Let’s take a look at an original creation!
Some time ago I cooked my way through the Bob’s Burgers cookbook, and while I’ve made more than a few burgers since then, my reviews have dropped off. But this one deserves its own post.
A little over a month ago I was able to go on vacation with our D&D table as we finished up our three-year campaign. We’d often talked about what food we’d make for each other, and it was requested I come up with a burger based on D&D and to make it punny.
What I came up with was . . .
The Critical Hit
Ingredients:
- Coffee Rub (see instructions below)
- Ground Beef
- Tennessee Whiskey BellaVitanoCheese (a 5.3 oz wedge made 8 burgers)
- Hamburger Buns
- Toppings (Your Choice)
Coffee Rub:
- 1 1/2 Tbsp ground coffee
- 1/2 Tbsp salt
- 1/2 Tbsp paprika
- 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1/2 Tbsp pepper
- 1/2 Tbsp onion powder
- 1/2 Tbsp garlic powder
- 1/4 Tbsp ground coriander
Chef’s Note: I doubled these ingredients, then used 1 tablespoon per pound of beef. I had plenty of seasoning left over, and found it goes great with chicken, too!
Make the Burgers:
- Mix the 1 tablespoon of seasoning mix per pound of ground beef and season the meat.
- Form into patties and season to taste with additional salt and pepper
- Slice the cheese evenly.
- Grill burgers a total of about 6 minutes per side. Chef’s Note: I use a grill pan with a grill press for the first side, then tent with foil after flipping.
- With about a minute left on the last side, add cheese to each burger so that it begins to melt but is not runny.
Add your desired toppings – we had plenty of options: mustard, mayonnaise, ketchup, white onions, and pickle chips (both bread-and-butter and dill)
My idea for this burger was to make it its own D&D-like character, starting with a great flavored base that would complement whatever toppings folks wanted so that each burger was “custom” for everyone in the group.
The Response
OH MY GODS
everyone
. . . or some variation thereof, usually around mouthful of burger.
One person left a small bit in the microwave to heat up for later and then woke up in the middle of the night, gasped “oh no! my burger!” before falling back asleep. Literal tears were shed over that. Even folks who weren’t necessarily burger people loved it.
5 Stars!
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 