It’s Sunday morning, and that can only mean one thing: last night, I made and ate a hamburger. Specifically, a burger featured on the hit series, Bob’s Burgers.
The Skip Marooch Burger [S5:E5 “Best Burger”]
About the Episode
Bob and Linda compete at the “Warf it Down Food Festival” in the Best Burger Contest against local semi-famous Pakistani chef Skip Marooch and Bob’s archenemies, Jimmy Pesto. But when they discover they’ve forgotten the key ingredient, it’s up to Tina, Gene, and Louise to navigate the specialty food store, avoid the novelty food vendors, and save the day. All in twenty minutes or less, because the clock it ticking.
About the Burger
This isn’t Bob’s burger from the episode. His black garlic burger sounds amazing, but I’ve had a difficult time tracking down black garlic and don’t have a rice cooker or space to make it at home.
But Skip Marooch’s burger sounds delicious, too. Skip describes his burger as a “pomegranate and green chili chutney burger with my grandmother’s special spice blend.”
After briefly researching Pakistani cuisine and flavor pairings for pomegranate and green chilis, I decided to use za’atar as the “special spice.”
Za’atar Ingredients
- 1T dried thyme (you can also use oregano, but I already had thyme on hand)
- 1T ground cumin
- 1T ground coriander
- 1T lemon pepper (or sumac if you can get it)
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1T toasted sesame seeds (You can toast your own in a dry skillet over medium heat for 3-5 minutes)
Make the Za’atar
- Mix all ingredients together.
Pomegranate & Green Chili Chutney Ingredients
- 2C pomegranate juice
- 2T pomegranate seeds
- 2 green chilis, seeded and chopped
- 1/4 C granulated sugar
- 1/4 C lemon juice
- 1T + 1 tsp chopped ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
Make the Chutney
- In a pot, bring pomegranate juice and lemon juice to a boil
- Add sugar, pepper, and 1T ginger and return to a simmer (just under boiling)
- Cook until desired consistency is reached; I did mine for 20 minutes and it was a little loose for my taste, but still good
- Stir in pomegranate seeds, green chilis, and 1 tsp ginger
- Allow chutney to cool to room temperature
- Transfer to a smaller container and refrigerate for 2-4 hours before use
Make the Burger
- Season beef to taste; I used 1T to 1 lb of beef, since my wife doesn’t care for things to be *too* lemony.
- Form into patties and grill/cook as usual, about 6 minutes per side.
- I use an indoor grill pan with a meat press, pressing when the burgers go on the pan, then removing the press and tenting the pan with foil after flipping the burgers.
- When burgers are done, serve on buns with choice of condiments (I used baby spinach and homemade mayo) and top with the chutney.
The Response
Krystal thought the burger was a tad too lemony and felt she didn’t get enough chutney.
I thought the burger was seasoned well but the chutney needed to be thicker.
Overall we gave this burger three stars with the ability to improve on it, if I ever make it again.
3 Stars
Come back next week when we’ll try a new, as-yet-to-be-determined burger!
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Our featured image comes from Andrew Heath. Check out his website and – if it’s your thing – buy some of his art or his game: Burger Battle! I’m not on commission or anything, just doing my part to support a great and talented fan artist.
Running In My Head 
Great post 😁
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