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Thursday, Sep. 03, 2009

Burgers worth your labor

If you want to go gourmet on the grill, beef and bun are just the start

Many folks will enjoy Labor Day weekend with a get-together that involves the grill.

You could just slap some ground beef on the grill. But why go that route when some prominent chefs have elevated the lowly burger to new and gourmet heights?

Replace those seeded super market buns with artisan breads, and in addition to humble ground chuck, try rock shrimp, chicken and lamb. As for condiments, try cilantro-laced pestos, mango salsas and a Greek-style tzatziki. Best of all, you can find the chefs' secrets in some of the summer's hottest cookbooks.

Hubert Keller's culinary reputation was made at San Francisco's renowned Fleur de Lys. But it's his inventive Burger Bar at Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay and, this fall, Macy's Union Square in San Francisco that raised the bar for barbecue. And his new book, Burger Bar, offers ideas ranging from Brazilian rock shrimp burgers to ostrich, buffalo and pesto-laced beef. He's even got a recipe for s'mores burgers — sweet, not savory.

But it's his mixture of wild creativity and down-to-earth practicality that will endear him to home cooks. Stick bamboo skewers through your about-to-be-grilled onion slices, he says, and you'll never lose a Vidalia to the coals again.

Google's former executive chef has a new book out, too. Charlie Ayers, who now helms Calafia restaurant in Palo Alto, Calif., infuses his colorful cookbook, Food 2.0, that fast food can be fresh and healthful, too. So his lamb burgers, topped with tzatziki and marinated onions, go from supermarket to table in less than half an hour.

We rounded out our fabulous burgers list with a slider variation from Cindy Pawlcyn's Appetizers.

Fire up the barbecue.Cilantro pesto beef burger

2 pounds ground chuck, chilled

Sea salt and black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 slices provolone cheese

4 ciabatta buns

1 large tomato, sliced

Large handful arugula

Cilantro-arugula pesto

12 roasted, salted macadamia nuts

1 or 2 garlic cloves, to taste

1 bunch fresh cilantro, stemmed

2 cups packed arugula

1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

1⁄3 teaspoon grated lime zest

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup grated Pecorino Romano

Grilled onion steaks

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 large Vidalia or Maui onion, peeled and cut into four thick slices

4 to 6 soaked bamboo skewers

For the pesto: Finely chop the nuts and garlic in a food processor. Add the cilantro, arugula, lime juice and zest and process to coarse puree. With the machine running, add the olive oil in a thin stream and process until smooth. Pulse in the cheese and season to taste. The pesto will keep, chilled, up to two days.

For the burger: In a bowl, mix the meat, ¼ cup of the pesto and 1½ teaspoons pepper. Divide the meat into four evenly sized patties and chill several hours or overnight.

For the onion steaks: Preheat the barbecue. Whisk together oil, mustard, honey and vinegar, and set aside. Thread one or two skewers through each onion slice. Brush onions with the oil mixture, season with salt and pepper, and grill for 15 minutes, flipping several times as they caramelize.

Season the meat on both sides with salt and pepper, and grill for 7 to 10 minutes to desired doneness. For the last minute or two of cooking, drape a slice of cheese over each burger to melt.

To serve, spread the bun bottoms with pesto. Top with tomato and arugula. Add the patties and then a grilled onion.

Makes 4 servings.

from Burger Bar

Lamb burgers with tzatziki

1 pound high-quality ground lamb

1 teaspoon minced garlic

½ teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground cumin

Ground pepper

Sea salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 artisan style hard rolls

4 handfuls baby spinach leaves

Marinated onions:

½ red onion, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon light brown sugar

Tzatziki sauce:

2-inch piece English cucumber, coarsely grated