Burger Night

Burger Night is looking for a cook.  No experience necessary.  Will train.  Must have fun.  Must be punctual.  Must love burgers.  Ideal candidate lives in Minneapolis.

Needed for a handful of parties/events this summer, maybe more.

Fair wage.  Free burgers.  Get to cook outside, meet peoples.

Send an email telling why you want to party with Burger Night.

Please spread the word to loved ones who might be interested in a little extra summer cash and fun.

Thanks!

john@burgernight.me

Off to the…

 …in Chicago this weekend.

My hotel is one block away from the original Billy Goat Tavern.

Turtle Burgers on Sunday.

Enter:  therev11  for 20% off your tickets.

Burger Night

Mpls, MN

November 12th, 2011

Temp: 63ºF

Clear skies

Naturally, an outdoor burger celebration was in order.  Likely the last of the season.

Made a chili paste with soaked cascabel and ancho peppers and toasted garlic.

How about on a burger?

Well, let’s just say it pretty much rounded out a beautiful afternoon.

There’s a new burger on the Minneapolis scene.  Sort of.  

In actuality, My Burger has been serving downtown folk for 7 years now.  But with a brand new modern look slowly devised with the help of Fame, also of downtown… fame…, it’s easy to mistake the neighborhood newcomer as a big chain or a rookie.

Owner(with his father- who also owns Nicollet Island Inn), John Abdo told me yesterday, their quietly announced opening day, that they’re still using the same recipe that his father, the “serial entrepreneur”, devised nearly seven years ago.  They use an 80/20 lean/fat Angus beef, quarter pound patty, griddled with their special seasoning and pressed thin.  Buttered, toasted buns and sweet pickles are standard- but they offer dill pickles too.  John says that the sweet pickles were his mom’s idea.  

To get a good idea of a burger, I like to try it plain first.  Here’s their plain hamburger on a buttered, toasted bun served with fries for $5.45.  Solid.

Overall, it was dry- needed condiments.  However, when I mentioned this to John, I didn’t get the impression it was a common complaint and he assured me they will cook a burger medium rare upon request.  A good caramelized crust on the patty, but the patty was too thin for my taste.  

The fries were solid- for 3/8”.  I’ve always been a 1/4” fry man myself.  Thicker fries tend to distract with too much potato flavor and texture in the middle.  This was the case here, but they managed to find a way to keep the fries relatively crispy once they are cold- not a simple feat.

I asked John why they chose 3100 Excelsior Blvd. for their first venture out of downtown.  He says they shopped around the Twin Cities- NE Mpls., St. Paul and S. Mpls., but settled here because they liked the neighborhood and, of course, the traffic.  NE Mpls. and St. Paul are likely future prospects, as I was assured they want to continue to grow.  Are they concerned about being within throwing distance of Burger Jones?  No, “…it’s a totally different market”.  Agreed.

What is John’s favorite local burger(besides his own)?  

“…for a little fancier burger, I love 112(Eatery)… when it’s on and it’s charred on the outside… it’s awesome”.  For “simple” burgers he mentioned of The Nook and Blue Door- making the assertion that Blue Door has the best Ju(i)cy Lucy’s in town.  John said he’s been wanting to make to a Burger Night event, but hasn’t had the chance.

John Abdo on opening day.

My Burger is a simple, family run burger joint that is a definite boon for the local burger landscape.  Check them out if you haven’t already.

As with hamburgers, the exact origin of chili is widely debated.  The most frequent and seemingly most reputable claims say San Antonio, TX is where it began.  In March of 1731, Spaniards held the settlement, then known as Bexar, with the French vying for control.  The Spaniards sent word to their king to send more settlers for support.  The king sent sixteen families, accustomed to spicy foods and garlic, from the Canary Islands.  Their adaptation to the culinary environment found the first recipes for chile con carne.  What exactly those recipes were… no one knows.  

Of course, cowboys greatly popularized chili- and this is where my favorite recipes come from- the chuckwagons.  The recipes of necessity and optimization.  The best method of preserving meats at that time was by salting and drying.  There are accounts of trail men carrying simply dried, salted beef pressed into bricks with chilipiquines(wild peppers).  Alone insufficient for a meal, and to keep their load light, along the frequented trails the travelers would plant onions, garlic and oregano near the rugged mesquite trees- to dissuade animals from stealing their harvest.

