Grilling to me is synonymous with summer. Don’t get me wrong, I pull out the barbecue all months of the year, it’s just more enjoyable when it’s not snowing or freezing out. I don’t exclusively grill burgers, but it’s just one of those things that are 100 percent better when they are grilled than if they are inside. The slight char and smoky flavor are things that can usually only be done inside if you are willing to set the smoke alarm off. This week I set off to source a burger sourced totally from ingredients bought at the farmers’ markets in town. It was easier than you might think.
Recipes for burgers are one of those things that everyone has. I like mine simple with a little chopped onion, garlic, salt and pepper. It might not be the most mind blowing spice combination ever, but I like it. The burger really isn’t the important thing’ it’s all the ingredients that go into it. When I first started cooking, I had a chef share a very simple truth with me: “It’s easy to make good food taste good, and it’s hard to make crappy food taste good.” Not a profound thought by any means, but one that holds true whether you are a chef at a five star restaurant or a home cook. Why would we want to make it harder on ourselves anyways? Taking this into account, I loaded my bag with some fresh goodies at the Saturday market and at the People’s Market, and the rest was easy.
The burger making spread from the local farmer’s markets
I started with some ground Lockhart Cattle Co. beef I had frozen from a couple markets back and mixed it with onion, garlic and some basil I had from Snowdrift Farms. After spending a year cooking in New Zealand, I picked up a taste for some common toppings that are a little less so over here. Pickled beets might seem like a weird addition or bring back memories of gross canned beets from childhood. The sweet-vinegary tang that my beets from Cosmic Apple had after being pickled with balsamic vinegar and cloves was a great counterpart to a savory and salty burger. Then came the spread. I was given a jar of Jackson Hole Food Co. onion relish, and I have to say it was delicious. Spread liberally on the bun with some goat cheese and bacon from Generation Farms, everything was starting to come together. Nothing ties a burger together like a fried egg, which I was lucky enough to source from the Whole Egg before they ran out Saturday. Top it off with some fresh greens, and you got yourself a mouthful of a delicious burger.
Final burger close up
The burger was great as a whole, but it was definitely the individual parts that made it. Trying to create meals based completely on regionally grown food purchased directly from farmers is a fun challenge. We might not have the most produce options where we live, but what we do have is seemingly endless. The burger was an easy one. In the coming weeks, I will share more recipes and dishes from local farms and ranches. It’s almost impossible to fill your fridge exclusively from the markets in town, but it’s fun to try.
Balsamic pickled beets
Ingredients
- 1 bunch beets
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon cloves
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 sprigs thyme
Instructions
- Peel and thinly slice beets.
- Combine all ingredients except for sugar and beets in a stockpot and bring to a boil.
- Stir in sugar to boiling mixture slowly until completely dissolved.
- Put beets into boiling pickling liquid and leave until soft (10 to 15 minutes depending on thickness off slices
- Cool and serve.
