The Giant Burger by Mike Gradziel

I don't know Mike, but that won't stop me from
linking his instructions to build a Giant Burger.

Eric Ripert: Quest to Build the Perfect Burger

I stole this from an old blog post from last year, but it's worth reading if you haven't seen yet...

By Eric Ripert:
Last fall, I opened a restaurant called Westend Bistro. It’s located in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Washington, D.C., at 22nd and M Streets—a part of D.C. that’s growing very quickly, with new apartment buildings going up left and right. This burgeoning neighborhood needed a great neighborhood restaurant, so I set out to create one; I wanted it to be a comfortable spot that people would come back to again and again. My sous-chef and I decided to make it an American bistro. And of course any great American bistro needs to have a great burger.

In developing that burger, my research took me to a couple of places that might seem unexpected: McDonald’s and Burger King. I didn’t grow up in the U.S. and had never really visited these chains before, so I wanted to see what they do with their burgers to make them so popular.

Just looking at the basic burgers at each of these chains—particularly the Big Mac—showed me a couple of very key things: First of all, the burgers are a perfect size. You can grab them in both hands, and they’re never too tall or too wide to hold on to. And the toppings are the perfect size, too—all to scale, including the thickness of the tomatoes, the amount of lettuce, etc. In terms of the actual flavors, they taste okay, but you can count on them to be consistent; you always know what you’re going to get.

After sampling these burgers and, er, digesting the information we had gleaned, we found a great-quality meat from a local farm and devised the best ratio of fat to flesh (still our little secret!). We were very careful with the thickness of the patty—if it’s too thin you can’t get it medium rare, and if it’s too thick, it will be dry on the outside and raw on the inside. I also wanted it to be small enough that, like the McDonald’s patty, it would fit in the bun with everything else. Sometimes “upscale” burgers are so massive, and piled so high with toppings, that I have no idea how to eat them. And the chefs never put the pickle in the burger; when I get one on my plate I always wonder what I’m supposed to do with it. So at Westend, we serve the burger on warm, toasted challah buns (for their golden color and buttery, egg-like flavor) with a thinly sliced tomato, some shredded lettuce, a pickle, ketchup, and mustard already on the burger, so you can just pick it up and get that perfect bite every time. To me there is something about these ingredients that creates a harmonious combination, and the textures also work very nicely together: You get crunch from the pickle and lettuce and softness from the ketchup and tomato.

Our challenge now is to keep a very close eye on the mise en place, because if one cook changes even a little detail of one of the key ingredients—the width of the tomato slices, the amount of mustard on the bun—the harmony of these burgers is lost.

Stuffed Bacon-Cheddar BBQ Burger

By: Allison Koplan, Tampa, Fla.

This is a good old-fashioned barbecue bacon burger, but the way the cheese and bacon taste at each bite, along with the soft, sweet barbecue onions makes my family go "WOW!"

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground chuck
1 lb. ground round
2 tsp. black pepper, freshly ground
2 tbsp. garlic salt
8 oz. block of sharp cheddar cheese, coarsely shredded
1 lb. bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 medium Vidalia onions, sliced
1 tbsp. butter
1 bottle of sweet barbecue sauce (of your choice)
Hamburger buns
Lettuce (optional)
Tomato (optional)
1/2 cup Onions
1/4 cup Barbecue sauce for basting

Directions:

Combine ground round, ground chuck, salt and pepper in a large bowl. In another bowl, combine the coarsely shredded sharp cheddar and cooked bacon pieces. Let bacon and cheese mixture sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes to get soft. Then, shape mixture into balls (for however many burgers you would like to make).

Form 2 patties of meat and place one cheese/bacon ball in between them. Pinch the sides together to seal in cheese ball. Gently press formed patty, to spread out cheese ball. Continue until all patties are formed.

Cook burgers on grill over medium flame for about 7 minutes on each side. While burgers are grilling, slice sweet Vidalia onions and saute them in a skillet with 1 tablespoon of butter. Once onions become translucent (about 4 minutes), add some sweet barbecue sauce.

Flip burgers, and baste the cooked side of the patties with the same sweet barbecue sauce used in the onions. After about 7 minutes longer, the burger should be done (these are big thick burgers and may take longer to grill to your liking). Baste again with sweet barbecue sauce before removing from grill. Butter hamburger buns and place on top rack of grill for several minutes, until toasted.

To build burger, take toasted bun, add patty, and top with smothered barbecue onions. You can add tomato or lettuce, if you'd like, but the flavors are great without them.

BLT Keeps It Simple

From "Bistro Laurent Tourondel: New American Bistro Cooking"

For tender, juicy burgers, use ground beef that has 20% fat and handle meat as gently as possible. Season meat with salt and pepper. Blend well, but don't overwork the meat or burgers will be tough. Form into 6oz burgers.

Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat until a drop of water sizzles. Grill burger for 3 mins on each side for medium rare. Do not push down the burgers while they cook. Place a slice of cheese on the burger and cook for 30 seconds, until melted.

Place burgers on bottom of buns, top with tomato, onion and lettuce. Spread BLT Steak Sauce on top half of bun.

Devour.

Bobby Flay's Buffalo Burger Recipe

Buffalo Burger with Swiss Cheese, Red Cabbage Slaw,
and Pickled Orka Russian Dressing

Red Cabbage Slaw:
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons honey
2 tablespoons canola oil
Kosher salt & fresh ground black pepper
1/2 small head of red cabbage, finely shredded
1 large carrot, peeled and finely shredded

Whisk together the vinegar, honey, oil, salt and pepper to taste in a large bowl. Add the cabbage and carrot and toss until combined. Let sit at room temperature for at least 15 minutes or up to 1 hour before serving.

Pickled Orka Russian Dressing:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup finely diced pickled orka
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper

Stir together the mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, red onion, orka, and parsley in a medium bowl, and season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 day before using.

Burgers:
1.5 lbs ground buffalo
2 tablespoons canola oil
Kosher salt & fresh ground black pepper
8 (1/4 inch thick) slices Gruyere or fontina cheese
Pickled Orka Russian Dressing
Red Cabbage Slaw
4 hamburger buns

Heat your grill to high.

Form the meat into 4 burgers, each 1 inch thick. Brush with the oil and season liberally with salt and pepper. Place on the grill and cook until golden brown and slightly charred, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn the burgers over and continue cooking to medium, about 3 minutes longer.

Place 2 slices of the cheese on each burger, close the lid or tent with foil, and cook until the cheese just begins to melt, about 1 minute.

Spread some of the Russian dressing on the tops and bottoms of each bun. Place a burger on each bottom half and top each burger with some of the slaw and a bun top. Eat immediately.