Wild Mushroom Cheddar Burger

This burger is based off of a recipe I found when Googling "mushroom cheddar burger" as I had mushrooms, beef and cheddar cheese. It's Bobby Flay's Wild Mushroom-Cheddar Burger, also listed in an alternate Flay recipe as the "Washington State Burger." It is a cheddar burger topped with an herb mushroom mix. I tried to research the meaning behind this burger being considered the burger of Washington State but no luck- do you know why?

Ingredients

• Ground Beef & Buns
• Slices of Cheddar
• Mushroom Mix, rough chopped (I used cremini and shitaake)
• 1 tbs Unsalted Butter
• 1 Small Shallot, minced
• 2 tbs Fresh Parsley, finely chopped
• 1 tbs Fresh Thyme, finely chopped
• Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper

First I made the mushroom topping. I stemmed the shitaakes (too woody) but left the stems on the creminis. I melted the butter over medium-high heat until slightly smoking/bubbling and added in the chopped mushrooms. I cooked for 5 minutes until soft then added in the shallots, kosher salt and pepper and cooked for another 5 minutes until browned. Then I tossed in the parsley & thyme and removed from the heat. In the same pan I heated up canola oil over high heat for my burgers. I packed the ground beef into patties, imprinted the center with my thumb (helps the cook process), patted dry and sprinkled with Kosher salt & pepper. I cooked the burgers over high heat for 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. After I flipped them I added the cheese so it had time to melt, you can also tent the burgers with tin foil to help the process along.

Once the burgers came out I let them rest so the juices could redistribute, then placed on the bun and topped with the mushroom mix.

This burger was really fantastic. I'm always a big proponent of mixing ingredients into the beef to amplify flavors, but the simple addition of kosher salt and pepper really did the trick. The kosher salt creates these little POWS! of salt every other bit that are really super delicious. The mushroom mix also had a great texture and flavor, amplified by the fresh herbs.

Side note: I picked up the thyme and shallots from the local green market at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza where I saw this interesting garlic.

After some research I discovered it's hardneck garlic, which is different from the softneck garlic typically seen in grocery stores. Hardneck garlic has a long stiff stem, the bulb has fewer but larger cloves and less of an outershell. Hardneck garlic isn't carried in most stores because it's limited outershell reduces it's shelflife. It also is more difficult to grow, whereas softneck garlic can be grown mechanically en masse. I haven't found anything to support the flavors are different, which is what I'm really interested in. I'll do some more research and get back to you.