This week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe was one I had been looking forward to making since I first got the book. I love a good burger and so does Neil and really, who can resist a home-made burger – so easy to make and just so much better than store bought.
I *just* managed to squeeze this in this week. I got home late Tuesday night from Vancouver and left very early Thursday morning, headed to La Paz (Baja California Sur, Mexico) for a TweetUp sponsored by We Visit Mexico (more on this in coming posts!) so I literally had one day in which to make this. It was a perfect supper for a hot, thundery night, plus, it literally took 15 minutes to prepare and hardly any time to cook.
I’ll admit that I didn’t measure out the add-ins (capers, tarragon, parsley, cornichons and sun-dried tomatoes – though I used roasted red peppers because I couldn’t find the tomatoes at short notice) for the burger meat so carefully so the patties were a little “wet”. I used lean ground beef and some stewing beef which I ground myself and added in – it made for a nice texture but they felt messy still. The fact that I used roasted red peppers instead of sun-dried tomatoes probably played a role in this but I did feel they could have used some sort of binding agent to make them less “fally-aparty” (hey, if Dorie can use words like “do-aheadable”, I can use fally-aparty). I was also a little flustered cooking them and since they are shaped by hand, mine were a bit uneven so I served Neil’s a little on the RAW rare side. Ahem. Quickly fixed by a couple more minutes on the grill! I also forgot the cheese.
(no, I did not make those buns from scratch – no time, plus, bread and I are still not friends…)
Dorie’s recipe includes a red onion jam which was a peculiar recipe indeed. I found the mix of water, red onions, butter and coriander just wasn’t coming together like a jam should so I ended up pouring off some of the water and adding a few tablespoons of sugar so that it finally ended up “jammy”. Spread on the top bun, this was an extraordinarily powerful (but not overpowering) flavour that married very well with the sharp cornichon in the burger. Loved this. Will be making it again. Onion jam on burgers – brilliant!
Want to join French Fridays with Dorie? Join here.
French Fridays with Dorie participants do not publish the recipes on our blogs, rather, we prefer if you purchase Around My French Table for yourselves (trust me, you definitely want this book!) which you can do here on Amazon or Amazon Canada. Or for free worldwide shipping, buy from The Book Depository.
Check out my Summer 2011 Flickr set. You never know what or who you might see there, like, you know… Dorie….
Nice! Who doesn’t love a good burger?
Noone!
This burger looks delicious and onion jam? Yes please!
Riiiiight?!
Okay now I generally do very well with foods that make a noise whence poked with a fork, but my burger was not on the “raw side of rare”. It was raw. I would have happily eaten, but I think mardi was about to lose hers just watching me take a bite… 🙂
Paired with a bold and slightly spicy Cotes du Rhone Villages. We’ve been drinking strictly pinot noir the past weeks (besides a lot of white and rose), so this was a bit of a “whoah” wake-up call. Matched the burger perfectly, and was only 14% ABV.
The jam was delightful. I remember falling in love with a gourmet onion jam Chef Kylie made, our former culinary school instructor. Mmmmm.
Yeah well better underdone than overdone, right?
LOL, yours still look fabulous despite the fallapartiness (I’ve expanded on your new word ;)). And I was amazed at how much I enjoyed the onion jam, too~
PS…Laughing at Mr. Neil’s two cents~
Love how we are all expanding on this new word!
Yummy that looks like the perfect burger and the jam sounds incredible!! 🙂
Indeed 🙂
Your rare, fall-aparting (another word expansion) burger looks so much better than my sad, charred one! And look at your onion jam, it really does look like JAM…I should’ve tried the sugar trick too.
Have a great weekend in Mexico. Well, I’ll see you again on Sunday for our Mexican ‘breakfast’!
Love that “falling aparting” too!
This burger looks really yummy! Love that onion jam!!
Yes it was fabulous!
Oh well done Mardi girl. These look fabulous! The onion jam does sound ever so interesting. YUM!!
The onion jam is fabulous Deeba!
seriously, mardi?? how do you get the energy??!! you are amazing!
Aw thanks!
Absolutely beautiful.
And how do you do it? France, Vancouver, Mexico. I would be flat-out tired by now!
Yes well I am a little tired. Looking forward to the quieter schedule!
I love the red onion marmalade, great spread for the burger 🙂 and I shall make this again . Thanks to Dorie for sharing with us the recipe 🙂
Yes it’s so wonderful!
