The Perfect Burger ...

The perfect burger to go with the perfect beer, my Summer Ale of course.  So what makes a burger so special?  Is it the seasoning, how its cooked, the addition of eggs and bread crumbs, or the manufacturer of the frozen patty?

The answer is almost none of the above, how you cook you burger does make the burger something special or just another piece of charred meat.  What makes a burger special is that it has just the right amount of flavor balanced with just the right juiciness and cooked just right to achieve a deep golden brown crust.

I use three cuts of beef - sorry the veggie burger is another blog topic, today is all about "beef".  The equal combination of short ribs, skirt or flatiron steak, and rib-eye result in a ground product that shapes well, holds together, has the right amount of fat, and the flavor is delicious!

The Perfect Burger: Fresh ground meat, seared in a cast iron skillet and finished in the oven.  Garnishes are Canadian bacon, white onion, cheddar cheese, and my Backyard BBQ sauce. (Left)








Since we are having perfect burgers with the perfect beer, there can be no other side than perfect onion rings - sounds like the perfect backyard meal.  I use yellow onions for the rings, they have a sweetness that comes out as they are cooked.  The batter is made with beer or soda water, if you prefer; however, to achieve the light crisp outer coating you need carbonation in the liquid.  The other key to good onion rings is that you need to dust the onion with flour before you dredge it through the batter.  This will absorb any remaining moisture on the cut onion.  Moisture turns to steam at high temperatures, which for us means our crunchy light coating is going to fall off and that makes for a sad onion ring.  The dusting also provides an opportunity to introduce a little flavor.  I add a little sweet or Hungarian paprika to both the dusting flour and the batter.  Finally make sure you are using oil that is still good heated to 380 degrees.

To feed the angry mob while I finished preparing everything else I made a great and sort of healthy dip. For most of my sour cream based dips I use non-fat plain Greek yogurt instead.  I like the flavor it provides when combined with the other flavors.  Plus it's yogurt, which "they" say is better for us than sour cream - sorry Sour Cream Council.  This is a blue cheese chive dip served with homemade potato chips.  For a more elegant appetizer before a meal, you can present it with waffle chips instead.

Blue Cheese Chive Dip: Non-fat plain Greek yogurt combined with crumbled blue cheese and fresh chopped chives.  Served with homemade potato chips. (Right)






For dessert it was traditional sundaes with vanilla or mint-chip ice cream topped with homemade hot fudge and caramel, finished with a dollop of whipped cream and toasted almonds.  I would suggest putting the beer down for a few minutes at this time.  While the Summer Ale is the perfect summer beer, let the sundae stand on its own and hydrate with a little water.

I would discuss beverage options as I usually do, but I think we all know this is really all about my beer.  Other beverages that would be suitable include other peoples' beer, soda - maybe some of the new cool gourmet sodas, iced tea, lemonade or a glass of Merlot or Spanish Tempranillo.