Hamburger à la Belle Excuse
Simple Burger à La Belle Excuse
I have already spoken of products I love; I have already spoken of encouraging local businesses and markets. By local, I also mean, less mega stores, there is nothing wrong with going there, moreso when planning an event, party or other. But maybe we can keep it balanced and do both. I find my butcher to be accommodating and fun, he will find cuts of meat I have trouble finding at my local supermarket and his meats are fresh. Lo and behold, this week he had fresh pasteurized, but not homogenized milk! Guess who is making ricotta this week to go into my beef and ricotta ravioli! Yum.
About the burgers, I know week nights do not call for over complicated, the family has hockey games, choir practice, appointments, etc., but we still want to eat well. AAAAAANNND, I got hold of a bottle of this:
It is Cream of Balsamic made by La Belle Excuse. Read more about their history and how we came to have their products here in Quebec! -La Belle Excuse- What to do with such a yummy luxurious product? Well, first, over vanilla ice-cream. OH, how scrumptious that is. But I was making simple burgers, and I thought to use one of the suggestions on the website that it would be good on a burger, so I cooked the patties and glazed the burger with the Balsamic Cream. Doing this added a sweetness to the well-seasoned meat and elevated the burger with a simple few strokes of a brush. It was a hit. I can only imagine this summer over a hot grill.
I like to make larger thicker patties myself, as I do not like overcooked patties, I also like to have hamburger meat that has no frozen component to it, so my wonderful butcher will make it fresh for me, as I wait and watch. Talk about service people! Is it more expensive, yea! Is it tastier, better, healthier than what you get in a plastic wrapped sausage-like casing at some larger markets?? Hell, Yeah…
For the meat patties, I season my patties well, I do not shy away from salt, mostly because I make almost all my food from scratch, so there is no need to worry about salt content. Also, hamburger meat needs that salt and I use my seasoning mix as well, which I have spoken of often. Look HERE on how to make it, it is quick and will last me a week or so for all my meals.
I am quite sure a turkey burger or even lamb burger would be absolutely amazing using the Cream of Balsamic as a glaze.
INGREDIENTS:
Good quality ground meat
Seasoning Mixture
Extra sea salt
Hamburger Bread
TOPPINGS:
Tomatoes
Lettuce
White onion rings
Grainy mustard
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Provolone
INSTRUCTIONS:
Make patties at least ¾ of an inch thick and large enough to fill bun, remembering it will shrink.
Shape with your hands, do not over handle.
Season with salt and pepper, or your seasoning mix and a few flakes extra of sea salt.
Heat a griddle to medium high, drizzle in olive oil and place patties in, cook for 4 minutes one side, flip and cook another 4-5 minutes. Brush with the cream of balsamic 3 times, flip, brush on some more Cream of Balsamic and cook another 2 minutes. Remove from heat, let rest 4-5 minutes.
In the meantime, toast your bread.
To assemble, spread the grainy mustard on the inside of the top bu. On the patty, add the provolone, tomato, lettuce, onion and top with your bun. Scrunch down and enjoy!