Beautiful looking burger. You are going to need a vacation from all your international travels before school starts up again. Hope you are able to rest and recoup a bit once you get back from Mexico 🙂
p.s. very grateful you didn’t take a photo of poor Neil’s burger!
No rest for the wicked – I was right back at work the day after I got back!
That looks delicious! I love that onion jam. I wish I had time to participate and taste this awesome burger, but I have to get ready for our month-long trip so I won’t be participating for an entire month!
You’ll need to make it when you get back!
I loved the onion marmalade as it was, but yours definitely looks jammier than mine. I’m stealing your sugar idea for next time!
The sugar helped with the “jammy” factor!
You had me at burger! So delicious, Mardi! Looks like something I’d want to order at a restaurant. I allow you to prepare that for me next time you’re in Paris 🙂
I would be happy to!
Boohoo 🙁
I’ve read your post, eagerly awaiting the recipe just to find out that there is none.
Meany.
Especially ‘onion jam’ got me hooked! I want some onion jamminess! 😉
Tobias
We don’t share the recipes for the Dorie Fridays, sorry 🙁 You will just have to buy the book!
Your onion jam looks so good … so red! Mine did not look like that at all, but it WAS good.
The sugar helps with the colour!
A good burger with onion jam? i think so!
Right????
This is a terrific post… You did Dorie proud!!!
I wish I could have gone on that vacation with you! I have wanted to go to Mexico for some time!… what problems are you having with bread? I’m actually doing quite well with it… check out my blog, and click on the “bread” category on the right hand side… maybe I can help?
I just don’t like to make bread.
What vibrant colour you got there for the jam! I’m totally envious as I stare at my own grey jar once more [ahem]. “Fally-aparty” rolls off the tongue so easily. Now I’ll have to steal this one!
Yes I had to add the sugar when I saw the colour of the grey jam!
Genius fixing the onion jam by pouring off the water and adding sugar. I just kept cooking it until it ran out of water. Tasted it and it was so bland I figured I’d forgo it and try my own balsamic onions instead. Hmmm almost makes me want to try it again…
Balsamic onions – mmmmm!
I think fally aparty is just fine. We all know what you mean. I agree I had to be very careful with it. I will be making this onion jam again as I think it would be good served with any grilled meat.
I am in love with the onion jam!
Yum! Suddenly I am craving a burger. 🙂
I’m like that with burger pictures too!
Your onion marmalade looks good and jammy. Mine was a flop. Though I think I had more success with the burgers. I really enjoyed the aromatic mix-ins. Have a great time in Mexico!
Yes the mix-ins were certainly new and exciting for me too!
I’m all for kitchen neologisms – my spell check has fally-aparty added. Ok, not really – or at least not yet! Your burger looks fantastic in the ciabatta style roll. Keep having fun in Mexico – I’ve been living vicariously through your tweets.
Whoo hoo for neologisms!
That’s quite unique and appetizing. I would love to try some of it.
Yes a unique taste indeed!
And I love love a good burger too! Have fun babe 🙂
Cheers!
Hope your trip to Mexico is going well – following your tweets and it looks like you are having fun! Your burger looks great – not fally-aparty at all. And it seems like the sugar helped with the color retention in your marmalade, mine was a bit grey-purple, but still tasted great. I agree, brilliant idea and its going to be used as topping for other items.
Yes I liked the colour of my jam – and will be making it again soon!
Love the photo with Dorie! you have such a fabulous life 🙂 France, Mexico… you go girl! I need to go back to cooking/baking with FFwD, miss it so much.
FFWD has helped keep me grounded this summer!
I have to say it sounds like you struggled, but your burger looks AMAZING! I’m glad you liked the onion jam…I think that’s my favorite part! Bravo for putting this one together on such short notice…it’s a winner!
Indeed it is!
Looks amazing, Mardi! And onion jam? What? Stop the press. That sounds crazy good!
Onion jam is so versatile!
Oh my goodness, that onion marmalade looks so good. I’m running behind on ffwd this month, but i can’t wait to try it (and use your tips for preparing it!)!
You’re welcome!
Ummm… That does not sound like a burger, but more like a take on meatloaf. or sausage. Ciabatta never works well on a burger. Too tough and just crushes and squeezes out the filling in a sandwich like this. Remember softer fillings need softer breads.
Well it tastes a lot like a burger, just the texture is a little different. We froze some of the patties and had then a week later and they were much firmer. And this ciabatta was soft so it worked perfectly with these.