All About The Grill.

We quickly decided the centerpiece of the meal was going to be some kind of beef.

Why?

Because we were both craving chimichurri! The incredibly delicious and meant-for-grilled-meats condiment hailing from Argentina.

Two giant t-bones (grass-fed, of course...this is San Francisco!) were our choice, and we decided to go with The Zuni Cafe Cookbook's version of chimichurri. Then, the discussion turned to what else we could throw on the grill.

Asparagus! Corn on the cob! Large, green chile peppers!

Then K. suggested peaches. We agreed to recreate a salad she had tried at some restaurant in the Marina. These recreations of something K. has had in a restaurant seem to serve us well.

The ingredients for the salad:

Peaches, grilled, of course, and then stuffed with goat cheese or gorgonzola (my suggestion)

Spring onions, grilled, natch

Bresaola, (Note: Bresaola is beef and has a very delicate flavor--almost too delicate for this salad, I think. We both agreed -- next time, go with Serrano for that extra kick of salty, porky deliciousness.)

All, draped over a bed of greens tossed with a vinaigrette.

Wine was poured. Ingredients prepped. The chimichurri prepared.

We stood in the dwindling end-of-day light, tending the various fruits and vegetables arrayed on the grill. Smoke swirled around us and and the smell of grilling peaches was heavenly.

We raised our glasses. A toast... To Grilling!

A note about chimichurri.

I used to follow a recipe found on Epicurious, which was mainly parsley, very green and, in retrospect, a bit boring.

The recipe we used was apparently shared with Judy Rodgers by two chefs from Argentina who spent some time cooking in the Zuni kitchen in the late 90's. It is fantastic and there's no going back.

This chimichurri uses a mix of chopped fresh herbs and the key is warming the olive oil so that when the fresh herbs are added they create a very satisfying sizzle as they hit the oil. The addition of a jalapeno, charred over an open flame is so much better, to me, than the typical red pepper flakes. The other important ingredient is paprika -- it gives the sauce a sultry, smoky finish that is addictive.

Make this sauce and you will be finding any excuse you can to throw some meat on the grill.

It is, in a word...amazing.

Connie & Maryanna's Chimichurri

adapted from The Zuni Cafe Cookbook by Judy Rodgers

makes about 1 1/4 cups -- keeps well for weeks, refrigerated and improves with time

1 jalapeno, preferably red (we used green)

2 teaspoons tightly packed fresh oregano leaves

2 teaspoons tightly packed fresh thyme leaves

1 teaspoon tightly packed fresh rosemary leaves

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon sweet paprika

1 tablespoon tightly packed, coarsely shopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 or 2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic

2 bay leaves, crumbled

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar--the good stuff

About 1/2 teaspoon salt

Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Char the jalapeno, either directly over a gas burner, or charcoal fire, or under a broiler

until the pepper is freckled with black and smells good

When the pepper has cooled slightly, halve, seed and mince it. Don't rub off the tasty black blisters -- include them in the chimichurri.

Place the oregano, thyme and rosemary in a mortar and pound lightly. (K. and I decided to pound, AND do a little mincing, to vary up the texture. It just looked a little too 'leafy' after just pounding.)

Warm the oil in a small saucepan until it is hot to the touch. Pull from the heat and stir in the herbs, plus all the remaining ingredients, including the jalapeno -- don't forget the paprika!

(If making the chimichurri more than a few hours in advance, wait to add the parsley until you are about to use it.) Taste. Leave to infuse for at least 1 hour at room temperature before serving.

Burger Bonanza

Ohh, there's nothing as American as a burger...grilled over charcoal...on a warm summer day. And since Fourth of July is right around the corner, I think I'll share my two, all-time-favorite recipes for the best 'weird' burgers you'll ever make. Go ahead and mock me -- these are not the standard, good ol' ground chuck burgers you salt and pepper, shape into patties and throw on a grill. I'll admit it. Yuppie burgers. Quirky burgers. Call them whatever you like. They are simply DELICIOUS and you're going to love them.

*The photo above is a burger from a local institution--Taylor's Refresher. If you can't make your own, this is the next best thing.

First up, we have the finest turkey burgers known to man. Trust me on this. I have been making these since my days at Oprah, where Art Smith taught me how to make them early one morning, in a tent we had set up out front of our studio to do a Summer Entertaining show. Art says the key to keeping a turkey (or ground chicken) burger moist and flavorful is in the veg and the man knows what he is talking about. The main trick here is a beautiful confetti of finely chopped vegetables--mushrooms, tomato, shredded carrot, etc...) that create the most deliciously moist and flavorful turkey burger you'll ever come across. Some breadcrumbs in the mix help keep the juices in. Top it with some peppery arugula, a nice cabbage slaw and/or melt a little blue cheese on these burgers and you're in business.

Next, is a recipe I am now officially addicted to -- lamb burgers.

