Nothing says summer is almost here like grilling. Rick Gion has hot tips on making your burger top notch.
Rick Gion
I like burgers quite a bit. Beef burgers, bison burgers, lamb burgers, bratwurst burgers, turkey burgers, portobello mushroom burgers.
Ashley Thornberg
You like that scene in Forrest Gump with all the shrimp.
Rick Gion
Pretty much. There are a lot of burger battles going around the state this spring and summer. In particular, one right now in Bismarck, their first ever downtown burger slam.
And it looks really interesting. So I need to make it to Bismarck soon. But there's eight participating restaurants and they all kind of have their own flair on a burger.
And they all look really, really good. So a lot of things to try. And they're competing for bragging rights and an award.
And you can vote via an app on different categories. Patty, bun, toppings, creativity and customer service.
Ashley Thornberg
Listen, I've recently started toasting the bun with mayo instead of butter. And man, did that level up a burger. I imagine you can help us elevate even more.
Let's start with the main ingredient. Burgers, obviously, most often meat. And then we can expand into a good quinoa burger or what have you from there.
But what do you want to start with if you're starting with a good meat burger?
Rick Gion
Yeah, I mean, you really need fresh ground meat. If it's beef, probably fresh ground brisket or chuck. You can grind it yourself.
Grocery stores do a good job these days. There's nothing wrong with going and buying a pound or two of hamburger from the grocery store. But a lot of butcher shops around, they'll fresh grind things for you.
Specific cuts, such as brisket. I know, like, down in Texas, brisket burgers are quite popular. Here you'll find a lot of sirloin burgers and a lot of ground chuck, 80-20 ground chuck.
You want some fat in there to keep it juicy. But yes, the meat needs to be of high quality. And please do not overcook it.
I know folks like to...
Ashley Thornberg
Char grill it to within an inch of its life.
Rick Gion
Yeah, you don't want hockey pucks. There's just nothing to it.
Ashley Thornberg
So is that typically more about temperature or time?
Rick Gion
I think it's both. It just depends on what the temperature is regarding time. Thermometer-wise, you know, for a good steak, like medium-rare, you're kind of talking 125, 130 on the beef end.
Bison, same thing. Burger, I like medium because it is ground. And I'm not saying that butcher shops or anything are dirty or anything.
I just prefer a burger medium. Well-done, I avoid. You know, that's the thing.
Bison burgers, I like medium-rare, though.
Ashley Thornberg
Okay. Now, you mentioned, though, that you want a lot of fat. Now, bison meat, not known for that.
Do you have to cook them differently? Or do you add, are we slipping in some pork fat here?
Rick Gion
No, we don't slip in, and that's a good point. I mean, some people do slip in pork fat with like chicken meatballs or something like that just to keep things a little more moist. But bison has, there's some fat in it that they can grind in.
But I would just not overcook a bison burger at all.
Ashley Thornberg
What are you looking for in a mouth feel when it comes to eating a burger?
Rick Gion
Yeah, some grinds are more fine than others. I like a more, a little more of a coarse grind. And I don't like it overworked.
It, don't mix your burger up in a mixer or meatballs. I know a lot of restaurants do that. But when you start mixing meat up, it kind of gets a little rubbery.
And it's kind of just like mashed potatoes in a way, not exactly, but.
Ashley Thornberg
Or overworking a pizza dough.
Rick Gion
Overworking a pizza dough, yeah. You just want to keep things pretty simple. I like salt and pepper.
You know, in Minneapolis, the Juicy Lucy is a big thing, and there are restaurants around here and around the state that do have Juicy Lucy's too. And those are quite good. But with those, you have to watch out for the cheese explosion that's really hot.
Ashley Thornberg
Rick, what do you look at for labels when it comes to buying meat?
Rick Gion
Well, I like USA beef, obviously. If you can get North Dakota beef, that's even better. Western Minnesota, that sort of thing.
And I do really enjoy looking for and tasting different varieties from local purveyors and producers. Grass-fed, organic, some of those things. They do have a different flavor, sometimes a little bit different texture.
But all very delicious, and it's worth trying. You should really be trying your local meat producers. They do a very good job around here.
It's really increased in the last, I would say, 10 years or so. And some of that ground meat really makes for a very good burger.
Ashley Thornberg
In ordering vegetarian food at a restaurant, you often get asked something like, do you want tofu or some kind of meat substitute? And usually, I just want it. If I wanted meat, I would've ordered meat.
And I don't like things that are trying to be other things. But I will say, burgers is that exception. I love mushroom burgers.
I love black bean burgers. I love quinoa burgers. I love wild rice burgers.
I still think about a walnut burger that I had in Milwaukee once. So I don't know what it is about trying to be a burger that makes some of these meat substitutes or meat replacements, in this case, a little bit more interesting. But when you're doing the non-meat thing for a burger, what can the home cook look for?
Rick Gion
Yeah, and you just named a ton of varieties there. And basically, it's just a really good sandwich. You have to think about it that way.
