Borgasm: part I

No, the title does not refer to a Star Trek porno - this is about burgers. Yesterday was a milestone for me: I hosted my first burger bbq. I know that sounds like an incredibly lame first, but let me explain. I always like doing things like satays, chops, and marinated veg on the grill because you end up feeding your guests things you've made. Something about just buying buns and frozen patties to turn out onto a grill seems like such a cop out to me. I'm not trying to hate on bbqs I've been to in the past, there's a time and a place for everything, but these shortcuts weren't happening at my first goddamn burgerpalooza. I figured that if I was going to do a burger spread, I would do it right. Over the next week I'll be posting tidbits which went into making the thing of beauty posted just above this paragraph. First off, the buns:

 In 2009 the New York Times ran a saliva-inducing article titled "The Perfect Burger and All Its Parts", which included a great recipe for light brioche buns from Comme Ca in Los Angeles. They were surprisingly easy to make despite the fact that I had to triple the recipe for my shindig. Also, I'm a shit baker - did I mention that before? If I can make them, you sure as hell can. They're fluffy, slightly sweet, and rich enough to make it matter but light enough to add cheese without wanting to vomit. In essence, far superior to any store or bakery bought burger bun I've ever tried. My way, exactly the way I did it, is written below and varies a bit from the published recipe in both method and measurement. If you don't trust my shifty eyes the original instructions are here

Light brioche buns
(makes 8 buns)

-1 cup warm water
-3 tablespoons milk
-2 teaspoons active dry yeast
-3 tablespoons raw sugar
-2 large eggs
-3 cups bread flour
-1/3 cup all-purpose flour
-1 1/2 teaspoons salt
-3 tablespoons unsalted butter
-egg wash  
  (1 egg beaten with a couple tablespoons of water)
-seeds to top


First mix the water, milk, sugar, and yeast in a cup and set it aside to foam up - 5 minutes should do it.

 While your yeast is waking up you can mix the two flours and salt together in a large bowl. Next Melt the butter and beat the melty goodness with the two eggs. Add the butter and eggs into the flour along with the contents of your yeasty cup. Mix it all together with your hands/wooden spoon/whatever until a dough forms.

 At this point you want to turn the dough out onto a well floured surface and knead+slap the crap out of it for 8 minutes. Then ball it back up, return it to the bowl, cover the bowl in plastic wrap and place it in a warm spot to double in size (the first rise). The original recipe says two hours, but I got away with it in an hour thanks to a warm July afternoon.

two batches - one before and another after the second rise

  Once the dough has doubled in size, split it apart into 8 equal balls and place them on a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Cover once again with plastic wrap  for another rise; it really helps to lightly oil the plastic to keep it from sticking to the dough. Deja vu: the original calls for a 2 hour wait but I only needed 1.

 Pre-heat an oven to 400 degrees, and place one rack in the middle and another at the very bottom. Place a pan filled with water on the bottom rack. While the oven heats up, brush your buns with egg wash and sprinkle on some seeds if you like. I used poppy and sesame seeds.

Bake the buns until they brown nicely, about 15 minutes. Be sure to turn the pan around half way through baking to ensure even browning. Once baked, cool on a rack and get ready to make some killer condiments.

In the next post I'll follow up with roasted jalapenos, rosemary carmelized onions, and of course: home made BACONNAISE.