Burger Experiment #1

As Helen mentioned earlier, I currently have an obsession with burgers. I created a Google spreadsheet to ask for suggestions from Helen and Brendan.

Within the first few days, the list grew like crazy! I think these people are really creative fatties.

This past Thursday was the first burger experiment. Here's the low down/menu:

- Burgers stuffed with bacon pieces.
- Burgers patties are made by gently pushing the meat into patty form without any mixing.
- Burger meats are not seasoned until after the patties are formed. Then salt is sprinkled on both sides.
- Burger accessories:
   - Guacamole with pineapples. The three people (not counting me) who ate this version concluded that it's good.
   - Cilantro pesto.
   - Bacon.
   - Fried egg with a runny yolk.
   - Ketchup and mustard.



I fried about 6 pieces of bacon with ground pepper (I learned this tasty trick from Pri). Half of them were fried until crispy and the other half was only semi-fried. What you're seeing here is only half of the bacon, by the way, because I cut 6 long strips of bacon into 12 shorter strips.

The other thing I learned from a coworker about frying bacon is to slow fry it, i.e. fry it gently on medium heat.



While the bacon were frying, I made a simple cilantro pesto by pulsing the following together until smooth:

- A bunch of cilantro (just a normal bunch you get from the market for 99 cents).
- 2 - 3 tablespoons of olive oil.
- 1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar.
- 2 cloves of garlic.
- a dash of salt.


Brendan arrived and took this picture of me chopping up the semi-fried bacon for the burger patties.



Then he got bored and took pictures of flowers.



To avoid over mixing the burger meat, I gently flatten the mass of ground beef (1.5 lbs, 80% meat, 20% fat) and spread bacon over it. Then folded and shaped into a large ball. I ripped that large ball into 4 pieces and gently form 4 patties.

I used the word "gently" a lot, but that's what you're supposed to do, GENTLY! Treat it like a rare flower. Teehee.



Aaaaah, I will get E.coli and/or mad cow for sure!



Sprinkling salt on both sides of the patties which will create a nice crust. This is something I learned from reddit user, the_dudeista.



Frying them burgers in bacon grease!



Yummmm!




Carrie wanted an egg on her burger, so I went to get an egg and about to break it into the pan but...I decided to juggle it instead!

Brendan laughed a lot, and then he took a picture of my success.



Then we scraped up the egg and fried it. Hahahha, JUST KIDDING! I got a new egg for Carrie, do not worry. The egg was fried in the same pan with the bacon and burger grease. You may commence your heart attack.

This is Carrie's burger, she topped it off with a ton of guacamole.



Brendan started his burger with ketchup, mustard, and bacon.



He smeared half of it with cilantro pesto.



...and the other half with guacamole.



Sweet gherkin pickles got added to Carrie's burger.

Note: we did not have cheese because I am an asshole, I only have moldy cheeses in my fridge.



"This burger is super heavy, I cannot pick it up!"



Brendan's burger's cross section. I made the burgers super rare, now we will all have E.coli and mad cow disease.



My burger = naked burger (no buns) with bacon top and bottom. I also did the half pesto and half guacamole topping like Brendan.



OH NOM NOM NOM!



AH CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP!



Finished like a boss!



Done! Oh, you're seeing a popsicle stick there because we ended the experiment with some red and green bean ice cream.



Brendan got hit by the food coma again!

Oh, there's one important thing that I must point out, Brendan made the guacamole!