SPAM Rice Burgers?



My friend Akiko told me about a restaurant in Japan called Freshness Burger. They apparently have SPAM burgers on rice buns! This is great. I was thinking of ways to make buns out of rice for certain National Burger Month endeavors and this confirms that it is indeed possible to make a rice bun.

But take note of the details! Not only does the Freshness Burger SPAM Rice Burger feature genuine SPAM, it also has a fried egg! Oh how wonderful.

National Burger Month Day 4: The Cap-razy Burger



The original schedule called for Town Burgers today, but we already had them on Friday so this morning, I suggested that a burger made like a caprese salad would be delicious. Andrea took the idea and ran away with it. We had some leftover pesto and a few fixings for a traditional caprese salad so the burgers tonight practically made themselves.

Ingredients:
Pesto
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Basil
Tomato
Ground Chuck
Salt
Pepper
Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella

We took about a pound of ground chuck and mixed in about one and a half teaspoons of pesto, some salt and a little pepper. The patties were grilled the way we like them-- medium-high heat, about four minutes on each side, for medium done-ness. A few slices of fresh mozzarella were layed on the burgers after they were flipped.

The buns were brushed with a little extra virgin olive oil and balsamico and toasted on the grill. Burgers were topped with a large basil leaf and a slice of beefsteak tomato.



This was a wonderful burger. The burger itself was a little garlicky, thanks to the pesto mixed into the chuck. The mozzarella wasn't too heavy, and the tomato and basil were delicious. I was skeptical of the balsamic vinegar in the sandwich, but in the end, it was perfect. it gave the whole package just the right kind of kick. Good burger. I'll have to make this one again.

National Burger Month Day 3: Pimento Cheese Burger


First we slather these suckas with some cheese pimento spread.

Found it here: http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/...-pimento-chees...

Ingredients for the pimento cheese:
24 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 (4 ounce) jar diced pimentos, drained
1 teaspoon dried, rubbed sage
1 tablespoon black pepper
2 tablespoons scallions, chopped
Pinch of sugar (or more to taste)
1/3 cup mayonnaise

I didn't have any scallions but substituted a sweet maui onion in their place. I also didn't have a 4 oz. jar of pimentos, relying instead on a 2 oz. jar. I just chucked the whole mess in a food processor and I processed.

The burger was your basic chuck, salt and pepper affair, grilled for four minutes on each side.


And then we lay the burgers on.

Overall, these cheese pimento burgers represented a refreshing change from our condiment-free burgers of the two previous nights. The cheese spread was creamy, a bit slippery even. We had to take care not to let the burgers fly out as we took our bites. I think in the future I would use a sharp cheese rather than an extra-sharp. And I might have liked more pimentos, since my 2 oz. jar was insufficient to infuse the yellow goodness with more heat. But I can't really complain. The burger was good, though not phenomenal.

National Burger Month Day 2: A Variation on the Town Burger



I was supposed to do the Ultimate Burger today, but I didn't have any sirloin handy. So I mixed up my calendar a bit and did the Town Burger. This recipe is a variation on a recipe found at Town, a restaurant in the Chambers Hotel in New York. In the end, this was a big bastardization of burgers. I didn't use prepackaged patties, opting instead for the James Beard burgers I had prepared the day before. And I grilled them, rather than pan frying them over olive oil. I don't think these are the burgers that chef Geoffrey Zakarian envisioned, but it was good enough.

Found the recipe here: http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/..._poor_man.html

Ingredients:
1 to 2 tbsp olive oil (to season grill or skillet)
4 8-ounce prepackaged organic prime ground beef patties
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp salted butter
1 tbsp chopped parsley
4 english muffins, preferably Wolferman's
4 thick slices of beefsteak tomato

It's really not much more remarkable than the previous day's burger (perhaps because I used the same stuff). But the added dimension brought by topping the burger with a dab of salted butter and chopped parsley did make the overall work richer in taste. I wouldn't use english muffins again though. They ended up rather soggy, despite pairing nicely with the butter.

More to come later: Day 3 of National Burger Month.

National Burger Month Day 1: James Beard's Favorite Burger

I went home for lunch today and prepped my grill. I also got my hands greasy, forming meat into patties. And thus starts my annual observance of National Burger Month.


Like a dragon at rest, the grill lies, ready to awaken and unleash its fire.


It just needs to be started.


James Beard is sometimes called the "Father of American Gastronomy." This is his favorite burger.

More information here

Ingredients are:
2 pounds ground beef
3 tablespoons finely grated onion
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 hamburger buns, toasted.


Meat is on the grill.


Others lie in wait, hopeful for even the smallest nibble. Alas, they do not know that they are out of luck.


And then come the buns.


The burger.

It was the purest essence of burger.

The two most notable parts of this burger were the onion and the cream. The taste of onion was subtle-- the burger had an unmistakably onion flavor, but because the onion was finely grated, I got the sense that the onion was just lingering around, as if disembodied into a vaporous presence. The cream lent the whole burger a velvety texture. This was a successful burger-- one that did not need condiments to dress it up. No ketchup, mustard and cheese were necessary to make it exciting.

