- [Narrator] This episode of "Basics"
is presented by the Singleton.
I've partnered with Singleton for our second installment
in how to utilize different cuts of meat.
Today's delicious pairing is all about
the ultimate grilled steakhouse burger,
which is fitting since today is National Grilling Day.
The Singleton is an award-winning a single malt scotch
that's versatile enough to enjoy neat over ice
or mixed in a cocktail.
It's perfect for a refreshing summer beverage
around the grill with friends.
But before we get to that,
we need to make some burgers.
Let's get down to basics.
(upbeat music)
All right, so in pursuit of the ultimate steakhouse burger,
we must start with the ultimate steakhouse burger bun.
I'm starting off by combining 500 grams of bread flour,
seven grams instant yeast, 25 grams sugar,
and 10 grams kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer.
Tiny whisking to combine,
then adding 100 grams of whole milk and 200 grams of water,
both heated to a tepid to 85 degrees Fahrenheit.
Affix dough hooks and get to kneading,
just until the dough starts to come together
and no dry spots remain.
Then one little piece at a time,
we're adding 85 grams of very soft unsalted butter,
making sure that each piece is fully emulsified
into the dough before adding the next.
This is gonna give our buns a rich brioche-like quality.
After kneading for five or six minutes
after the last piece of butter is added,
you should end up with a soft, springy, silky dough
that passes the windowpane test with flying colors,
and is ready to be rolled into a smooth, taut ball
plopped back into the bowl from whence it came,
maybe give it a little toss in the air for good, whoa.
For good luck, plopped in the bowl,
and covered with a plate, where it's gonna rise
at room temperature for one hour until doubled in size.
Now it is ready to be shaped into burger buns.
This dough plays nicest on a well-oiled countertop,
so go ahead and hit your work surface with a little bit
of neutral flavored oil like vegetable or canola,
and since we want six identical buns,
we're gonna weigh the whole batch of dough,
divide that number by six, and weigh out six pieces
that weigh exactly one sixth of the whole batch of d-
You know what I'm trying to say.
Stretch those into taut, smooth-topped buns,
which we're gonna allow to rise for another 45 minutes
to one hour on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Pat each bowl of dough down into a little disk,
so it's gonna form more like a hamburger bun
than a loaf of bread,
and you can cover these guys with a clean kitchen towel,
or if you happen to have a proofing box
the exact width and height of your baking sheet,
that will work too, probably very well.
Go ahead and give those rest for 45 minutes to one hour
until they've poofed a bit, maybe grown by about 50%.
We've got our oven preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit,
but before these boys go in the sauna,
we're brushing them down thoroughly with a beaten egg yolk
and optionally covering with a generous sprinkling
of sesame seeds.
Just make sure you do it quick,
because the egg dries pretty quickly,
and then they won't stick as well.
Into the oven they go, 350 degrees Fahrenheit
for 30 to 35 minutes, rotating halfway through
until they emerge the most beautiful burger buns
you've ever bunned.
Allow these cool completely before using
in your favorite burger application.
Next step on our bougie burger hit list
is the caramelized onions.
Two large Vidalia onions thinly sliced into half rings
and slowly, gently cooked over medium, medium low heat,
adding a little splash of water as necessary
until they have formed a dark, impossibly rich,
sweet and savory onion jam,
the only condiment our burger is going to need,
because we care a lot about the meat.
And here they are, are a whole bunch
of different cuts of cow that you might consider
putting into a burger.
We're gonna focus more on the specific cuts of beef
and what they bring to the party
in an upcoming episode of "Basics," the smashburger episode.
But today we are decidedly splurging on dry aged ribeye.
A lot of folks might be very upset at my taking
this beautiful ribeye and turning it into a burger,
but that's really the only way we're gonna make
one of those amazing steakhouse burgers at home.
Steakhouses dry age their own beef,
which means they end up with lots and lots
of dry aged scraps with which to make burgers.
Our next best option is to grind up
one very expensive piece of beef and cut it, so to speak,
with the next best thing.
We ground up seven different kinds of beef
so we can taste them individually
and come up with our favorite blends for smashburgers,
regular burgers, and the steakhouse burger.
Like I said, we'll hit smashburgers on a future episode,
but for this one, as you may have guessed,
the dry aged ribeye tasted far and away the best.
So what we need is a similarly rich, flavorful beef
that we can cut the mix with so we don't use as much ribeye.
And for me, that was brisket.
A 50/50 mix of both is gonna make a fatty, buttery burger
that's perfect to serve thick and medium rare.
