Beatrice Burgers

MVB readers get an occasional bonus, a recipe from MasterClass, the Times, or wherever. 

Today, I share one from Angie Mar of Beatrice featured in the GOAT Series of MasterClass. 

Clearly, most of us are not grinding our own cuts of meat. I always favor 'economy cuts' although we don't eat much beef anymore. 

Chef Mar also proposes Brie as a substitute for the Fromage d'Affinois that she melts onto her burgers. 

For cooking, she also uses a grill on her stove to 'crosshatch' her burgers because she favors that attention to detail. 

When I caramelize onions, I'm not adding the wine either, at least yet.

For vegetarians, I don't have a perfect veggie burger yet, but I've worked on it...  

For the Burgers

• 2 lb (942 g) 45-day dry-aged rib eye, trimmed and cut into 1½-inch cubes
• ⅕ lb (85 g) brisket, cut into 1½-inch cubes
• ⅕ lb (85 g) 45-day dry-aged sirloin, cut into 1½-inch cubes
• ⅕ lb (85 g) chuck flap, cut into 1½-inch cubes
• Kosher salt

For the Caramelized Onions

• ½ cup (120 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
• 6 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced (about 12 cups)
• 1 bunch thyme, wrapped in cheesecloth
• Kosher salt
• ½ cup (104 g) sugar, divided
• 2 bottles (1,500 ml) red wine of your choice, divided
• 2 tsp (12 g) kosher salt
• 2¼ tsp (14 g) freshly ground black pepper

For Assembly

• 6 brioche buns
• 8½ oz (240 g) Fromager d’Affinois cheese, divided

Make the Patties

1. You may ask a supermarket butcher to grind all of the meat for you. Or grind it at home if you have a meat grinder: Combine all of the cubes of meat in a large bowl, and freeze for 20 to 30 minutes before grinding. Grind the meat twice, first through a large die and then through a medium die. The medium die should not be smaller than ⅓ inch. (If you are using a KitchenAid mixer, use only the ⅓-inch coarse plate, or “die,” twice instead of switching to the medium die.) Refrigerate the ground meat for 20 to 30 minutes before mixing it and forming the patties.

2. To form the burgers, remove the ground meat from the refrigerator and mix it together with a spatula. Using your hands, divide the meat into 6 portions that are 8 ounces each. Lay a piece of plastic wrap over a 4½-inch ring mold, allowing a few inches of the plastic wrap to hang over the sides. Use your hands to pack the mold tightly with the ground meat. The mold will help maintain the shape of the patties. Once the mold is packed with meat, gently fold over the overhanging plastic wrap, flip over the mold, and carefully push the meat through the mold. Keep each patty securely wrapped in the plastic wrap from the mold. Place each wrapped patty on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper, and refrigerate overnight.

Make the Caramelized Onions

1. The onions can be made 1 day in advance, and the recipe can be halved if fewer onions are preferred. Heat the oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Stir in the onions with a large wooden spoon, and add the bundled thyme. Sprinkle the onions with a generous pinch of salt to help extract the water from the onions as they cook. Cook, with the lid off, until the onions are translucent and start to become golden brown, about 35 to 45 minutes.

2. Stir in half of the sugar, and continue to cook the onions until they become a deep golden brown, another 10 minutes. Deglaze the pot with half of 1 bottle of red wine, scraping up all the brown bits from the bottom of the pot with the wooden spoon. Turn the heat to medium-low, and continue cooking slowly, stirring occasionally, until all of the wine has evaporated and the onions start to turn brown, about 10 minutes. Deglaze the pot with the second half of the bottle of wine, and stir in the remaining sugar. Repeat the cooking and deglazing process with the second bottle of wine, letting it reduce for about an hour. Season with salt and pepper. When finished, the onions should be soft and jammy.

3. Bring the onions and the Fromager d’Affinois cheese (with the rind on) to room temperature before cooking the meat.

Make the Burgers

1. Oil the grill, and turn it to medium-low heat. Cook the burgers straight from the refrigerator, without bringing them to room temperature. Season them with a generous sprinkle of salt on both sides just before placing them on the grill. Sear the burgers on the first side for 1 minute, then flip them with a long metal spatula every 30 seconds, rotating them 90 degrees each time, for a total of about 12 minutes for medium rare. You can also use a cake tester to know when they’re done, inserted into the burgers from the side in the middle. Leave the cake tester in for about a minute, then pull it out and gently touch it to the inside of your wrist or under your lower lip. If it feels warm, just above your body temperature, the burgers are done. When finished, let the burgers rest in a warm place, on a metal rack placed over a sheet tray, for 6 minutes.

2. Cut the brioche buns in half, and toast the inside of the buns on the grill, rotating them 90 degrees as they toast to create crosshatch marks if you’d like. Remove the buns after about 30 seconds. Put the burgers back on the grill to heat up slightly, for about 15 seconds, which will help the cheese melt when you plate the burgers. Place a burger on each bun, and top each with a generous dollop of the cheese and then the onions. Serve immediately.