- Hey, guys.
Father's Day is just moments away
and if you have spent your time scouring the Internet
looking for the perfect recipe for Dad, call off the search.
I've got the perfect thing for you.
It's my gourmet Franglais burgers.
So what exactly is Franglais?
It's a term that's applied to something
that's a little bit French and a little bit English,
much like my life.
As you know, I'm married to a Frenchman
and our children are bilingual,
so oftentimes there are sentences in this house
that include a little bit of English
and a little bit of French.
And that's basically the philosophy for this burger.
So it's steeped in the American tradition
with all the trappings, but it incorporates
some of my most favorite flavors of France.
I believe that everybody should know
how to make a great burger.
It's something you need to have in the repertoire.
And let me tell ya, your dad will be so psyched
when you bring him this gourmet burger on Father's Day.
For the first step is you wanna caramelize your onions.
In a large skillet, I'm going to add some olive oil,
some red onions, and some salt and pepper to taste.
Go ahead and sautée those up, just until
they're soft and translucent, and then you're gonna add
a little bit of balsamic vinegar.
Stir that up just until the vinegar has become evaporated
and then you're gonna allow it to cook
for another five to seven minutes more.
You just wanna make sure that those onions
are nice and soft and caramelized.
Then you can go ahead and add your fresh thyme.
I love the addition of fresh thyme with this
because it's such a classic French flavor.
It will just make those onions a little bit more gourmet.
You can go ahead and set those aside
and then you're gonna get on with mixing your ground beef.
Now, the secret to a great burger
has to do with picking the right ground beef.
When you get to the grocery store,
you wanna make sure that you get
the ground beef that is 85% lean.
That's means it's gonna have 15% fat in it,
and fat always equals flavor.
If you get the beef that's too lean, like 90%,
you're gonna end up with a dried out burger.
So definitely, in this case, fat is more flavor.
In a large bowl you're gonna add two egg yolks,
some Worcestershire sauce, and for our French flavoring
we're going to add some herbs de Provence.
Salt and pepper and freshly chopped parsley.
I love the addition of a fresh herb in a burger,
especially around the summertime, because it
just makes the burger feel really summery and gourmet.
Then you're gonna whisk that up, all until combined,
and then once it's mixed, you're going
to add your ground beef.
And then the best way to mix this burger mixture
is with your hands.
Just make sure they're clean, and then go in
and actually incorporate all that meat with your seasonings.
Now here is tip number two.
You wanna make sure that you do not overwork this meat.
The more that you kinda mix it and work it around
with your hands, the tougher your burger is gonna be.
So you really wanna make sure that you're nice and gentle.
Then go in and form your patties
about the size of hockey pucks.
You wanna make sure that they're all about equal size.
This will allow your burger to cook
at the same rate and be done at the same time.
Now, like with all French cuisine
that tastes really good, it usually
has to do with the butter.
So in this situation, we're also gonna use some butter.
We're gonna take a little pat and we're gonna
place it in the center of our burger.
And what that's gonna do is when that burger cooks,
all of that butter is going to melt
and distribute itself into the meat,
and that is gonna give you one flavorful,
delicious, juicy burger.
So go ahead and place those burgers on the grill
and don't touch them.
Let them grill for at least four to five minutes
for medium rare on either side.
The one thing you don't wanna do,
and people do this all the time
and I know that it's tempting, is to go in there
with your spatula and start pressing down the burger.
Every time you do that, you are taking those juices
and releasing it from the meat.
You want those juices to stay inside the meat,
so just don't touch it.
Then when it comes time to flip,
you're gonna flip that burger
and immediately place your cheese on top.
And I'm going to be using a Gruyere cheese.
It's a delicious French flavor.
If you can't find Gruyere, you also could use Swiss.
The reason why you wanna add your cheese
right when you flip is because then that way
your burger will be done and your cheese
will be melted at the same time.
Meanwhile, you can create your gourmet ketchup.
You're gonna take just some store-bought ketchup
and you're gonna add a little bit of smoked paprika.
Smoked paprika is not the same thing as regular paprika.
It actually has a smoky taste to it.
You'll find it in the grocery store
right near the regular paprika,
but just make sure that it actually says smoked.
What it's gonna do is it's gonna give your ketchup
a really elegant, sort of gourmet taste to it.
It's not spicy or, you know, it's not gonna have
any kick to it.
It's just gonna make it feel a little bit
smoky and a little bit more elegant.
Now let's talk hamburger buns.
Because we're going for a French theme,
I really love to use a brioche bun.
So you're gonna go ahead and slit that down the middle
and toast it on your grill.
Once your buns are toasted,
it's time to assemble your burger.
You're gonna take your bottom half.
You're gonna add a little bit of Bibb lettuce.
You're gonna place your burger on top
and then dollop with some of your gourmet, smoky ketchup,
top with the caramelized onions.
Then on the top bun you're going to add some Dijon mustard.
I love the Dijon mustard because it's a classic French taste
and it's just a little bit more fancy
than that yellow mustard you get in that squeezy bottle.
So definitely spring for the Dijon.
Dad's worth it.
So there you have it, my gourmet Franglais burger.
I hope you guys give this one a try
and let me know what you think.
And happy Father's Day to all you
hard-working dads out there.
I hope you take advantage of the day,
put your feet up and let everybody wait on you for a change.
I'll see you guys back here next week
when I'm gonna share with you how to make
a simple apricot galette.
It's rustic, it's beautiful and it's the perfect
type of tart for the summertime.
I'll see you guys then.
(relaxing music)