Dorie's Hamburgers - Kind of

First off, please accept my apology for the lousy photo above.  I did not do justice to this incredible burger.  We were in a rush to eat and get to a game and I quickly snapped a photo and chowed down...  My bad.

All of my friends who particpate in French Fridays with Dorie did the Cafe Salle Pleyel Burgers.  They looked wonderful.  But, I've been wanting to do a hamburger with bacon in it.   Could I combine the two?  Ah, yes, I could.  So, thanks go to Liz from That Skinny Chick Can Bake, the New York Times and Dorie Greenspan for the inspiration and basic recipe.  Thanks also go to our local butcher shop - Kincaids - for the baon inspiration.  And, the kalamata olives?  Well, let's just say they're a staple around our house.


I was a bit concerned about the fact that we like our hamburgers medium at most.  That meant the bacon might not be well enough cooked.  So, I sauteed it a bit first to get it up to temp AND to get some of the fat out.  That all worked pretty well except for the fact that the burgers rather fell apart on us.  Next time, I'll grind the bacon in with the meat like Kincaids did.  So, if that's the only gripe I've got, that's pretty minor. 

What did we think?  These tasted amazing.  I particularly loved the onion relish.  It's something that I'll find lots of other uses for.  The herb and vegetable mixture can easily be changed up to suit different tastes.  I can see using pickled jalapenos with some oregano and cumin.  Or switching out the tarragon for oregano and adding in some feta cheese. 

Dorie's Burgers

Ingredients:
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
1 T unsalted butter
1 t ground coriander
salt and freshly ground pepper
1/3 c oil packed sun dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
1/4 c drained capers
6 cornichons
1/4 c tarragon leaves
1/2 c flat parsley leaves
6 kalamata olives
1 lb ground sirloin, chuck or mix
1/2 lb bacon (or 1 1/2 lbs of ground beef total)
sliced cheese of your choice
1 large tomato, sliced
4 whole grain ciabatta rolls

Directions:

Start the onion relish first.  To make that, put a cup of water in a small saucepan and add in the onion, coriander and tablespoon of butter. 

It'll take about half an hour for the liquid to all simmer away and for you to be left with a lovely relish.  We'd have loved more onion so I'll double this next time.

 

While the onion is simmering away, it's time to make the burgers.  First, you want to make the paste that you'll mix with the meat.  Into the food processor go the sun-dried tomatoes, capers, cornichons, herbs and olives. 

Process that until you've got a chunky paste. 

See my notes above on the bacon.  Next time, I'll grind it in with the meat.  As small as they were, the diced pieces caused the burgers to fall apart.  But, the flavor was worth it!  Mix the meat(s) with the herb paste. 

Make four burgers.  We grilled them because we prefer the grilled flavor.  After you've flipped the burgers, put the cheese of your choice on top (we used cheddar) and close the grill lid to steam the cheese.  Split and toast your ciabatta rolls.  Don't leave them on the grill too long like I did...  When your burgers have reached the internal temperature you prefer for your meat, remove them from the grill. 

Onto a ciabatta half goes a dollop of dijon mustard or Gulden's mustard, a tomato slice, a burger  then a bit of onion relish.  Top with the other half of the ciabatta roll.

adapted from The New York Times and Dorie Greenspan.  Thanks to Liz at That Skinny Chick Can Bake for posting the recipe and inspiring me!