And really, there are just binders, like breadcrumbs, or if you wanna go, this isn't vegan, but some people will use an egg or something like that. But yeah, it's about binders, like wild rice burger, walnut burger, sometimes they'll fall apart a little bit. And sometimes those beans help with a binder.
There are different products out there too. But yeah, I like veggie burgers myself, black bean burgers, quinoa burgers. They're good.
If they're well-executed, they can be quite good. And I do like cheese on them, I'm not a vegan. But I do like vegetarian food too, because I like to eat healthy.
I can't eat pie and regular burgers and all this other stuff all the time. All day, every day. Some burgers I don't like are kind of the fish, shrimp burger varieties.
Salmon burgers, I don't, shrimp burgers. I find them to be really kind of fishy taste. I don't know if they've just been frozen too long, or even fresh made, I don't really like.
Ashley Thornberg
I'll echo that. I'm not a big fish burger fan, but like some kind of seafood po' boy, that works.
Somehow it doesn't quite work in burger form.
Rick Gion
Yeah, oyster po' boy, shrimp po' boy. I think it's just that they're kept whole and deep fried, you know, that's always good. But salmon burger, shrimp burger, a lot of times it's just chopped up or ground.
And I just am not into that. Over-processed, it's just too much. Keep things simple in the burger world.
Ashley Thornberg
All right, in bread though, how do we keep it simple, but maybe elevated?
Rick Gion
Well, you talked about toasting the bun with some mayo. I like to use that technique with drilled cheese sometimes. That's really good.
But I'm a butter toaster, I guess. For burger buns, on the flat top, on the Blackstone, on the grill, you know, in a skillet, that sort of thing. I do like a toasted bun, or something that's maybe broiled a little bit under the broiler.
But fresh bread is good. You don't want like a weak old bun by any means.
Ashley Thornberg
No, there's lots of lost bread recipes out there. Make an egg bake.
Rick Gion
Right, and so I find that the restaurants that win these burger contests usually make their own bun or have a source that really does a good job and makes them that day or the day before, and they're just really good. So that's a little tip.
Ashley Thornberg
Are you a classic mayo, lettuce, onions, tomato, cheese?
Rick Gion
All of that sounds good, yes.
Ashley Thornberg
Do you do the egg ever?
Rick Gion
I do the egg, I do onion straws, I do onion rings, barbecue sauce.
Ashley Thornberg
Cheese curds, all the things.
Rick Gion
Bacon, all of that stuff. Blue cheese, yeah, all of it. You know, it can be really good.
One burger I've been seeing in this Bismarck Burger Battle is from Mabel's All Day in Bismarck, which is a very popular food truck there, and their food is very, very good. And they're doing an au poivre burger.
Ashley Thornberg
And usually steak au poivre is like- So yeah, that's like a pepper sauce, right?
Rick Gion
Pepper steak, pepper sauce, deglaze it with cognac, cream, some people put a little mushroom and shallot in it. That's a burger I'd probably drive to Bismarck to try. And knowing those folks, it's gonna be good.
Ashley Thornberg
When it comes to burger battles, not that all of us are going to those, but do they focus in on the sides at all? Like fries, truffle fries, sweet potato fries, or I don't know, dare I say a salad?
Rick Gion
Well, sometimes you need to eat a salad, especially if you're trying like four burgers a day or something, it gets ridiculous. But yeah, I mean, I think the burger battle winner, it's called the, well, the Fargo Burger Royale … Mezzaluna won for a really good burger, but I've always added Chili Crisp fries because they put like Logan Mott, Chili Crisp, and then some sort of sriracha, mayo, and scallions, peanuts. It's hard to say no to that one.
So that's what I usually order at Mezzaluna with their burger. And Mezzaluna has a good smash burger now too, but- What is a smash burger besides a chain now? Right, and there are a couple different styles.
You can do it regular, usually it's on a, or with onions, usually it's on a big flat top. You can do them at home on the Blackstone or in a cast iron pan if you have a lot of room. And smash the patty down with a big spatula and let it really sizzle so it gets a crust.
And then Oklahoma style, they'll cut onions very, very thin and add those into the patty there. So it's like a caramelized onion burger patty with cheese on it. And those things are amazing.
There's actually an outfit out of Fargo here called BeefcakesND. And you can follow him on beefcakes.nd on Instagram. And man, he only does it two or three times a summer.
He's kind of elusive. And so you really have to, and those Oklahoma style smash burgers are amazing.
Ashley Thornberg
All right, well, we trust that there will be even more burger recommendations and would like to hear yours too. You can find Rick on his Facebook page, FM Eats, or you can send them to us at MainStreetAtPrairiePublic.org. Rick, we simply have to stop recording this over the lunch hour.
Rick Gion
I just wanted to add one thing. There will be the Fargo Burger Royale coming up in June. There'll probably be about 20 participants this year.
So they're really going at it in Fargo this year.
Ashley Thornberg
All right, come hungry.