Burgers, Burgers, Burgers!

As I recently noted in another post, lately I've been getting impatient for spring, and for barbecuing weather.   I'm especially impatient for some grilled burgers.  Pan-seared burgers aren't quite as good, but I figured they'd get me past my craving.  What kind of burgers to make, though?

I ended up making three types of burgers over the course of three nights.   In each case, rather than put a lot of toppings on the burger, I mixed other flavorful ingredients into the meat, cooking them inside the burgers and letting the flavors permeate the burger.  This is a good way to add lots of things to a burger without worrying about a multitude of toppings sliding off the burger onto your plate (or lap).   That doesn't work for some toppings - lettuce, for example, but having most of the good stuff inside still allows for extra toppings outside the burger.

The first burger I made was a pretty basic bacon cheeseburger, save that the bacon and cheese ended up inside the burger rather than atop it, and that I used really, really good bacon and cheese.   The bacon was Vande Rose Farms Artisan Dry-Cured Applewood Smoked Bacon.  

This brand of bacon started showing up in our local store recently, which isn't surprising, because it is produced nearby, in Oskaloosa, Iowa.   When I saw it, I thought it was a brand new product, but it turns out Vande Rose has been supplying premium Duroc pork products to fine restaurants, gourmet retailers and private clubs all over the US for awhile now.   Their bacon has gotten rave reviews in magazines as diverse as Men's Journal, Food and Wine and Cook's Illustrated, which gave it their coveted "Highly Recommended" rating.   You can see the review here.  It is, quite simply, the best bacon I've ever had in my life.

The cheese I used in these burgers was Cabot Vermont Naturally Aged Extra Sharp Cheddar.  We purchase it in big bricks at Wal-Mart.  This is some of the best cheddar we've ever had, and at a very, very reasonable price.

The Cheesy Bacon burgers turned out great.   Juli said they were maybe the best burgers she's ever had.  I'm not ready to go quite that far, at least not until I see how they turn out on the grill, but they were pretty darn good.   They were something of a mess to clean up, though.  I cooked them in my cast-iron skillet, which is so well-seasoned that eggs slide off it better than any non-stick skillet I've ever tried, and it took so much effort to clean off the melted-on cheese that I worried I might have to get out some steel wool, strip down the pan and reseason it (thankfully, it turned out not quite so bad as to require that). 

Next I made burgers based around the flavor umami, or savoriness.  We, and we suspect many of our readers, are old enough that we learned back in school that there were four different flavors (salty, sweet, sour and bitter), but research has proven we can detect a fifth flavor, umami.   A Japanese scientist discovered this in 1908, but it was recognized in the west only comparatively recently.  Foods with strong umami flavor contain an amino acid called glutamate.  Examples include soy sauce (and the more concentrated tamari), mushrooms and aged cheese, and I included all three - including two varieties of mushroom - in my Umami Burgers (I skipped another high-glutamate ingredient, tomato paste, because I didn't want the acidic tomato taste to overwhelm the other flavors).   I liked these quite a bit, but Juli was less of a fan, finding them a bit bland.  I plan to make them again, but may tinker with the recipe a bit, toward maximizing the flavors.

Finally, I made burgers packed with southwestern flavors such as chipotle, cumin and Mexican oregano.  Not wanting to go through the same cleaning ordeal I did with the Cheesy Bacon Burgers, I decided to put the cheese (pepper jack) on top of the burgers rather than inside.  These were quite flavorful without being overly spicy.  If you try them out and would like more heat, simply boost the amount of chipotle and adobo sauce. 

Please note that the cooking time given should result in the burgers being cooked medium.  I normally prefer burgers medium-rare (about 3 1/2 minutes per side), but it is important burgers stuffed with other ingredients be cooked thoroughly.  I wrote the recipe for searing the burgers in a pan, but they'd be just as good (and probably better) grilled for an equal amount of time over direct high heat. 

