Buffalo Burger

Spicy Buffalo-Style Burger with Celery-Carrot Slaw and Blue Cheese Dressing - page 49 of Grill It! This is Bobby Flay’s version of Buffalo Wings but this time that flavor is on a burger – and it really worked. It began with grilling the burgers the Bobby Flay way. You can see me demonstrate the techniques in a video at  http://www.youtube.com/user/dvcraig1101#p/u/3/UBPkkIKK99k

It is a simple approach. Never mix stuff into the ground beef before making the patties. Some people put in onion, and tomatoes and other ingredients, but as Bobby says, if you do that too much pretty soon you are just making meat loaf! So, no extras go into the burger – everything goes over the burger. Get some really good ground beef, like ground sirloin for instance, and form into patties. Using your thumb, push into one side of the patty to make a small crater. When the burgers are on the grill, they will plump up with the juices inside and unless you make the crater the burger will form a bulge. There is actually no problem with having a bulging burger, but to so some it is too big a temptation. It never happens on Bobby Flay Everyday, but some want to press down on the burger with a spatula and squeeze out the bulge. This just pushes the juices out and leaves you with a dry, less flavorful burger in the end. So one of the great wisdoms of the grill is: Never press down on a burger! Once the patties were formed, I brushed on canola oil and generously added kosher salt and ground pepper. Meanwhile, Dorothy made the slaw. Normally cole slaw is made with cabbage, but this was made with celery instead. I really don't like cabbage all that much so I was really wanting to try this. The recipe calls for thinly chopped celery and carrots with mayo, lemon juice, chives, pepper, and blue cheese. In the burger recipe Bobby gives us the go-ahead to use our favorite store-bought buffalo wings sauce, so I went with Texas Pete. I brushed that sauce on the burgers while they were on the grill and as you can see in the photo, I also drizzled some right on the burger when it was on the bun. The Texas Pete was great - but it was hot. The Celery-Carrot-Mayo-Blue Cheese slaw however was smooth and creamy. They were a perfect complement! I put some of the slaw right over the burger, added some pickles and this became the best burger anywhere!

What to Drink? In the book Grill It! Bobby says that he can polish off a whole platter of buffalo chicken wings with a few beers. We were having a few buffalo burgers, so we figures a few beers would be a great match. 

Dorothy has a taste for crafted dark stouts. The darker the better and the more chocolate or coffee taste the better. Her favorite among this group has actual Kona Coffee right in the beer - that's Pipeline. 

Mix together the following ingredients: A Friday night, temperatures in the 50's, Bobby's Buffalo Burgers, Blue Cheese Slaw, a few Brews, under a Gazebo and with essential Eric Clapton playing. What do you get? An almost perfect night!

Paul

If you missed yesterdays video of the Spit-Roasted Rotisserie Chicken, check it out at

http://www.youtube.com/user/dvcraig1101#p/u/0/n8tNQltUE60