Salon.com > J.m. Hirsch

Cheeseburgers with chipotle caramelied onions recipe

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 21:22:00 +0000

Servings: 6

Ingredients

2 1/2 pounds ground beef (80 per cent lean)
1/4 cup cold water
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, divided
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter or olive oil
6 small to medium sweet white onions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons pureed chipotle in adobo
4 tablespoons thinly sliced scallions
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons flat-leaf fresh parsley leaves
6 slices Monterey Jack cheese
6 hamburger buns

BBQ master Adam Perry Lang offers up a half-pound of heaven

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 20:22:00 +0000

When crafting a great burger, check the weather.

So goes the advice of Adam Perry Lang, owner of New York's Daisy May's BBQ USA restaurant, a classic rib shack known for its whole pig, pulled pork and beef ribs.

"Sometimes I love a burger that is rich in fat — 70-30 blend of protein to fat," he said in an email. "I like these on colder days when I need fat and heartiness. In the summertime, a leaner burger is appreciated. 90-10 can do the trick."

Whatever your blend, cook with care. He aims to create a moist, tender interior and a well-developed caramelized crust. He also favours a liberal amount of salt.

"I am a burger fanatic," he said. "My most memorable has to be the one I would get when I was eight years old spending our summers on the beach in Montauk. This was in front of Gurneys Inn. They called it the Gurney Burger and it was served on an English muffin. I have had others, but that was a burger memory."

For the AP's 20 Burgers of Summer series, Perry Lang offered up a basic burger — nearly a half-pounder — topped with caramelized onions spiked with chipotle chilies and Monterey Jack cheese.

GRIDDLED AND GRILLED MONTEREY JACK CHEESE BURGERS WITH SPICY CHIPOTLE CARAMELIZED ONIONS AND CILANTRO

Green eco burger recipe

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 22:31:00 +0000

Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 pound grass-fed, grass-finished ground beef
Salt and ground black pepper
3 tablespoons butter from grass-fed dairy cows, divided
4 free-range eggs
4 slices cheddar cheese
8 slices whole-grain bread or 4 whole-grain rolls
2 medium heirloom tomatoes (2 varieties if possible)
8 slices cooked bacon
4 leaves lettuce

Directions

Heat a gas grill to medium or prepare a charcoal or wood grill, banking the coals to one side.
Divide the beef into quarters and form into patties. Season with salt and pepper.
Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium. Place 1 tablespoon of the butter in the pan and coat the bottom. Crack the eggs individually into the pan and cook sunny side up. Remove from the pan and set aside.
When the grill is heated, cook the burgers for 4 minutes on the first side. Flip the burgers and top each with 1/2 tablespoon of the remaining butter, then top each with a slice of the cheese. Continue cooking to desired doneness.
When the burgers are done, transfer them to a warm plate and let rest for 3 minutes. Toast the bread or buns on the grill until slightly browned and crispy.
To assemble the burgers, arrange a slice of each tomato on the bottom of each bun, followed by the burger, 2 slices of bacon, a leaf of lettuce, an egg and the top of the bun.

Can a burger taste great and be good for the earth?

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 08:10:00 +0000

For Michel Nischan, building a better burger is part of making the world a better place.

"I have seen all kinds of outlandish burger ideas, from making burgers with vegetables, fish, shrimp, you name it," said Nischan, whose cookbook, "Sustainably Delicious," and Westport, Conn., restaurant Dressing Room focus on ecologically sound eating.

"Yet as great and creative as these burgers can be (and fun), nothing beats a burger made with the meat that burgers were meant to be made with — grass-fed and grass-finished beef," Nischan said in an e-mail.

The greatness of a burger depends almost entirely on the quality of the meat. And because cattle were intended to eat only grass, he says the best burgers come from those who ate only that. Once he has his beef, he still likes to dress it up a bit.

"Once cooked to your liking, pairing this meat with cheese and butter from grass-fed dairy cattle adds a depth of additional richness that takes the burger closer to the promised land," he said. "And of course, what would a good sustainable burger be without the deep, tomato-y sweetness of locally grown, vine-ripened heirloom tomatoes?"

