Last year, my family decided to have a cooking competition--we drew ingredients and had a Chopped style cook off. It was really a lot of fun, and everyone decided to make it at least an annual thing. This year, we decided to do a burger cook-off. We decided about a month ago that we were doing burgers, so we had a month to think of burger creations and to talk smack about how we were going to win.
I was amazed at how different each burger was, and how good each burger tasted. I figured we would all have similar burgers, but we truly did have five unique burgers. The teams were couples--
Me and my wife;
My sister Sara and her husband Tom;
My sister Sadie and her husband Danny;
My sister Jennie and her boyfriend Ryan; and
My sister Hannah and her boyfriend Jordan.
Each team prepared their ingredients to some extent before we started, and we came together and put the finishing touches on our ingredients and cooked our burgers on the same grill.
We made up score sheets with three criteria: 1. Taste, 2. Creativity, and 3. Appeal/Appearance. We also voted for the most creative burger, and overall favorite burger.
We cooked our burgers, then cut them in fourths so that everyone could taste each burger. Besides the teams, my parents and grandparents were also there, and helped watch the kiddies while we cooked.
My wife and I had mulled our burger for about a week before we finally decided on an idea. Some ideas that didn't make it, included a Jambalaya burger (Cajun seasoned ground chicken topped with shrimp and andouille sausage) and my BBQ burger (which is a burger patty filled with onions and bacon, and basted in my bbq sauce and topped with coleslaw). Ultimately we decided to do a "breakfast for lunch burger," which was essentially a thick well seasoned beef patty, topped with chopped bacon, white American cheese, crispy hasbrowns, and a fried egg with a runny yolk. We also garnished our burger with spinach, tomato, and a chipotle lime mayo. We put all of this on a soft wheat bun.
Sara and Tom's burger was an Asian Inspired Turkey Burger. It really was very unique and was voted the most created burger. Sara and Tom made Asian flavored turkey patties, cooked them on the grill, then deep fried them in tempura batter. They garnished this crazy creation with a wasabi flavored mayo and a spicy Asian slaw. I thought the slaw really was a nice surprise. It was very good and very different--the pics below don't do it justice.
Sadie and Danny whipped up an Italian Caprese Burger. They seasoned their meat with tangy Italian Dressing and Italian spices. They topped their burger with mozzarella cheese, basil, Roma tomatoes, salty prosciutto and a basil-garlic aioli. I was surprised how great the seasoning made the patty taste, and I really liked the prosciutto.
Jennie and Ryan dreamed up a Southwest Style Guacamole Burger. They mixed cooked bacon and jalapenos into the beef mixture and topped their burger with Gouda cheese and a chunky and creamy (sounds like a contradiction, but it wasn't--the guacamole truly was heavenly)guacamole. The burger was simple, but if I saw all of the burgers from the competition on a menu in a restaurant, I would order this one first. I also think this burger, along with Hannah and Jordan's, would be the burger I would make again--fewer steps, and really great flavor.
Hannah and Jordan made a wonderful turkey burger. They mixed cooked bacon into their patties, and topped their burger with a cool avocado cream sauce (not guacamole). They also used pepper jack cheese, as well as onions, lettuce, and tomato. It was a great burger, and one that we will make again, because it packed the flavor without 50 steps like some of the burgers.
After we had all gorged ourselves on the burgers, we got down to business and voted. Each person could give a burger a total of 30 points--ten each for taste, creativity, and appeal/appearance. Each vote was anonymous, and after the vote was tallied here were the results--
5TH PLACE--JENNIE AND RYAN
4TH PLACE--HANNAH AND JORDAN
3RD PLACE--SADIE AND DANNY
2ND PLACE--SARA AND TOM
1ST PLACE--ME AND STEF
The vote was unbelievably close--six points separated 3rd from 1st, and only 20 points separated 5th and 1st (14 people cast votes). Sara and Tom won the most creative burger, and Sadie and Danny and Me and Stef each tied for the most votes for the best overall burger. However, each team received at least one vote for the best overall burger.
