Description
Elevated burgers made with high-quality ingredients. A simple recipe for a restaurant-worthy meal.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1 lb (454 g) freshly ground beef from aged chuck or shin cuts (with 10-20% beef heart, optional)
- 2 or 3 cloves garlic, smashed and finely chopped
- Sea salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Extra virgin olive oil or tallow, as needed for cooking
- 4 buns (brioche style), halved
- Butter (preferably raw), for spreading on buns
Toppings (use any combination):
- Sliced Gruyère or aged Cheddar cheese (raw milk preferred), as desired
- Kimchi, as desired (optional)
- Sauerkraut, as desired (optional)
- Pickled or lacto-fermented gherkins, as desired
- Fresh arugula or other strongly flavored green (like watercress or radicchio), as desired
- Slightly fermented tomato sauce and/or homemade mayonnaise, as desired
- Onion rings or sliced onions sautéed in ghee until lightly caramelized, as desired
Instructions
- Mix the garlic into the beef, along with a couple of big pinches of salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Form into 4 patties, slightly smaller in diameter than the buns. If your buns are small, make the burgers no more than 1-inch thick.
- Smear the burgers with a little olive oil or tallow.
- Slice and butter the buns, and prepare any condiments, such as the onions.
- Heat your frying pan over medium-high heat. When it is about to smoke, lower the heat to medium.
- Cook the burgers two at a time, pressing them down lightly. Leave alone for 3–5 minutes per side, depending on their thickness, for a medium-rare finish.
- Place another frying pan, preferably a grill pan, over medium heat.
- Once you’ve flipped the burgers, put the buns butter-side down onto the frying pan and remove when they are lightly browned.
- Once you’ve flipped the burgers, press them down lightly again and cook for another 3–5 minutes. Add cheese if desired.
- Serve immediately with an array of toppings.
Notes
Handle the meat as little as possible — overworking makes the patties dense. Cook in batches of two so the pan stays hot. Add cheese in the last minute of cooking so it melts without overcooking the patty.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Main Course
- Method: Pan-Frying
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 burger
- Calories: 600
- Sugar: 5
- Sodium: 800
- Fat: 40
- Saturated Fat: 15
- Unsaturated Fat: 20
- Carbohydrates: 30
- Fiber: 5
- Protein: 40
- Cholesterol: 150