Tune in tomorrow for Day 2.

May is National Burger Month! Anyone ready for a burger a day?


Winifred can has cheezburger?

EDIT (10 May, 2008): I think we're going to go off the schedule from now on. We will still be doing some (if not most) of these burgers, but I think because we can't project how much in the mood we are for one ingredient over another, we'll just be playing it by ear. But the National Burger Month observances will go on!

It's that special time of the year again. May is National Burger Month. And we have just a couple of days left to get ready. Last year, this time, I merely announced the arrival of National Burger Month and tried to get other people to celebrate it with me. Needless to say, I was the only person I knew who actually tried to eat a burger a day. I don't know why nobody else was as into it as I was. I mean really guys, it's National Burger Month. The National Burger Month!

This year, I am being more systematic about it, and perhaps others will join me. To help expedite my mission, I even prepared my Official National Burger Month Calendar of Burgers. I will actually attempt to make these burgers everyday. If you want to have burgers with me, you know how to reach me.

Most of these recipes I found through that encyclopedic burger blog, A Hamburger Today. A lot of them I found on Epicurious. Read this article by Mark Bittman from the New York Times for some tips.

Mike's Official National Burger Month Calendar of Burgers

May 1: The James Beard Burger James Beard is the "father of American Gastronomy," whatever the hell that means.
May 2: The Ultimate Beef Burger, according to Cook's Illustrated. A Variation on the Town Burger This is a cheaper variation of Jeffrey Zakarian's burger from the restaurant Town in the Chambers Hotel.
May 3: Pimento Cheese Burger The Pimento Cheeseburger is a regional favorite, coming from Columbia, South Carolina.
May 4: A Variation on the Town Burger Cap-razy Burger. This is Andrea and my attempt to make a burger out of a caprese salad.
May 5: Cinco de Mayo Burger When Good Housekeeping Better Homes and Gardens says something is Mexican, you know it has to be autentico.
May 6: The White Manna Slider White Manna is legendary burger joint in Hackensack, NJ. Chicken Teriyaki Rice Burger.
May 7: Onion Burgers The onion burger was arguably invented in Ardmore, OK during the Great Depression because onions were cheap and meat was expensive. With the economy the way it is today, perhaps the Onion Burger is appropriate.
May 8: The Juicy Loosey. The Jucy Lucy is a burger from Matt's Bar in Minneapolis.
May 9: Burgers with Mozzarella and Spinach-Arugula Pesto This would be the caprese style burger I guess.
May 10: Jamaican Jerk Burger with Orange Chipotle Mayonnaise With more available free time to cook, the weekend calls for a more complex burger. This sounds amazing.
May 11: The White Castle Clone This recipe attempts to replicate the White Castle Slider. The recipe actually calls for strained beef baby food. Yay.
May 12: Enchiladas de White Castle Burgers y Queso Since we'll no doubt have leftovers from the previous day's recipe, here is a variation. This recipe won the 2006 White Castle Crave Time Cook Off.
May 13: Beef and Andouille Burger with Asiago Cheese A little spicy sausage...
May 14: Tapenade-filled Burgers This sounds absolutely luxurious.
May 15: Seared Tuna Burgers with Ginger-garlic mayonaisse Two weeks of beef. Argh. Burgers don't have to always be cow.
May 16: Portobello Burgers with Red Pepper mayonaisse Heck, burgers don't always have to be animal either.
May 17: Garden Burger Sometimes cooking burgers from scratch gets tiring.
May 18: A simple Grilled Turkey Burger Another day without beef.
May 19: Fowl Burger It's Rachael Ray. I do not appreciate Rachael Ray. I hope this isn't foul burger. Wah wah wah...
May 20: Burger of the Gods Here's a nice, triumphant return to the beef, Alton Brown style.
May 21: Hamburger with Double Cheddar Cheese, Grilled Vidalia Onion and Horseradish Mustard This is turning out to be FoodTV celebrity chef week.
May 22: Crispy Shrimp Burger Eh. What the heck... might as well add an Emeril recipe in here.
May 23: Pressed Cuban Style Burger Bobby Flay says it's Cuban. But I don't know why it has swiss cheese.
May 24: In-n-Out Double Double Animal Style I think I'll be out driving this day. Drive-thru In-n-Out. Yay.
May 25: Homemade In-n-Out Burger Clone Having just eaten at In-n-Out, let's see if we can make In-n-Out at home.
May 26: Greek Burger with Arugula, Tomatoes and Feta My housemate leaves town on the 24th. This means that I can finally make a burger that incorporates feta since she is not a fan of goat cheese.
May 27: Scallop Burger with Cilantro-Lime Mayonnaise Scallops. Cilantro. Lime. Sounds nice.
May 28: Open-Face Lamb Burger with Pistachio Apricot Relish Cute lamb on a plate.
May 29: Inside-Out Lamb Burger More lamb! This time, the cheese is inside!
May 30: Garlicky Pork Burger Pork is good.
May 31: The Real Burger Let's end with what the New York Times says is a real burger.

That's it. Next month, fitness tips from Mike: How not to pinch an inch.