Eric Ripert’s Westend Bistro burger recipe

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 01:01:00 +0000

Serves: 4

Ingredients

28 ounces ground sirloin (85 percent lean)
Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste
4 challah buns
2 tablespoons butter, softened
4 slices cheddar cheese
4 pickle slices
Ketchup and Dijon mustard, to taste
1 beefsteak tomato, sliced into four 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 yellow onion, thinly sliced, soaked in ice water until crisp
4 leaves crisp romaine lettuce, shredded

Directions

Form the beef into four 7-ounce patties. Season with salt and pepper.
Heat a grill to medium. Lightly oil the grates.
Grill the burgers, flipping once, to desired doneness. Cover and set aside.
Brush the insides of the buns with the softened butter and grill until golden. Set aside.
Heat the broiler.
Top each burger with a slice of the cheese, then place under the broiler until just melted.
Place each burger on the bottom half of a roll. Top with a pickle, then ketchup and mustard, then the tomato, onion and lettuce. Finish with the top of the bun.

The Lee Brothers’ Dirty South Burger

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 01:01:00 +0000

A classic cheese on a classic burger -- Southern style.

No slab of American would suffice for Matt Lee and Ted Lee, brothers who have made careers out of sharing the flavors of the South.

"A thick slab of melting cheese has always been our favorite addition to a burger," Matt said in an e-mail. "But our cravings these days also run to snappier, spicy-sour sensations that temper the richness of the cheese-topped burger and speed us toward a second helping."

So they reached for that classic Southern food, pimento cheese, albeit with an update.

"Our favorite new variation on pimento cheese uses Swiss (instead of the traditional cheddar) and banana peppers (instead of roasted red peppers)," said Matt Lee, who with his brother wrote the recent "The Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern."

"We add capers, chives and chili flakes to torque the flavor up to 11 and to reinforce the crumbly, relish-like texture of the spread," he said.

The result is a pleasantly piquant Southern take on the classic burger.

Matt and Ted Lee’s Cheese Relish burger recipe

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 01:01:00 +0000

Ingredients

Cheese Relish

Start to Finish: 10 minutes
Makes 2 cups (enough for 16 burgers)

10 ounces Swiss cheese, finely grated
12-ounce jar banana peppers, drained (1 tablespoon of the liquid reserved) and finely minced
2 tablespoons minced fresh chives or scallions
2 tablespoons drained capers, rinsed
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Kosher salt, to taste

Cheese Relish Burger

Start to Finish: 30 minutes
Servings: 4

8 tablespoons cheese relish
1 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon canola oil
4 hamburger buns, lightly toasted
4 leaves iceberg lettuce, optional
1 onion, thinly sliced into rings, optional
Condiments, as desired

Rick Bayless’s Queso fundido burger recipe

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 18:11:00 +0000

Ingredients

2 fresh medium poblano chilies
2 teaspoons canola or vegetable oil
1 medium yellow onion, sliced into 1/4-inch slices
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt
1 1/2 pounds ground chuck
8 ounces chorizo, crumbled and cooked (browned in a skillet)
1 to 2 canned chipotle chilies in adobo, finely minced (seeded if desired)
8 thick slices Monterey Jack cheese
4 hamburger buns, lightly toasted

Directions

One at a time, use tongs to hold the chilies over a gas burner, turning until well charred, about 5 minutes. You also can set the chilies under a broiler for about 10 minutes, turning regularly. Place the chilies in a bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and let cool. Rub off the blackened skin and pull out and discard the stems and seed pods. Cut the chilies into 1/4-inch strips.
In a medium skillet over medium, heat the oil. Add the onion and saute until it begins to brown, 7 to 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic and poblanos and cook for 2 minutes. Season with salt, usually about 1/2 teaspoon. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and cover to keep warm.
In a large bowl, combine the ground chuck, cooked chorizo, chipotles and 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt. Mix until well combined. Divide the mixture into 4 equal portions and form into patties.
Heat a gas grill to medium-high, or light a charcoal fire and let it burn until the charcoal is covered with white ash (about medium hot); bank the coals to one side.
Place the hamburger patties on the grill and cook for a total of 4 to 5 minutes for medium rare. Lay one piece of cheese on top of each burger, top with the warm onions and chilies, then another piece of cheese. Close the lid of the grill and continue cooking until the cheese has melted, about 1 minute. Remove from the grill and slide onto a toasted bun.

