The Butter Burger

This recipe has been subject to continuous evolution. We are both burger lovers. We can easily rattle off lists of great burgers, including when and where we ate them, and no, our lists are not the same. Some burgers are defined by the meat, some by the condiments, and some even by their accompaniments. Burgers cooked at home are subject to a different set of criteria from the ones eaten in restaurants. Since we are not big on frying, they tend to be stand alone kind of meals with the burger at the center of the plate. Lettuce, tomato and onion round things out on a good night and when we're really on our game, thinly sliced jalapenos gild the lily to perfection. These days though, home cooked burgers tend to focus on the meat.

The butter burger was first conceived of years ago, before we started grinding our own meat. The best ground meat we could find tended to be the leanest type available. Now everybody knows you need fat to make a burger juicy. The generally accepted standard for good burgers is 80% lean. Since we were occasionally buying meat that was leaner than that, clearly some supplementation was in order. In restaurants it is a common practice to sear meats and fish in hot oil and finish them with a generous basting of butter. That final kiss of fat gives them a wonderful flavor that is seldom duplicated in home kitchens. Heaven knows that a touch (or more) of butter makes almost anything better and so it was easy to see how we decided to increase the fat content of our meat by adding some grated butter to the blend.

A grated onion was another no brainer. It almost melts into the meat as it cooks and adds a sweetness and a savory undertone that enhances without overpowering. A kiss of soy sauce, a generous sprinkling of salt, and a hint of cayenne make for a tasty burger. Then we decided to try grinding our own meat.

We are partial to the first cut chuck blade roast. It comes from the shoulder blade of the cow. The first cut comes off the portion next to the rib and has a generous portion of the "eye" muscle from the rib steak. It's made up of several different cuts of meat, which when ground, give the burgers great flavor. We won't lie, it's not an easy cut to track down. Frankly the only place we can get our hands on it locally is the butcher's counter at Whole Foods. It's worth the effort that goes into finding it because it makes a superlative burger.

I think we covered the benefits of grinding in yesterday's post. Suffice it to say that we use the grinding attachment for our Kitchen Aid mixer and it works beautifully.

Butter Burger

Makes 6-8 generous burgers

All gram measurements are by weight.

 

1800 grams/4 pounds first cut chuck blade roast bone in

200 grams/7 ounces butter diced

200 grams/7 ounces onion diced

50 grams/1.75 ounces soy sauce

10 grams/0.35 ounces salt

1.5 grams/0.05 ounces /½ teaspoon cayenne

 

Have a bowl sitting on ice to put the meat into as you trim it to keep everything cold. Trim the meat out of the roast, removing connective tissue, bone and large pockets of fat.  Cut it into strips, which will fit into your meat grinder. Add the butter, diced onion, soy sauce, salt and cayenne to the bowl and stir gently with a rubber spatula to combine. Grind the meat mixture using the ¼-inch die of the meat grinder. Reserve half of the ground meat in the bowl and grind the other half a second time.

Combine both portions of meat and gently mix them together with your hands. Lay out two layers of plastic wrap in slightly overlapping layers so that they form a double wide sheet. Lay the meat down in a log on the top third of the plastic wrap and fold the plastic over the log and roll it up like a sushi roll, forming a log approximately 5-inches in diameter. Use additional plastic wrap to shape the log and wrap it tightly into a roulade. Place it in the refrigerator for at least two hours to firm up. Slice 1.5-2-inch burgers off the roll, remove the plastic, and cook them as desired.