(man camped in the mesquite brush near Uvalde, TX)

Sounds good.  Some adjustments seemed prudent.  Here’s 1.7 lbs. of chuck- cut into pieces “the size of pecans”- a descriptive phrase used commonly in old chili recipes:  

To technically cure meats, one needs to add at least 20% of the weight in salt.  Being that I have the luxury of refrigeration and sanity, I opted to tone that down.  Three tablespoons of salt were tossed with the beef bits and set to dry for 3 days:

Commercially produced chilipiquines are spicy as hell(wild, old growth plants produce sweeter fruit), so to make a brew based on that would be suicide.  Subbed in were ancho and dundicut peppers.  First, the beef, onions and garlic were browned, then the rest was added- peppers, cumin, black pepper, Mexican oregano, bay leaves, 6 cups of water and a little corn flour:

After another hour and a half of simmering the meat was tender and the stew thick:

Still a little salty- just from the beef- and it would benefit from a touch of sweetness, but a very unique and intensely rich bowl all the same.  The beans can stay gone forever, but adding tomatoes might be a good idea.  The texture and flavor of the half cured beef was like moist, tender jerky- quite awesome.

Yes, Burger Night will have chili.

Onward and upward.

It was about a year ago that I went on a midwest burger adventure.  One of the true highlights was the Butter Burger at Solly’s Grille in Milwaukee, WI.  

On the road, six hours after leaving the laminate horseshoe counter, I could still feel the smoothness, and taste the richness of the real Wisconsin butter on my lips.  This is after stopping for a Coke and some candy.

Not currently possessing the wherewithal to repeat a trip to Milwaukee, and since I’ve been considering offering a butter burger, I thought I’d work it out on the griddle.

I started with the standard fried onion hamburger and American cheese.  I used Hope Butter from Hope, MN.  If I remember correctly, onions aren’t on the standard at Solly’s… nuts to that.

…and flip.

Goodness.

Solly’s adds the butter to the top of the burger just before serving.  Legend has it, the trick to enjoying a Solly’s Butter Burger is to eat it before all the butter melts.  I concur.  The slightly cool contrast of a dab of butter in a bite of burger is total mouth dynamite.  So adding butter at the end of the cooking process seems a given.  However, the steamed bun/slider technique poses difficulties in removing the top bun after the cheese has melted.  So initially I tried the butter on bottom.  I used about a tablespoon of butter.

The flavor of the onions mixed with the flavor of the butter.  They lost their distinct appealing natures.  Also, most of the butter just soaked in the bottom bun, so I didn’t get to taste it.

Then I thought, difficulties be damned.  I’m going to rip the top bun off the melted cheese of the next one and try it right… and with more butter.

Oh, two tablespoons or so.

That’s some nice glistening.  It was much better.  The geography of the butter is coincidentally right where it was on the palette- right on top.  Imagine all the good flavor of a cheeseburger being happily subordinate to rich, creamy butter.  It was almost as if the flavor of the cheese and onions got in the way, or perhaps simply weren’t necessary.

Therefore, Effort #3, a plain hamburger with butter.

Probably about two tablespoons of butter, maybe a little more.

That’s what I’m talking about.  The butter melted on top of the beef fat and they mixed together.  The cheese and onions weren’t missed, and the beef butter dipping sauce on the plate pretty much capped off what was another very pleasant weekend in Minneapolis.

Have you watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory lately?  Is there anything more reliably fun than candy?  Technology+sugar+ingenuity= endless possibilities.  

What’s the first thing you want after a salty meal?  Beside a nap.  

Something sweet, right?  Well then, Burger Night should offer something to satisfy that curmudgeon of a palate of yours.

Cheesecake was, and still is being considered.  But candy is so varied and simple and small and fun.  Having at least some candy on hand as a quick, cheap sweet tooth fix seems, at least, like a good place to start.

In the name of research, I recently took a drive to Jordan to Minnesota’s Largest Candy Store… that’s its name, not a verified fact.  From the cities, head down 169 for about 35 minutes and you can’t miss the vast expanse of yellow everything on your right.

(Friday afternoon.  There were well over a hundred cars there on Saturday.)

I went on a Saturday in September.  Holy crap.  Don’t go there on a Saturday in September.  A sea of crazed, Greater Minnesota children with sugar lust will take you down.

I made it out alive with $33 worth of candy and soda.

I returned this past Friday afternoon for more… in the name of research.  It was a much slower pace inside.  I was able to talk with some folks there and found answers to the some questions pondered in last year’s Heavy Table article.  

