Order Up! Who Ordered The Cheeseburger?

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baking, beef, bread, brioche, cheeseburger, hamburger

 

Cast iron pan-fried beef mince patty topped with Colby cheese on homemade light brioche bun.

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Umami Tsunami

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cheeseburger, hamburger, the mighty hibachi, umami

How did I end up here?  Well…

I found a beer from Garage Project, a local Wellington brewery.  The beer is called Umami Monster.  Yeah, Umami Monster.  Imagine a beer made with Japanese dashi stock.  Umami flavours in a beer should pair well with grilled meats.

So, we’ve endured cold, wet Southerly conditions here in Wellington for about 7 days in a row, except for today. This morning the wind turned northerly and it was sunny – excellent BBQ weather, even in Winter.

So, I set up The Mighty Hibachi with hardwood charcoal – the good stuff, mind you – great chunks of charcoal, fist sized bits straight from the bag.  I could really use a bigger BBQ, but that’s a different post for a different day…

I figured, as you do, that a grilled umami burger with Umami Monster beer would hit you like an Umami Tsunami.  Oh, never mind.

Back to the umami burger… I made a miso-dijon mustard with dijon mustard, miso paste, and xioxing wine (would have used rice wine, but didn’t have it).  I grilled red onions (heaps of umami there…).  I grilled 200g of beef mince over hardwood charcoal, basting the burger with the miso-dijon mustard as it cooked. I topped the burger with a mixture of grated aged cheddar and Grana Padano cheese and covered the burger on the grill until the cheese melted.

When the burger was cooked medium rare, I took it off the grill and let it rest for a bit while I got the rest of the burger ready.  I spread kewpie mayonnaise on the toasted bottom bun, then topped the bottom bun with cos lettuce, bread & butter pickles, and a couple of tomato slices.  I placed the burger on top of all that, then placed the grilled onions on top of the burger.  On the top bun I spread some miso-dijon mayonnaise, then assembled the burger and plated it.

I served the umami burger with Umami Monster beer…

It was an Umami Tsunami.

Would I do it again?  Probably not, but it was a fun culinary exercise.

The Kitchen Is Open

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beef, cheeseburger, hamburger, lyall bay

 

The first cheeseburger made in the kitchen at our place in Lyall Bay.  It feels good to be cooking in the kitchen again.

Grilled Cheeseburger

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beef, cheeseburger, hamburger, the mighty hibachi

A grilled cheeseburger from The Mighty Hibachi.

 

Chargrilled over hardwood charcoal

Grilled Cheeseburger

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beef, cheeseburger, grilled onions, hamburger, the mighty hibachi

This evening I fired up The Mighty Hibachi and grilled a couple burgers over hardwood charcoal, with grilled onions.

Medium rare. Delicious.

Cheeseburger

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cast iron, cheese, cheeseburger, hamburger, sandwich

Fried in a cast iron pan until medium rare, then removed to rest and topped with sliced Colby cheese. Whilst the meat rested, the bun was toasted in butter and sliced onions were grilled in the pan juices in the cast iron pan. The meat was slipped under the broiler to melt the cheese, then placed on top of the grilled onions on the bun.

That is all.

No tomato chutney, no plum sauce, no beetroot, no salad. Why must hamburgers be so defiled in New Zealand?

Just a plain cheeseburger. Delicious.

The Mighty Hibachi Burger

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beef, charcoal, cheeseburger, chiles, chiles anaheim, grilled, hamburger, hardwood charcoal, hibachi, tomato, vintage cheddar cheese

270g (before cooking!) Coarsely ground, loosely packed beef grilled medium rare over hardwood charcoal with grilled red onion, fire roasted Anaheim chile, vintage cheddar cheese (aged 24 months), and tomato.