New Year's Resolution: Burger Blog

It's a new year and for us that means a resurgence of our blog and our ongoing food challenge. Our resolution for this year is to keep updating this blog frequently thru 2012. We've had some great meals since our last post; THE FRENCH LAUNDRY, Sepia, The Bristol, Wayfare Tavern, Susan Feniger's Street, Nightwood, Graham Elliot...Just to name a few.

We thought we'd start off the year with one of our favorite foods (it's one of America's favorite foods too)...The Hamburger.

Some of you might know that Matt works for McDonald's and has a rather large affinity for burgers. That means, since he can't reveal any trade secrets, we can't challenge any McDonald's classics like the Big Mac or Quarter Pounder with Cheese. But that doesn't mean that we haven't been to a TON of other burger joints in search of the perfect hamburger. We've been to a number of places in Chicago such as Burger Bar, Custom House, Duchamp but recently Matt read an article about the 12 burger chains to watch in 2012 (http://www.burgerbusiness.com/?p=8852).

Since we were going to be in LA for Christmas this year to spend the holidays with the Campodonicos (Michele's fam) we decided to take one afternoon, head down to Hollywood and try Stout Burgers & Beers.

We got the Imperialist (Aged Cheddar, Ketchup, Mustard Relish, Roasted Tomatoes) and the Six Weeker (Brie, Fig Jam, Arugula, Carmelized Onions). Both burgers were really good. The Imperialist was more traditional, with a really nice addition of roasted tomatoes. The Six Weeker was definitely more unique and played up on sweet, salty, sour notes and we really liked the addition of brie.

We decided that when we got home we were going to resurrect the blog and create our version of the Six Weeker. So today 1/2/12 amidst a full day of college football bowl mania we put together our version of this delicious creation.

M&M's Six Weeker
80/20 Ground Beef (1/3lb per patty)
Your Favorite Hamburger Bun (We used Gonnella)
Brie (2 thin slices per burger)
Fig Jam (Recipe Below)
Baby Greens
Carmelized Onions


Fig Jam
This was a bit of an enigma for us as our local grocery store did not have fig jam. We had some dulce to higo (Ecuadorian candied figs) in the fridge so we chopped some of the figs up, tossed them into a small frying pan and combined them with:

• 2 tablespoons of Dijon Mustard
• 2 tablespoons of Aged Balsamic
• Dash of Sherry Wine
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Cook all ingredients until syrupy and jam like.

Six Weeker Instructions
While making the fig jam, we carmelized the onions (note this takes 30-40 minutes in order to get a rich brown color and enhanced flavor). After the jam and onions were complete, we set them both aside while we began to cook the burgers. First, butter and toast your hamburger buns on your grill or grill pan (it is winter after all in the Chi). Once lightly toasted, grill your hamburgers to your desired temperature and with 30-45 seconds left add 2 slices of brie to begin melting. After all components are complete this is the proper way to build the burger:

1. Spread Fig Jam on Bottom Bun
2. Add Burger covered in Brie on to Bottom Bun
3. Spread carmelized onions on the Top Bun
4. Add a few baby greens to Top Bun
5. Place Top Bun (with carmelized onions and greens) to burger and bottom bun
6. ENJOY!

THE RESULT: This was an incredibly close call as our burger was REALLY REALLY good. It is hard to go wrong either way but since we are the judges we'll give our version the nod to start 2012 off right!

However, this won't be our last burger challenge of the year and we will be on the look out for other great burger showdowns in 2012.