NPR how to make the perfect buger

More for my burger streak lol: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106203291

Sometime soon I'm going write about something that ISN'T a burger though, I swear ;)

cooking good burgers at home

A friend send me a link to this, need to try out their tips: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/01/dining/01burg.html?_r=1

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/06/30/dining/20090701-burgers-interactive.html

Kuma's Corner

Had Kuma's Corner in Chicago today. Everyone here raves about them and for good reason. They have some of the best (and most interesting) burgers I have ever had (in addition to a pretty good craft beer selection including some Belgian). If they were in the LA area they would definitely rank at #2 just below Fathers Office in burger awesomeness, with an extra bonus for great BBQ pork fries and a very wide range of burger flavors. All of their burgers (except The Slayer apparently) are topped with amazingly delicious 'pretzel buns'. Pretzel bread seems to be fairly common in Chicago (though Kuma's are better than any others I tried there), it is basically a cross between soft pretzel dough and bread, wish I could find some around here!

I had the 'High On Fire' which is topped with: Siracha, Prosciutto, Roasted Red Pepper, Grilled Pineapple, and Sweet Chili Paste. It was really excellent, and not just the stuff on top, the burger was of good quality as well. I added some extra Siracha (they had bottles you could use) as it didn't come with quite enough for my taste (mmm siracha!):




Also tried the Pentagram:


I don't quite remember what was in this one, the sauce may have been a reduction of red wine, craft beer and possibly some kind of duck fat (though I believe Foie Gras is illegal in Chicago) and was REALLY good! This one was a 2-day special because the band pentagram was in town (they had eaten there the night before) so it is not on their menu, but probably my 2nd favorite behind the High on fire.

The 3rd one tried was the Slayer, described as: Pile of fries topped with a ½ lb. Burger, Chili, Cherry Peppers, Andouille, Onions, Jack Cheese, and Anger. We asked the waitress about the 'Anger' part and she said it means she kicks the chef when she puts in the order. As you can see, this one was ridiculous, basically a giant pile of meat and fries and cheese. Missing the pretzel bun here which is unfortunate, it is also a HUGE amount of food lol. Definitely my least favorite of the bunch (all the meat covered up the taste of the burger), and while decent comfort food/drunk food, not as good as the rest of the burgers we tried:




I don't quite remember the name of the 4th one I tried, it was also a special, Jamaican Jerk or something like that. It had at least pulled pork and mango on it, not sure what else, also excellent:

Umami Burger

Apparently I am on a burger streak lol, I really do eat other things, I swear!

Burgers are just a prime comparison food since they take creativity to differentiate or make really good. Something like sushi is harder to do a direct comparison since it can vary so much; while one place could have great yellowtale sashimi, another could have amazing caterpillar rolls... Burgers are a single, simple dish that more and more places seem to be trying to take from fast-food to gourmet.

Anyway, now on to Umami Burger. I have been wanted to try out Umami Burger for a while now, I had heard about it a couple different places and as I said in my earlier post, it was #1 on the local yelp page for a while.

I'm not going to spend time on non-food related review stuff, see my yelp review for that stuff. My focus here will be the important part, the burgers! :)



I split 4 different burgers with my dining companions:
The Umami burger - apparently 6 different umami flavors (shiitake mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, fried cheese, umami ketchup, caramelized onions(are these umami?), the burger itself), the most unique burgers flavors I have had.

The Truffle burger - truffle cheese and truffle glaze, yum, amazing, this one is probably my favorite;

The Hatch - Spicy chilies top off a great burger, nice heat but doesn't overwhelm the other flavors.

and The Port & Stilton - Good Stilton flavors, not overpowering, probably my least favorite of the three and that is saying a lot because it was a very good burger. The other three were just more unusual and/or excellent, while this was just a good blue-cheese burger. Also since this one is directly comparable with the Fathers Office burger (the FO burger wins hands down over this one) I don't think I would order it again (despite it being good).

Next time I hope to try their other burgers: the triple pork, hopefully they have the mideast lamb burger back (it is on the online menu, but the paper menu didn't have it when we were there).


So in conclusion, here is my current LA-area burger ranking:

1. Father's Office
2. Umami Burger
3. The Counter
4. The Habit
5. In and Out
6. All other burgers fall into this category...

Just a note on this, I have only been to The Counter once and enjoyed it, but probably picked toppings based on things I like independently but maybe not altogether as a group. I plan to go back there soon and try again (maybe find some recommended combination online, if anyone has a favorite set of Counter toppings, post them in a comment!)

More burgers! (unfortunately looks like no beer this time)

Have been hearing good things about Umami Burger recently (has been #1 on the local yelp page for a while). Any restaurant that focuses their food on a specific taste definitely attracts my interest, plus sweet potato fries and potentially "awesome" burgers always get extra points... I think this will be my next food appreciation trip :)

My first food post...

Ok so I created this blog to do general food related blogging but the post I had in mind when I created it is actually drink related, but I don't want you to get the wrong idea (I am even less of a drink..ie(?) than I am a foodie) so I wanted to post SOME kind of food related post first :)

Lets start with cooking, Since I love food, I also love cooking good food. There is a fun, easy recipe for popovers (I didn't even know those were) that I saw on Good Eats a while back (that show is awesome, science + food, woot!) which I made and it was warm and fluffy and good so check it out: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/good-eats/basic-popover-recipe/index.html. On the cooking note, there are two different chicken dishes I can make that I like, one with mustard and grapes (sounds weird I know!) and one with yogurt that I want to post up on here sometime soon...

Next burgers and beer! As much as I love complex and subtle and interesting food (and believe me I do!), a really good burger together with a really good beer has to be up there with the best meals ever... And for the lucky ones of us who live in Southern California, an amazing bar is here to completely and utterly satisfy on both levels: Father's Office. If you are in the area and have not tried them, you NEED to go... Disclaimer: I have only ever been to the Santa Monica location and not the new LA location, but I don't have any reason to believe the new one is any less awesome. They are a great little bar with the most amazing gourmet burgers I have ever had (no substitutions allowed) along with a GREAT selection of craft (many Belgian, and specifically Trappist) beers on tap. They also have great sweet potato fries (anywhere with sweet potato fries gets a big plus in my book!) and just as good garlic fries to go along with the burgers.

Anyway that's it for now... Enjoy!