My dear friend, K, gave me my current most favorite cookbook--Big Small Plates--by SF area chef, Cindy Pawlcyn as a birthday gift last year. It's one of those beautiful books where you flip through the recipes, drooling and planning to make everything. K and I had a Sunday cooking date last fall, where we chose several recipes to make from the book and then had a fun evening of cooking together, chatting and drinking wine before sitting down to an extraordinary feast. The lamb burgers from that night were my absolute favorite and I've been making them ever since. They are so wonderfully bright tasting with some Asian ingredients that give them a light, almost exotic quality. Spring them on any one you know that may not be a fan of lamb -- and they will be converted, I guarantee it. The burgers are accompanied by a refreshing herb salad, drizzled with a vibrant tamarind vinaigrette. It's a fantastic combination unlike any I have ever come across. I serve the burgers on top of the herb salad--hold the bun--and toast up some store-bought naan on the side.

The burger -- it can be anything you want it to be. So, American, isn't it?

NOTES:

1. I would recommend grilling over charcoal, but hey, I spent the past ten years living in an apartment with no outdoor space, so broiling is okay too, or a ridged, cast iron pan accompanied by an extremely powerful exhaust fan. If no exhaust fan, disconnect those smoke detectors and open up the windows!

2. All burgers benefit from a 'rest' -- a couple hours in the fridge before cooking for the flavors to meld.

Grilled Turkey (or Chicken) Burgers

adapted from Art Smith

Makes 6 servings

1 small red onion (or half a large red onion), finely chopped

1/2 small red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped

4 oz white mushrooms, finely chopped

1 medium carrot, peeled and coarsely shredded

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 ripe plum tomato or a handful of cherry tomatoes, finely chopped

1/4 cup seasoned dried breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 large egg, beaten

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 pounds ground chicken or turkey

For serving:

6 soft hamburger buns

blue cheese or Swiss cheese, optional

arugula leaves

avocado slices

Spray a large, non-stick skillet with oil, or heat a teaspoon of olive oil,, and heat over medium-high heat. Add onion, red pepper and mushrooms and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables soften, about 3 minutes. Add the carrot and garlic and stir, uncovered for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and cook just until heated through, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and cool completely.

Add the breadcrumbs, cheese, egg, salt and pepper and mix well. Add the ground chicken or turkey and mix just until combined. (Do not overwork the mix.) Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours.

Meanwhile, build a charcoal fire in an outdoor grill and let coals burn down until medium hot, or preheat a gas grill on high, and then turn to medium. The key is not to grill at super high heat.

Shape the chicken/turkey mixture into six 4-inch wide patties. Lightly oil the grill. Grill the burgers, turning once, just until they feel firm when pressed in the centers, about 12 minutes.

Add cheese, if you're into that, for last minute or two of cooking.

Spicy Lamb Burgers with Vietnamese Herb Salad and Tamarind Vinaigrette

adapted from Cindy Pawlcyn's Big Small Plates

Serves 6

NOTE:

Tamarind paste and oyster sauce are some of those interesting ingredients one can easily find in Asian markets, but are more and more commonly available in the ethnic food section of certain larger grocery stores. I've had various adventures searching for tamarind paste and let me just advise you not to buy the tamarind pods that come in a brick -- keep looking until you find the paste. You'll be glad you did.

Tamarind Vinaigrette

4 tablespoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons tamarind paste

1 tablespoon soy sauce

6 tablespoons olive oil

Lamb Burgers

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 tablespoons oyster sauce

1/2 Serrano or jalapeno chile, seeded and minced (and you know the drill...where gloves or make some makeshift ones like I do, with a small plastic baggie, or go barehanded and DO NOT rub your eyes right after chopping)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves

1 1/2 tablespoons minced cilantro leaves

1/2 sweet onion, minced

juice of 1/2 lime

1 pound ground lamb

Vietnamese Herb Salad

2 scallions, white and light green parts only, cut into 1 1/2 inch julienne ( a pain, I know, but it looks really nice)

2 Thai or Serrano chiles, seeded and julienned

1/2 bunch basil, any kind, small leaves only

1/4 bunch cilantro, leaves only

1/4 bunch mint, small leaves only

1/2 bunch chives, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 bunch watercress, leaves only, or arugula

To make the vinaigrette:

combine the sugar and water in a small saute pan. cook over medium heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Add the tamarind and soy sauce, and stir until smooth. Remove from heat and whisk in the olive oil. Reserve until needed.

To make the lamb burgers:

First combine the garlic, oyster sauce, chile, mint, cilantro onion and lime juice in a large bowl and mix well. Then mix in the ground lamb meat, making sure everything is well combined. Divide the mixture into 6 equal parts, or 12 if you want to make mini patties. Moisten your hands with water before forming the patties--makes things easier. Shape the patties and make them flat, but not too thin. You don't want them to over cook before they have a chance to caramelize on the outside. Regular patties should be 2 to 3 inches in diameter.

Cook the burgers about 2 minutes per side for medium. combine all the ingredients for the salad and toss it with just enough of the vinaigrette to coat. Serve the dish with the salad piled on a platter and the lamb burgers placed on top, with an extra drizzle of vinaigrette over all.