Epic Beef Burger with a Homemade Brioche Bun
Hi everyone, Nelson here today. I want to give Liz a little break. We are celebrating Mother’s Day today, not that we need one special day to celebrate moms. That should just happen everyday.
Liz is a super mom! No matter how chaotic life is or how much she has on her plate, she always makes time to let our kids know how much she loves them. This is evident in our two boys… they are so loving, caring and thoughtful and a lot of that comes from the example they see around them. I could not have chosen a better partner to join me in this adventure we call life.
I know Liz and the boys love a great burger. So for Mother’s Day I decided to come up with an “Epic Burger”. I wanted to bring them something incredible… a WOW kind’a burger.
I started with the meat. The meat is, after all, the foundation of a great burger. I called my local butcher, Micatoni’s. The owners, Michael and Tony, are the best! It’s a great feeling when I walk into their store and hear… “Ehhhh, Nelson! How are you!?”. It’s that small-town feeling. It’s like you’re visiting a friend at their house. These guys know meat and they sell the best quality products. I ended up choosing half chuck for the fat and half sirloin for the flavour.
Just a quick note on fillers… For years I thought egg and breadcrumbs were mandatory when making homemade burgers. Then about two years ago, I was watching the Food Network and a popular grilling chef mentioned that it was completely unnecessary and didn’t really add any extra flavour. So I tried this and I was sold! You don’t need egg to hold it together and you don’t need the extra bread filler. I find that enjoy the texture and taste of the burger a lot more without the extra filler.
My next challenge was to find the perfect bun to put this great burger in. After a lot of “Googling” I ended up finding multiple references to an amazing Brioche bun, published by Jane Sigal, in the Cooking section of the New York Times.
With all my ingredients in place, off I went! The end result was fantastic. The look on their faces was priceless after their first bites. There was a moment of silence and then big smiles. I think I hit the burger jackpot. Oh… and the bread… Thank you Jane Sigal! These buns are so good. I’ll be posting the recipe for these buns in the near future. I do think they’re the perfect match for this burger. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did.
- 1 lbs ground chuck
- 1 lbs ground sirloin
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp ground thyme
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tbs fresh ground black pepper
- 1.5 tbs course salt
- 4 brioche buns
- Toppings included: Wine & garlic mushrooms, sautéed onions, cheddar cheese, mayo, bbq sauce and arugula
- Let the ground beef rest outside the fridge for 15 minutes.
- Put the ground meat in a large bowl and add paprika, thyme and garlic.
- Wash your hands in cold water. Quickly and gently mix the ground meat and spices without over handling.
- Divide the meat in four and form the burgers by hand, once again do not over handle or press the meat too much. This step helps keep the burgers juicy.
- Place the formed burgers on a tray and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Pre-heat the bbq to 500 ºF. Keep one end burner lower than the others.
- Clean and oil the grill. Use a cloth and tongs to avoid burning your hands.
- Remove the tray from the fridge.
- Add salt and pepper on both sides of the burger.
- Slightly press the centre of each burger with your thumb to avoid ballooning on the grill.
- Place the burgers on the hot grill and close the lid. Cook for 4 minutes without turning.
- Open the BBQ lid and flip the burgers. Cook for another 4 minutes with the lid closed.
- Open the lid and flip the burgers once more and transfer them to the cooler side of the grill.
- Cook for another 3 minutes.
- Open the lid and place the burgers on your favourite burger buns (homemade brioche in our case).
- Top with awesome topping and enjoy!
Salting the meat too early can draw out juices. This is why I salted just before grilling.
I would love to know how to prepare the wine and garlic mushrooms! This burger sounds amazing!!
Hi Karen, I’ll do a post on those soon. In a nutshell, heat a bit of olive oil and butter in a pan, add the cut up the mushrooms (use your favorite), Once the oils start to reduce add a bit of white wine salt and cracked pepper. Let reduce for a bit longer et voila! I’ll post soon with actual quantities, but this should get you going for now. These are also amazing over steak. Take care and thanks for the comment.