Burger heaven

Adam Rubinson and I exchanged messages recently about the best burger places in DC. His favorite at the moment is Central, and I recommended Palena.

But home sweet home can also be a great place for burgers. The June issue of Food and Wine had some grilling tips and last night we finally got around to trying a burger recipe with a couple of interesting twists.

Laurent Tourondel, chef at BLT Burger in Las Vegas, suggested immersing the patties in a bowl of ice water for 30 seconds just before slapping them on the grill. He also recommends basting them with butter while they cook.

Apparently the ice water dip helps the keep the meat moist and the butter caramelizes to add flavor to the crust. In any case, the burgers were outstanding.

He calls for a mix of ground sirloin and ground chuck to make 4-inch patties about 1-1/4 inches thick (about 8 oz.). You mix the meat with salt and pepper, form the patties and, just before grilling, plunge them in the ice water. He calls for a hot fire (I use the hardwood charcoal from Wholefoods -- not briquets -- that burns very hot and fast) and cooking about 9 minutes for medium rare, turning a couple of times, basting with butter, and putting on a slice of cheddar cheese during the last minute on the grill.

To complete his BLT burger, you fry up a couple of slices of bacon for each burger (I used the loose bacon from the butcher counter at Broad Branch Market -- delicious) until crispy and break them into pieces. On each bun, you put some homemade Thousand Island dressing (recipe below), lettuce, a slice of tomato, a slice of red onion, the burger with cheese, then the bacon bits, and then the top of the bun.

I toasted the buns on the grill -- tricky, but very tasty. For the dressing, just whisk together 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 1/3 cup ketchup, 1 Tbl red wine vinegar, 1 Tbl grated onion, 1 Tbl chopped parsley, 1 Tbl chopped tarragon, and 1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce, and refrigerate a while before using. The tarragon lends a really nice flavor to the burger. The BLT burger is a keeper, I think.