(Booty from trip #2, minus the fudge and box of Runts I ate on the way home.  Runts are so good.)

Jim and his wife, with whom I spoke, but didn’t get her name, said that they opened “…oh, I don’t know, about 25, 30 years ago.  When the kids were like this”, she held her 80 year old hand about 3 feet from the ground.  She says her son Robert in the red suspenders handles most things now.  It appears that her and Jim spend most of their time baking pies and other goodies.

MLCS started as just an apple barn, then they added a pumpkin barn, then a whole bunch of other stuff, like salsas, bbq sauces, jellies, pickled goods, baked goods and a selection of odd and obscure sodas that rivals their candy selection.

I asked where all the candy comes from.  I figured most of it came from a big manufacturer, like Nestle.  Wrong.  Apparently, they get “…huge shipments all the time from everywhere.”

Some things are best left a little mysterious.  

About a mile south there was a sign that said “BURGERS”.  It’s just a reflex now.  

If you’re going to MLCS, Clancey’s a good lunch option.  The beef was overcooked, dry and leaner than I prefer, but it’s fresh, griddled and served on a great bun with American cheese.  The fries are typical “damn shame” style dive bar krinkle cuts, but for $7.10 all told, not bad.

What did Burger Night learn from Minnesota’s Largest Candy Store?

That novelty candies are exciting and many, but fleeting.  French strawberry taffy was cool once, but next time, make it a Laffy Taffy.  A Good News bar is interesting and different, but next time, I’ll have a Snickers.  Much like in the realm of hamburgers, innovations and nostalgia excite, but rarely result in quintessence.

It’s still a fun mini road trip from the cities, especially on a fall afternoon when the leaves are turning.  MLCS is open until mid November.   

Thanks to everyone, that was one fun, unique night.  I met a lot of good people and took a significant step toward opening Burger Night, the restaurant.  I wish I had had the time for a thousand more conversations. 

From what I’ve heard and what I saw, Tim and Jerry did a great job on the burgers, very few hitches there.  Salted Caramel and Vanilla Bean were the winning Teasecake flavors, I believe.  I can not accept the compliments for putting the cayenne out for the burgers.  That was intended for the corn.  Some good ideas we just trip over.

That was some real good beer too.  

No Man’s String Band was doing their best to fill out a night with 3 bands.  Holly hopped up and played her heart out, straight solo.  And Food Pyramid filled the room with their beastly subtleties, and a dub song called Burger Night!  Special thanks to all of you for rolling with the lack of definition on the music schedule.  Live and learn.  Next time I’ll bring in an emcee.  Steve in the sound booth is one smooth operator and says he’s up for a repeat.  I didn’t get to listen to the music as much as I wanted, so I’m looking forward to hearing Darin’s recordings.  Scott from Rock the Cause tells me their website should be up and running next month with the aforementioned recordings.  I’ll post links when they come about.

Albert roamed the grounds, snapping like a pro.  Really looking forward to those results too.  I’ll post those as well.

Our dozen or so volunteers made the night’s duties a breeze to deal with.  I ran out of T-shirts early, so Afternoon, I’ll be speaking with you soon.  

Darcy, Elizabeth and Old Arizona did well for their youth programs as well, so thank you all very much for boozing.  At minimum, we think this should be a Labor Day tradition.  I’ll be making a push for financing again here over the next couple of months.  So if all goes well, Burger Night will be open on Eat Street this winter.  If things don’t come together soon, I’m thinking about a New Year’s Eve pop-up restaurant.  

Again, thanks to the many who came together to make this happen.  The Beef Council was amazing to step out on the scene for this.  And Surly, you truly do give a damn. 

Since the announcement of Burger Night at Old Arizona we’ve taken on a new sponsor- Surly Brewing Co. - which means we’ll have Furious on tap -which is totally badass.   

Also, Chubby Girl Cheesecakes will be there to offer Teasecakes- chocolate covered cheesecake on a stick(incredible).  Flavors will include: Salted Caramel, Vanilla Bean, Citrus Creamsicle and Peanut Butter.

Also, fellow Mpls. Tumblr’r Mpls. Field Recording Co. will be there recording the music which will then be donated to Rock the Cause.

Continuing on, Albert truly is awesome.  Another from from the local Tumblr community, photog, albertisawesome, will be there shooting up the place.  

Oh, and Dylan Guerber made this slick gig poster:

So tell the gang and bring your loved ones.  See you Saturday.