Burger: Test Number One

On Saturday, I decided to make fresh burger buns. Originally, I wanted to do lamb for the burger, but since I could not find any ground fresh, I settled for a nice fresh ground chuck from a local butcher.

Ingredients came from: Whitefoot Meat Market, Ralphs.

I used this recipe for light brioche burger buns from the Smitten Kitchen blog:

Light Brioche Burger Buns:
Adapted from Comme Ça restaurant in Los Angeles, via the New York Times

Makes 8 4 to 5-inch burger buns

3 tablespoons warm milk
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
3 cups bread flour
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Sesame seeds (optional)

1. In a glass measuring cup, combine one cup warm water, the milk, yeast and sugar. Let stand until foamy, about five minutes. Meanwhile, beat one egg.

2. In a large bowl, whisk flours with salt. Add butter and rub into flour between your fingers, making crumbs. Using a dough scraper, stir in yeast mixture and beaten egg until a dough forms. Scrape dough onto clean, well-floured counter and knead, scooping dough up, slapping it on counter and turning it, until smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes. The dough will be on the sticky side so it can be a bit messy, but keep in mind that the more flour you knead in, the tougher the buns will get. Try to leave them tackier than you would a round loaf.

3. Shape dough into a ball and return it to bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, one to two hours. (In my freaky, warm apartment this only took an hour.)

4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using dough scraper, divide dough into 8 equal parts. Gently roll each into a ball and arrange two to three inches apart on baking sheet. Cover loosely with a piece of plastic wrap lightly coated in nonstick spray and let buns rise in a warm place for one to two hours. (Again, this only took one hour in my apartment and I suspect, you’ll also only need an hour for a second rise.)

5. Set a large shallow pan of water on oven floor. Preheat oven to 400 degrees with rack in center. Beat remaining egg with one tablespoon water and brush some on top of buns. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, if using. Bake, turning sheet halfway through baking, until tops are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Results: They turned out quite delicious, though a bit doughier than I wanted.
Problems: I somehow glossed over the part of the recipe that told me to let them rise a second time. This should fix the doughiness problem.

Burgers
For the Burger part, we just grilled the meat on a hibachi outside. One of the perks of living in California, I guess. :-)

Relish:
My fiance also made a delicious tomato relish, but I am going to have to edit this post after I ask him for the recipe. Tomato relish is a fantastic alternative to catsup (though we do like Trader Joe's).

Salad Dressing:

We garnished with a green salad with a balsamic vinaigrette that we love to make for salads.

It roughly comes out to (though the ratios are really flexible depending on taste):

Serves 3-4:

4 tablespoons olive oil
2 table spoons balsamic vinegar
1 table spoon mustard. (we love Inglehoffer Original Stone Ground)

I usually just add more of one thing or another until it tastes the way I like.