Garlic Butter Burger

Upgrade Your Burger

My daughter doesn’t like cheese on her burger. I always feel like I am cheating her when I cook burgers and she gets a patty without that crave-worthy, oooey, goooey melted cheese. I decided to upgrade her burger with the next best thing - Butter.

Last night I put together a few burgers for the family. I made a compound butter in a large roll, then sliced it thinly and applied it to the hot burger patty right after cooking. I topped it with a bun and it melted all over the burger. Then she took a bite. She said it was the best burger she has ever had. Naturally, I didn’t believe her, so I had my favorite critic take a bite - my wife. She agreed and proceeded to eat the rest of the burger. Then I gave one to my son, sans cheese, and he agreed. This was a hit. I even ate a whole one and decided it was worthy of a substack AND I think I may be putting this on the menu.

The idea is to just mix the butter with all of the traditional ingredients that make a burger great (garlic, chives, Dijon, Worcestershire, and a dash of ketchup). Then it melts all over the burger and soaks into the soft bun creating a bite of bliss (or many bites). Simple right?

You can play with this as well and add your own ingredients to make it one-of-a-kind. The key if you are making the garlic version is to toast the garlic in olive oil over low heat for about 1-2 minutes. you don’t want to burn the garlic, nor do you want it raw - you want that perfect garlic that is both toasted and nutty, very redolent, yet not too overpowering (pics below).

This recipe produced about a pound of compound butter. That’s by design. It’s perfect on many things - from steak to chicken, to veggies. So have at it.

Note: Soften your butter by slicing it into pieces and leaving it out at room temp for a few hours. To expedite the process you can put it in the microwave and cook it for 5-7 seconds at a time until it’s soft but not melted.

For the Burger:

2 brioche buns

2 each 8oz patties iwth 80/20 ground meat (one note - I like to make my own bpatties by loosly pulling the meat together into a ball. You want them to be loosley packed so there is more available surface area to sear, thereby creating a richer flavor)

For the Compound Butter:

1 lb butter - diced and softened

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon chives

1/4 cup minced garlic (about 8 cloves)

3 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon ketchup

1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan

1 teaspoon onion powder

salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

Add your olive oil and garlic to a pan - bring to a simmer and cook until it’s lightly browned, then pour the oil/garlic mix into a bowl and cool. Mix into the softened butter with the remaining ingredients.

Place 3 layers of plastic wrapo on the counter or on a cutting board and molld the garlic butter onto the plastic. Wrap around the butter so it forms a ball or a large log. You will slice this once it cools and place on the burger so make sure it’s somewhat the same size of the patty.

While the butter is cooling, press 2 each 8 oz patties onto a hot pan, cook on one side then flip and smass the patty down. Flip a few times, smashing each time and making sure the exterior is crisp and browned.

Once the burgers are done, toast your buns in the juices left over on the pan. Place the burger on the bottom bun, then slice the butter an dplace atop the hot burger. PLace the top bun on the buttered patty and allow it to rest for 30-60 seconds so the butter melts onto the meat.

Enjoy!