I really feel that the competition was a five way tie. It was an impossible task to choose a winner, and I would have been satisfied and pleased had I ordered any one of these burgers in a restaurant (although frankly, I may not have ordered some of these burgers based solely on the descriptions, and each burger had one element that really was awesome and made the burger special. I took home the trophy (a wonderfully crafty trophy constructed of a rubber chew toy in the shape of a hamburger, glued onto a plastic candlestick--thanks Sara) but I see myself just keeping the trophy for next year.
Here is me and my wife with the trophy. My wife has an excuse for being round (she is eight months pregnant), I, however, have no excuse.
I think for the next competition, we should dispense with the judging, or perhaps, just vote for the one we liked best. I don't think anyone had hard feelings afterwards, but it made me slightly uncomfortable slotting the burgers 1-5, because they were all so close, it was hard to choose.
I am still working on getting the recipes for all of these burgers, but here are the ones I have so far. Keep in mind all of these burgers were made on the fly, so many of the amounts listed are estimates.
Breakfast for Lunch Burger
1 1/2 pounds ground beef (no leaner than 85/15
Pepper, Salt, Garlic Powder and Season Salt to taste
4 eggs
1/2 bag frozen shredded hash brown potatoes
12 oz bacon, diced
6 slices white American cheese
2 tomatoes
1 bag fresh baby spinach
1/2 cup Chipotle Mayo (recipe follows)
4 soft wheat buns
Chipotle Mayo
1/2 C Mayo
2 chipotles in adobo
1 t. adobo sauce
2 T. fresh cilantro
2 t. minced garlic
juice of one lime
Add all ingredients to a food processor and blend until smooth, and refrigerate for at least thirty minutes so the flavors can blend together. This mayo is pretty spicy and can be adjusted by adding only one chipotle pepper, less adobo, or more mayo.
Form ground beef into 4 patties and season liberally with pepper, kosher salt, garlic powder and season salt.
Cook bacon until crisp. Remove from pan and cook hashbrowns in bacon grease. Cook hasbrowns until golden brown and crispy.
Cook burgers until almost done, add cooked bacon and cover with 1 1/2 slices of cheese and allow to cook until cheese is melted and burger is medium to medium well (depending on preference).
Fry each egg, so the white is cooked, but the yolk is still runny.
Spread chipotle mayo on each bun half. Place spinach, tomatoes, hashbrowns, burger patty, and egg on bun. Enjoy!
Turkey Burgers with Ginger Wasabi Mayo and Asian Slaw
1 pound ground turkey
1/2 red bell pepper, diced finely
2 green onions, sliced
1 T minced garlic
1 T minced fresh ginger
1 T hoisin sauce
splash of soy sauce
pepper
salt
grill seasoning
1 T olive oil
Mix all ingredients together. Form into 1/4 lb. patties. Grill until cooked thru. Let rest 10 minutes. Toss patties into flour, then dip into Tempura Batter. Deep fry for 2 minuted on each side.
Ginger Wasabi Mayo
1 t fresh ginger, minced
1 small tube of wasabi paste, about 3 T
1 T lime juice
1 cup mayo Mix ingredients together and refrigerate.
Spread on buns right before serving.
Asian Slaw
1 cup red cabbage, shredded
1 cup green cabbage, shredded
1/2 cup carrots, shredded
Dressing
3 T rice wine vinegar
2-3 sliced green onions
1 T olive oil1
1 T white vinegar
1 T soy sauce
1 T hoisin sauce
1 T sriracha sauce
1 T sugar
1 t fresh ginger, minced
1 t garlic, minced
1 T lime juice
Whisk together in bowl. Pour dressing over cabbage/carrots and refrigerate. Serve over Tempura Battered Turkey burgers.
Italian Caprese Burger--Coming Soon!
Southwest style Guacamole Burger
Provided in simple terms
Add jalapenos and cooked bacon to your ground beef according to your taste. Grill burgers.
Top with Gouda cheese.
Guacamole (all according to your individual taste)
Avocados
Tomatoes
Red Onion
Cayenne Pepper
Lime Juice
Garlic Salt
Mix all together and refrigerate for at least thirty minutes so the flavors can blend.
Top burger with guacamole.
Turkey Burger with Creamy Avocado Sauce--Coming Soon.
We all had a great time, and I am already looking forward to our next cook off. If you have any suggestions for the next go round, please let me know. So far, tacos, soup, and chili have been suggested.