Wednesday, November 2, 2016

butter burger

This is America's Test Kitchen  Cook's Country, an adjunct to the America's Test Kitchen  They're making a butter burger based on one that they saw in Wisconsin that they thought was just too ridiculous so they cut back considerably on the butter. They use salted butter contrary to everything else. But I don't see why they cannot simply add salt to their unsalted butter.

Here's the thing about that. Manufacturers and marketers must take greater care with unsalted butter. The salt gives them some wiggle room that is unavailable with unsalted butter. You are guaranteed that your unsalted butter is fresh.

They put the butter on the top toasted bun and let it drip down through sweated onions and American cheese. The meat patties are thin.

Skip to 2:30 if you care to watch, where they start making burgers, they're yakking it up unproductively before that.



This is Solly's Grille, the place that America's Test Kitchen based their butter burger tests on. The lithe sylphlike cook and the svelte owner insist on outrageous quantity of butter sufficient to drown any insect drawn to it right there on your plate. Pointless when so much of it drips off. 



This here is a link to Food Network, a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives episode showing Crest's butter burger. This is the best of the lot. The cook has 1/3 LB of beef, it looks like to me, gouges out a small portion, inserts a generous pat of compound butter and replaces the gouged portion of meat, smashed the ball into a patty and grills the patty as a steak. The cook says, "broiler." The butter that the cook prepares in advance has generous fresh herbs added to it. Quite a combination here. My favorite things.

* basil
* parsley
* tarragon
* garlic
* cayenne
* salt
* pepper

So there is no butter soaking the bun. It's all inside the burger. In my opinion, this is the way to go. His is the only burger herbed up, and that combination sounds tremendous. 

No cilantro. The most popular herb around here. Man, there sure are a lot of anticilantroites out there. Have you noticed that? It's actually a genetic predisposition. A lot of people just flat cannot stand it. It tastes like soap to them. One guy said, "Is that the stuff that tastes like wet socks?" And I'm all, "What?" 

15 comments:

AllenS said...

I have to have my onions raw.

Evi L. Bloggerlady said...

Hey, that's not Kosher!

But the Butter Burger is Wisconsin.

I am of course horrified by the burger part, but as they say...Eat Me!

Evi L. Bloggerlady said...

Well said: Good food is made with a lot of love and a lot of butter.

Evi L. Bloggerlady said...

To my cow brethren, funeral potatoes

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

For health reasons, I've made it a project to be satisfied with less when it comes to eating. Less quantity. Less seasoning. Less fat, sugar, salt, carbs, etc. It's been a number of years now so I'm calling it a modest success. I don't feel deprived in the least and having an apple, or the occasional cookie or slice of pound cake, is a super treat whereas before I felt I DESERVED and REQUIRED dessert after EVERY meal.

Eat to live. Don't live to eat.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Oh, I almost forget.

No butter at all.

Don't need it.

Easily done without.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Butter and fat are good for you. Good for your body and especially for your brain Probably explains why vegans are such dopes and almost always liberals. Brain damaged.

Plus a bit of fat in your meals is sating. Satisfies the urge to eat more and makes your urge to eat more often less.

For health reasons (beginnings of a small hiatal hernia) I have begun to eat much more slowly, chew more thoroughly, take small bites. I have to. As a result, I find that I am satisfied with half of what I used to eat. I'm full and don't want to eat more. Half a sandwich instead of a whole. Part of a hamburger. Portion of a steak. Tiny salad. Smaller portions. Savoring the meal, enjoying the flavors. Sipping the wine. Looking forward to that sliver of cake or pie.

I don't skimp on anything. Just smaller portions.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

(1) No butter at all.

Probably false. Overstatement. My wife might use butter in some of her cooking. I really wouldn't know.

It's true to say that I haven't, myself, put a knife to a stick of butter in years.

(2)as a result, I find that I am satisfied with half of what I used to eat.

Yes.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

this is also called the widow maker.

ricpic said...

I continue to eat with total abandon. Not dead yet!

Christy said...

I'm one of those who think cilantro is just nasty.

I love America's Test Kitchen, but almost threw in the dish towel the episode when they took 30 minutes and three different cooking techniques to make scrambled eggs. Not a frittata, not an omelet, but plain (obviously not) ole scrambled eggs.

Christy said...

Oh, and the Pioneer Woman pours cream into her hamburger meat.

Evi L. Bloggerlady said...

Christy: I do like the slow low heat method that Chip talked about from the Hell's Kitchen guy.

I like cilantro, for the right dish. Like Mexican cooking. I hate it if it is over used.

Evi L. Bloggerlady said...

I tried butter in my coffee. It was not horrible, but it wasn't particularly good.

Christy said...

Low, slow heat is the exact opposite of the way my sweet Mama cooked everything. Took me decades to realize Mama was an awful cook.