My good friend Lisa gave me a few pounds of Wagyu hamburger meat from Costco this summer in 2020. I had not cooked ground beef in a while – years, in fact, focused on grilling high-end cuts of meat, and it had been a while since I made a burger – now I have eaten many good gourmet burgers, some that come to mind locally include Eden Hill Provisions, the Goldfinch Tavern, and Loulay – all higher-end restaurants focused on high-quality ingredients, gourmet toppings, artisan buns, etc…fancy burger time. I thought why not take #thehad approach to crafting some great gourmet burgers this summer to feed me and my boys. This ended up being a hit and probably my favorite thing to grill this summer. My approach was to make the burger from essentially steak tartare which we all love, forming thick patties by hand, and add on some ridiculous good toppings – thick-cut bacon or grilled prosciutto, Beechers cheese, or something similarly fancy and artisanal, great thick cut heirloom tomatoes, avocado, arugula, grilled Walla Walla sweet onions, Clausen pickle slices (must be Clausen brand – refrigerated, never shelved), brioche buns. Needless to say, this became a weekly repeat, and often more than once a week. Honestly, I have never had a better burger. Judge #thehadburger for yourself!

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Ingredients

Waygu hamburger – capers, Dijon mustard, egg yolk, Worcestershire sauce, ground pepper, salt, garlic salt

Thick cut bacon – Nueskes, Peter Luger, Hempler’s, or other high-end brand – try variations like peppered bacon

Prosciutto – folded and grilled, or slices of deli sausage like Salumi stacked 4-6 thick and grilled

Sausage sliced lengthwise

Thick sliced white cheddar or sliced Beechers cheese, blue cheese could also be used, ideally paired with bacon

Heirloom tomatoes – Purple Cherokee, or other large variety, beefsteak tomatoes in a pinch

Arugula & avacado

Clausen sliced pickles

Walla Walla sweet or yellow onions – grilled, not raw

Condiments: ketchup, mayo, mustard – Dijon preferably

Brioche buns – toasted on the grill

Preparation

Step 1 – Combine the Wagyu beef and other ingredients into a large stainless steel bowl, and knead with your hands.

Step 2 – Form the meat into thick patties ~3/4 inch thick, and about 8oz each – I use 1lb individual packs of the Wagyu beef so it’s easy to make about two patties per package.

Step 3 – Prepare garnish – pickles, tomatoes, onion, arugula, avocado – slice and prepare to stack high.

Grill the burgers until medium rare, careful to keep them together as the tartare mixture may be a bit fragile.

Prepare buns – this is very important – mustard always goes on the bottom bun with the meat. Mayonnaise or secret sauce, goop, thousand island or your dressing of choice always goes on the top bun. Ketchup should go on the burger, on top of any cheese or additional meats such as bacon or other items recommended in #thehadburger. Carefully stack your pickles, tomatoes, avocados, arugula, or onions on the burger. Plate and serve.

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