Cheesy Bacon Burgers

yield = 6 servings

3             strips of bacon, diced
2 1/4       pounds ground chuck beef (85% lean)
4             ounces freshly-grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese
1             teaspoon minced garlic
3/4          teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
1/2          teaspoon onion powder
1/4          teaspoon table salt
1/8          teaspoon cayenne pepper
6             hamburger buns, sliced
               toppings as desired

Cook the bacon in a skillet over medium heat.   Transfer cooked bacon to a paper towel-lined plate.

Add the ground beef to a large bowl, breaking it up to increase surface area for seasoning.  Add the cooked bacon pieces, cheddar cheese, garlic, pepper, onion powder, salt and cayenne and mix these ingredients with your hands.  Separate the meat mixture into six even-sized portions.  Form one portion into a ball, then flatten it into a patty. 

Press the center of the patty down with your fingertips, leaving an indentation.  Repeat with the remaining portions of the meat mixture.

Heat a heavy-bottomed skillet (preferably cast iron) over medium-high heat.  Cook the burgers in batches of three, cooking 4 minutes per side.  Transfer cooked burgers to a plate and cover with foil, then cook the rest of the burgers.  Serve immediately on buns with toppings of choice (ketchup and lettuce are my favorites for this burger).

Umami Burgers

yield = 6 servings

1/3         ounce dried porcini mushrooms
2 1/4      ounces pounds ground chuck beef (85% lean)
3            ounces button mushrooms, finely chopped
1/4         ounce grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1            tablespoon + 1 teaspoon tamari
1            teaspoon minced garlic
1/2         teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
6            hamburger buns, sliced
              toppings as desired

Add the dried porcini mushrooms to a bowl.  Add water to cover the mushroom pieces, then tightly cover the bowl with plastic wrap and poke three small holes in the cover to vent steam.   Microwave 90 seconds, then allow to stand five minutes.  Remove the soaked mushrooms from the liquid, squeezing lightly to release excess liquid, then finely chop.

Add the ground beef to a large bowl, breaking it up to increase surface area for seasoning.  Add the porcini and button mushrooms, Parmigiano-Reggiano, tamari, garlic and black pepper and mix these ingredients with your hands.  Separate the meat mixture into six even-sized portions.  Form one portion into a ball, then flatten it into a patty.  Press the center of the patty down with your fingertips, leaving an indentation.  Repeat with the remaining portions of the meat mixture.

Heat a heavy-bottomed skillet (preferably cast iron) over medium-high heat.  Cook the burgers in batches of three, cooking 4 minutes per side.  Transfer cooked burgers to a plate and cover with foil, then cook the rest of the burgers.  Serve immediately on buns with toppings of choice (ketchup and lettuce are my favorites for this burger).

Southwestern Burgers

yield = 6 servings

2 1/4      ounces pounds ground chuck beef (85% lean)
1            tablespoon chopped cilantro
1            teaspoon ground cumin
1            teaspoon chipotle pepper, minced
1            teaspoon adobo sauce
1/2         teaspoon Mexican oregano, crushed
1/2         teaspoon table salt
1/2         teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
1/4         teaspoon onion powder
6            hamburger buns, sliced
6            slices pepper jack cheese
              toppings as desired

Add the ground beef to a large bowl, breaking it up to increase surface area for seasoning.  Add the cilantro, chipotle, adobo sauce, oregano, salt, pepper and onion powder and mix these ingredients with your hands.  Separate the meat mixture into six even-sized portions.  Form one portion into a ball, then flatten it into a patty.  Press the center of the patty down with your fingertips, leaving an indentation.  Repeat with the remaining portions of the meat mixture.

Heat a heavy-bottomed skillet (preferably cast iron) over medium-high heat.  Cook the burgers in batches of three, cooking 4 minutes per side.  Transfer cooked burgers to a plate and cover with foil, then cook the rest of the burgers.  Serve immediately on buns, topping each burger with one slice of the pepper jack cheese and other toppings of choice (lettuce and taco sauce are my favorites for this burger).