Healthy Food Recipe Blog

LONDON BURGER BASH

I have a mild obsession with burgers. I think that —when executed right—they are a perfect food. Juicy, chargrilled beef; soft, yielding buns; and savoury toppings come together in a glorious explosion of flavours and textures.

When I found out that I would be in London just in time to check out a round of Young and Foodish’s London Burger Bash, I jumped at the chance to go. There are 4 rounds wherein 6 burgers are pitted against each other in a fight to win a Golden Patty Award. The four winners then go on to the finals to compete for the ultimate award: Best London Burger.

The competitors ranged from dedicated burger makers (Bleecker Street Burger) to established pubs (The Drapers Arms). I’m not sure if the crowd had favourites going in to the judging, but for me, I had no expectations—I’ve never had burgers in London. Then all of a sudden I had six half burgers.

The burger rundown:

Chris Golding’s UnBEETable Burger: Golding is the head chef at Apero, a Mediterranean brasserie. I’m pretty sure he’s a little obsessed with beets considering the bright red beetroot bun and beetroot mayonnaise. I like beets, but this burger was overly sweet and had no textural contrasts. I thought the pink bun was beautiful, but I overheard some people who were slightly turned off by the colour.

Q Burger by The Quality Chop House’s head chef, Shaun Searley: This was definitely a step up from the UnBEETable burger, but I didn’t get that super juicy, flavourful beefiness I was looking for. Instead the truffled Tunworth cheese overwhelmed the whole burger.

Bleecker Street Burger’s Double Cheeseburger: This was a classic American-style burger: two aged beef patties, American cheese and special sauce on a toasted bun. It was quite good – Zan Kaufman is a NYC native and she knows how to make a burger. It was my favourite of the night so far, but I still had three other burgers to try.

MINI BURGERS WITH SMOKED MOZZARELLA, CARAMELISED ONIONS AND ARUGULA RECIPE

I’m obsessed with Trader Joe’s. I love how friendly they are, how they have samples all the time and their large variety of cheeses. The other day I even found tiny brie wheels! I’m not quite sure what it is about miniature food, but call me obsessed because I love it! If all food came miniaturized I would legitimately use those tiny shopping carts meant for kids and fill them up with more than just two items.
I don’t actually use the miniature shopping carts. Sometimes when it’s super close to closing time, I’ll longingly stroke one, but only when there’s no one else in the store. The other day, after I surreptitiously petted a mini-cart, I picked up some smoked mozzarella, ground chuck and arugula for another one of my miniature obsessions: sliders.

These sliders are simple super simple: just pat ground chuck into tiny patties and fry them up. Top them off with caramelized onions, smoked mozzarella and arugula and call it a day. I love the slight bitterness of the arugula next to the sweet caramelized onions. If I can’t use miniature carts at least I can make miniature burgers. Win!

makes 12

1 TABLESPOON OIL
1 LARGE YELLOW ONION, THINLY SLICED
1 LB GROUND BEEF
SALT AND PEPPER
12 SLICES SMOKED MOZZARELLA CHEESE
12 SLIDER BUNS
1-2 CUPS ARUGULA

Heat up the oil over medium-low to low heat in a medium sized pot. Add the sliced onions and caramelize until deeply golden brown, 20-30 minutes. This is pretty hands off, all you need to do is stir it every so often.

Divide the beef into 12 equal portions and gently form into patties. Heat a cast iron pan over medium-high heat and add several patties, making sure not to over-crowd. Cook until golden brown and then flip, add the cheese, cover continue to cook until the burger is cooked through.

While the burgers are cooking, toast the buns. Assemble by placing the burgers on the buns and topping with caramelized onions and arugula. Enjoy hot!

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