Tim Love’s Love burger recipe

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 18:11:00 +0000

Ingredients

The burger

10 ounces sirloin steak tips
10 ounces beef brisket, trimmed of fat and cut into small chunks
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 hamburger buns
4 slices American cheese
Shredded iceberg lettuce
2 large tomatoes, sliced
Bread and butter pickles

Game rub

2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons kosher salt
3/4 ground black pepper
1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
1/4 tablespoon dried rosemary
1/4 tablespoon dried thyme
1/4 tablespoon garlic powder

Love sauce

1/2 fresh Serrano chili
1/4 cup bread and butter pickle chips
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup ketchup
Splash white vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons game rub spice blend (see recipe above)

Martha Stewart’s Japanese chicken burger recipe

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 01:01:00 +0000

Ingredients

Wasabi mayonnaise

1/2 cup mayonnaise
4 1/2 teaspoons wasabi powder

Cucumber shallot pickles

1/2 cup unseasoned rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon pink peppercorns
1/3 cup pickled ginger
1/2 English cucumber, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 shallot, cut into 1/4-inch slices

Japanese chicken burger

1 1/4 pounds ground chicken breast
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
Ground black pepper
4 whole-wheat burger buns with sesame seeds

Spike Mendelsohn’s 24/7: A burger topped with breakfast

Wed, 05 May 2010 21:01:00 +0000

A burger so over-the-top it's just a hair shy of overwhelming. Kind of like the news media these days?

Either way, it's the sort of burger Spike Mendelsohn says is needed to fuel the people behind the world's largest news organization, and what he set out to create when asked to develop a hamburger inspired by The Associated Press.

Because, er. nothing says great burger like wall-to-wall coverage of war, politics and upset celebrities, right?

Despite the (lack of?) inspiration he was handed, true to his burger master cred -- his Washington burger joint, Good Stuff Eatery, has become a hotspot for the likes of first lady Michelle Obama -- Mendelsohn came up with a winner.

"For the people that never stop," Mendelsohn said of his 24/7 burger, the first in AP's weekly series -- 20 Burgers of Summer, a celebration of the delicious diversity of the great American hamburger.

"Whether you're embedded with troops in Iraq, photographing the animals of Africa or live from the White House, here's the burger that will keep you going any time of day," said Mendelsohn, whose ode to burgers, "The Good Stuff Cookbook," is out later this month.

‘Top Chef’ judge Colicchio named top chef for 2010

Tue, 04 May 2010 17:23:00 +0000

"Top Chef" judge Tom Colicchio passed a quickfire challenge of his own Monday when he was named the nation's top chef by the James Beard Foundation.

Colicchio, whose numerous restaurants include Craft, Craftsteak and the recently opened Colicchio & Sons in New York, was named outstanding chef during an awards ceremony that is considered the Oscars of the food world. It's an honor for which he'd been a finalist seven other times since 2002, the same year the organization named Craft the nation's best new restaurant.

Though Colicchio drew many accolades early in his career, he rose to prominence in 1994 when he and partner Danny Meyer opened Gramercy Tavern, which earned Colicchio three stars from The New York Times and several Beard awards, including best chef in New York City in 2000 and outstanding restaurant service in 2001.

Colicchio's cookbook, "Think Like a Chef," earned him a Beard cookbook award in 2001. More recently, he's become known for his role as the lead judge on the Bravo television series, "Top Chef."

Jamie Oliver: Taking the revolution to president

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 13:24:00 +0000

If Jamie Oliver can't persuade the school lunch ladies of Huntington, West Virginia, that fresh food is better than processed, maybe he'll have better luck with President Barack Obama.

While Oliver's effort to overhaul the diet of one West Virginia community unfolds on network television, the British celebrity chef also will be stumping for national reform with an online petition calling for better food in the country's schools.

Watching "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution" should make people angry about the state of the American food system, Oliver said in an interview Thursday. And he hopes the ABC reality series moves people to channel that anger for change.

"If you can create an environment in which the public expects more, all the cogs in life as we know it fall into place," he said.

Once the series (which premiers with a 2-hour episode Friday) ends its run on April 23, Oliver plans to take the petition to the White House, where first lady Michelle Obama has made reducing childhood obesity a priority.

Despite the sometimes chilly reception he got from Huntington locals in early episodes of the series, Oliver said he is convinced this is the right time for a food revolution in the United States.