The Meatwave

Having a blog where I commit myself to delivering a new recipe every week requires some deep exploration and thinking to keep the content at least somewhat fresh. This mentality sends me on hunts for grilled goodies the world around with no corner too obscure to become fodder for the collection. In this pursuit, I often become blinded to the more common options sitting right in front of my nose, opting for items like Indian kati rolls over more simple things like sandwiches or hot dogs. So when I decided to make my last Meatwave a hamburger affair, at first I resigned myself to that translating to the production of no new recipes, but then I wised up and realized that burgers themselves are a treasure trove of content as my ideas for dressing them up are limitless. So I present to you what comes out of my head when I pivot to the classics done with a touch of Meatwave flare—French onion burgers.

The thought process that led me to these burgers began with French onion soup. In a normal winter, I'll make this beefy, slightly sweet soup a couple times since its heartiness and over-the-top cheesy crust is a true cold weather comfort. This winter, however, was oddly warm and I found myself outside more than in, leaving French onion soup a craving that went unfulfilled. So to get a little sampling of the flavors of this soup under outdoor weather conditions, I turned to developing it in burger form.

Caramelized onions are, obviously, central to the experience. They also happen to be some of my favorite things ever. So whenever I set off to make a recipe that incorporates them, I make way more than needed, hence a dutch oven full of onions for just a few burgers. I've tried all sorts of shortcuts for caramelized onions in the past and nothing compares to taking your time and making them right. This large pot of onions clocked in over an hour to first soften them, then develop fond and deglaze the pan over and over again until the onions were deep brown and bursting with sweetness. In small quantities, as the final recipe lays out, this process will take less time, but still plan a good 30 to 40 minutes for these to be done right.

French onion soup also has an herbal component, usually imparted by thyme which I throw into the pot while the stock is simmering. To get that piece of the equation into the burger, I turned to making an herb mayonnaise. You can certainly just mix whatever herbs you have on hand with store-bought mayo here, but I went the extra mile and made my own by creating the emulsion quickly first in the food processor.

Since I didn't want the herbs to be broken down completely, I then transferred the mayo to a bowl and whisked in chives, parsley, thyme, and rosemary. The end result was a pretty stellar mayo with a heavy, but not overpowering, herbal character.

Next came another important component—beef. A great beef stock makes a great French onion soup, so likewise, I wanted some great beefy burgers here. For that I turned to trusty chuck, whose high fat content both churns out well flavored and super juicy burgers.

I personally like to pick out my own pieces of chuck and grind them so I can be sure I'm getting enough fat into the mix. Grinding at home is totally not necessary and it's just easier to have your butcher do this for you if your not into having to send the meat through the grinder twice to get ideal fat distribution, then deal with awkward washing of the grinder and clean-up of beef splatters all over the kitchen.

Once I had the beef all ground, I formed 1/3lb patties, which I think are the most ideal size for the grill—big enough that they fill a bun and don't cook too fast, but not so big that they're a challenge to consume. A few tips I've learned over the years for the best burgers: First, don't overwork the meat, just form it until the patty holds its shape. This keeps the mixture coarse and tender and not overly chewy or gummy. Second, make a little dimple in the center with your thumb—this helps the burger keep its shape on the grill, avoiding the tendency for the beef to cease up into an awkward football shape.

On the grill, I cooked the patties over direct heat, flipping occasionally, until they were well seared and still fairly rare on the inside. Burgers are one meat I go by feel after having cooked them so often, but for best results, use an instant read thermometer and cook them until they hit 110°F in the center.

This is about 15°F shy of my desired medium-rare. The burgers will pick up the rest of the temperature after being moved to the cool side of a two-zone fire, topped with cheese—gruyere to satisfy the French onion soup theme in this case—and covered. By the time the cheese is sufficiently melted, the burger should be done.

For the bun, I'm usually a Martin's Potato Roll man and nothing else, but I thought the overall presence of this particular burger called for something a little more hearty. I chose brioche rolls here, buttering them up and then quickly toasting them before assembling the final burger.

And there you have it—what happens when you mix a backyard burger cookout with the desire for some French onion soup, and boy was this a glorious thing.

First I was presented with an incredibly juicy and beefy piece of ground meat. That alone is enough to make me swoon, but damn, those sweet French onions were a show stopper. Mix that with the sharp gruyere, herb mayo, and hearty brioche and it all came together to have the reminiscent flavor of French onion soup I was after. While nothing will replace the real thing, it felt pretty cool that winter this year meant being outside and coming up with grilled variations of things I normally cook during this season because they require hours of not setting a foot outside in the cold. It also felt good not digging for some "different" type of food in order to keep content fresh on the blog and instead basking in the glory of the backyard burger, which in itself is something that surely needs to be celebrated more often here at the Meatwave.

Published on Thu Mar 16, 2017 by Joshua Bousel

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