What Makes Your Burger a Beautiful Thing?

Despite appearances here in Nova Scotia, the calendar reliably informs me that it is summer. What do we do when it is summer? We get reluctant to turn our ovens on or to use our stoves. We fill up our propane tanks or stock up on charcoal and wood chips. We turn to our barbecues, fire pits and smokers to prepare the sustenance our families need after a hard day of playing, swimming and sun basking.

Accordingly, it was to the barbecue that I turned the other day.  The weekend before, after witnessing a wine-fuelled debate over what was the best burger in the city, I was promised the best burger in Toronto but it was Sunday and, granted it is the subject of great debate, the best burger in Toronto place was closed for church. I am no crazy burger lover but I now officially had a hankering, a hankering so severe that I bought some ground beef from Rocky Top Meats at the market on Saturday.

The girls and I mixed ours up with some finely chopped onion, grated carrot because you have got to get the veggies in wherever you can, chopped parsley, cooked quinoa and a pinch of salt. My friend, Jen, had made some burgers with quinoa and I loved it. I know lots of folk who think that a burger is ground meat and salt only. I also know folk with secret recipes containing everything but the proverbial kitchen sink. All I know is that neither of my girls has ever shown a great love for the grilled meat and, while it may have been the free hand she had with the ketchup, Poppy ate three generous slider sized burgers and Tilly ate one and a half. They were that good.

It all got me to thinking about how some foods we keep pretty generic and about how some foods we personalize. The burger must be one of the most personalized foods we eat.

From the patty itself to the toppings, we get it or make it how we want it. Some people are firmly of the belief that less is more while some believe that more is more and that is all there is to it. I believe that the burger needs to be very good but it is secondary to the toppings, structure be damned. Stephen thinks that anything other than a dollop of mayonnaise and a slice of cheese is a ruined burger.

Some people think that the bun, and its structural integrity is of great importance. Eating on the go, I can see how this would be a deciding factor. Who wants a greasy mustard blop on your top. I usually have so many toppings that portability is not an option and the bun is in tatters, left on the side of the plate.

Lots of people feel that things like chipotle mayo and grilled pineapple rings and foie gras are perfect burger toppings. Australians have a love of fried eggs and sliced beetroot. On the other hand, there are those who think the secret sauce is sacrilege.

What I want to know is what makes your perfect burger. Do you like beef or veggie? Small and simple or sky high? Do you have the secret menus memorized or do you just order what you see? Will you go out of your way to get the burger you want? How do you make them at home or do you? Tell me yours and I’ll tell you mine.

Veggie Burgers That Work

I love a veggie burger. Granted, I have been known to order it with cheese and bacon before, but it still counts in my book. I have had good ones and bad ones, ones that taste like bad hamburgers, which is wrong, and ones that taste like nothing. I have made them, rarely with a recipe, sometimes successfully, sometimes not so much.

I borrowed The Golden Door Cooks at Home by Dean Rucker with Marah Stets from the book bus. It reminded me of all the things I used to cook in really nice, hot tropical locales. The recipe for Red Lentil Veggie Burgers with Spicy Yam fries and Mango ‘Ketchup’ sang out for two reasons. The first, I really wanted a burger and the second, I decided I would follow the recipe to the letter. Could I do it?

The thought of veggie burgers made me think of a time, not so long ago, when I was somewhere between three and four months pregnant with Tilly. I really needed to have a veggie burger, I have no idea why. We were living in Alaro in Mallorca and there wasn’t a chance we would be getting one there. I decided that Poppy and I would pick Stephen up from work in Palma and, prepare for shameful confession here, we would go to The Hard Rock Cafe where surely, in a land of amazing and fresh and beautiful food, we would be able to get a veggie burger, maybe even with cheese and bacon. Off we went, and what arrived on my plate, I was pleased to see, was not an imitation beef burger. It appeared to be made of lentils and rice and good things. Then I took a bite and realized that no, it was made of sawdust and Elmer’s glue. I didn’t go back to The Hard Rock Cafe after that, I had learned my lesson and I would stick to the local amazing and fresh and beautiful food offered everywhere else.

Or, I would make the veggie burgers myself. It didn’t happen in Alaro. In fact, it only happened a couple of weeks ago, inspired and spurred on by The Golden Door.

These are really tasty. The have a great texture and a little kick from the curry powder. The veggies give a really nice crunch. You could put them in a bun but that would be pretty heavy. The burgers are really nice with the Thai Slaw, not the dandelion salad in the photo which was good but not as good as Thai Slaw which will be up on here soon, and the mango ‘ketchup’ which is really just a quick fruity salsa.

And, I followed the recipe exactly, almost. I didn’t make the fries. I didn’t have any edamame so I substituted frozen limas. I also substituted cremini mushrooms for shitake which, unsurprisingly, I couldn’t find round these here parts. I doubled the recipe because it is a bit heavy on prep. I froze the extra burgers on a parchment lined baking sheet and then, when they were fully frozen, transferred them to a freezer bag figuring that they would cook well from frozen, which they do. You just need to lengthen the cooking times a bit. The recipe calls for cooking spray which I don’t use so I just used grapeseed oil where it called for that. Other than that, I was so serious about being exact here that I even used measuring cups.

Red Lentil Burgers with Mango ‘Ketchup’ adapted, ever so slightly, from The Golden Door Cooks at Home by Dean Rucker with Marah Stets (makes 8 pretty big burgers)

1/2 cup brown rice and 1 cup water

1 cup red lentils and 2 cups water

1/2 cup finely diced onion (about 1/2 medium)

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 1/2 cups finely chopped broccoli florets and peeled stems (about 5 ounces, if you care to weigh it out)

1 cup finely chopped carrots (about 2 medium)

2 cups peeled, grated and squeezed to remove excess liquid potatoes

1 cup finely chopped cremini mushrooms 

1/2 cup frozen limas, thawed and finely chopped (about 2 ounces)

1 1/2 teaspoons yellow curry powder

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup cornmeal

Grapeseed oil (or any vegetable oil you use)

Cook and cool the rice and lentils, separately. Cool and transfer to a large mixing bowl.

Saute the onion and garlic with a teaspoon of oil until translucent. Add the vegetables and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are cooked but still crunchy, about 5 minutes. Stir in curry powder and season.

Preheat the oven to 400º.

Mix the vegetables into the rice and lentils.

Using about 1/2 cup of the mixture for each, form into eight patties.

Put the cornmeal on a plate and dredge each of the patties in the cornmeal.

Put 1/2 tablespoon of oil on a skillet and sear the burgers for about 2-3 minutes on each side over medium heat until golden. Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet and finish in the oven for about 12 minutes.

Serve with Mango ‘ Ketchup.’

Here is where I really have screwed this up. I can not find the notes I made on the ‘ketchup’. I thought I had brought them with me but, unless they have become a piece of  almost four year old’s artwork in the last week, I have lost my mind. I can remember what I put in, because I strayed from the recipe here, but not exactly. So, I am going to tell you roughly, and you can play with it if you want to. Really, it is easy.

Take some mango, I used 2 cups of previously frozen and thawed chunks, if I recall. You can use fresh if you have it. Whizz some of it up in the food processor and chop the rest. Add some finely diced red onion or shallot, some finely diced red pepper or chilli, if your main audience isn't an almost four year old, some lime juice, some salt and pepper and some chopped fresh coriander/cilantro. And, that, I think, is about it.