So there you have it, our very expensive,
but very delicious burger mix.
Now comes the time to form patties,
and these are gonna be surprisingly upsettingly huge.
I'm going for 10 ounce patties.
Again, steakhouses are all about excess,
and their burgers are no exception,
so pile 'em high and start patting them out into patties.
A lot of you might be familiar with the divot method,
pressing a deep divot into the center of your burger
to compensate for any contraction that happens
during the cooking process,
you know, when you throw a burger on the grill
and you end up with a meatball.
But since we ground our own beef,
that's not really necessary.
I like to make them slightly thinner in the center
than they are on the outsides, but overall,
they should keep their shape pretty well.
Now for one last dash of decadence,
after I cut my buns in half,
I'm gonna smear them with duck fat before toasting
for an extra hit of richness.
Again, totally optional.
You can use butter and it'll still turn out
really, really, really good.
For cooking on the stove top,
I like a nice flat cast iron griddle like this one,
perfect for both toasting buns and searing patties,
patties that we're not seasoning with kosher salt
and freshly ground pepper until the very last minute,
right before they hit the griddle.
Basically you want to blast your burgers with as much heat
as humanly possible until you've formed a nice crust
on one side, give them a flip,
and top them with cheese right before they're done cooking.
How long it's going to take for them to cook
depends on about a billion factors,
the thickness of your beef, the power of your stove,
your cat's emotional health.
The only real ways to know are with a thermometer
or with experience.
You make a lot of burgers,
you're gonna start to know what the meat
is supposed to feel and look like.
I know that practice makes perfect is an annoying answer,
but until that day comes
that you're inside your burger's head,
just get a thermometer.
Anyway, we're plating up with a big smear
of our caramelized onions,
a couple of slices of Munster cheese, and that's it.
That's all this burger needs,
except maybe the kiss of a flame.
If you want to do this out on your grill,
the rules are pretty much the same.
Season generously with kosher salt
and freshly ground black pepper
right before plopping on the hottest part of your grill.
I like to keep my two left burners on full blast
and my two right burners on medium low flame.
This gives you a nice hot place to sear the exterior
of the burger and a cooler place
where you can slowly cook it
if you want to bring it up to temp and/or toast your buns.
Is this better than an indoor burger? Yeah, kinda.
Mostly because you're not filling your kitchen
with a cloud of smoke, but however you cook it,
this ended up being the most delicious burger I've ever had.
You might be wondering why I'm not loading it up
with condiments and vegetables,
and that's because this burger puts the emphasis
on the beef.
Munster is a very mild cheese
that's adding texture more than anything else,
and the caramelized onions only serve to add unctuousness
to the juicy, beefy, beefy beef.
In fact, all this burger really needs now
is a bold, refreshing cocktail,
what I'm gonna call the Rosemary's Babby.
This starts fittingly enough with a sprig of rosemary
being placed into a chilled coupe glass,
over which we're gonna pour a 1/4 ounce
of absinthe or Chartreuse.
Set that aside, and then in a cocktail shaker with ice
we are combining 1 1/4 ounces of the Singleton 12,
3/4 of an ounce of freshly squeezed lemon juice,
and half an ounce of simple syrup.
We're then going to shake rigorously for about 30 seconds.
This chills, aerates, and lightly dilutes the cocktail.
But before we strain it out,
we're going to very carefully torch our rosemary.
You don't have to use absinthe in this cocktail,
but make sure you use something high proof enough
that it sets our herbs alight.
If a high proof spirit isn't available,
you can always use dried rosemary and just torch it.
Let that burn for a few seconds to get a nice smoky flavor,
and then extinguish it with the strained contents
of our shaker.
And there you have it, the Rosemary's Babby,
a smoky, punchy cocktail,
perfect for summer grilling,
and all the rich unctuous flavors
of our steakhouse burgers in particular.
And these cocktails and burgers are best
when shared with friends,
so here's Jess to give me a little help
polishing things off.
After all, this is like my third or fourth burger today,
so really she's just looking out for my health.
Thanks again to the Singleton for partnering with me
on today's episode.
The Singleton 12 year old is perfect for newcomers
to the world of scotch whiskey.
It's light, fruity, versatile,
and mixes beautifully in a refreshing cocktail,
plus tastes great on its own.
There's really nothing better than an enjoying
a summer cocktail with friends at your next patio
or backyard barbecue, so grab a few friends,
a few ingredients, and a bottle of the Singleton
at the link in the video description.
(upbeat music)