Hi everyone! I don’t know if you have seen it yet, but HGTV.com is currently having a ‘Blended Burger Recipe Contest’. I’m having issues putting the website to the contest here, but you can log onto Foodnetwork.com and click on Sweepstakes to read all the information and get to the entry form. Foodnetwork.com is awarding two $10,000 prizes, one to a home cook and one to a professional. I thought this contest would fit perfectly for this blog, because instead of using just high-priced meat in the burgers, the meat is stretched by adding at least 25% of minced mushrooms into the burger mixture. Instant cost savings!
I’ve never entered anything like this before, but I thought ‘What the heck – let’s give it a shot’. I looked through the fridge, and I had some leftover mozzarella cheese I could use, and I looked through the garden, and my basil is out of control again, so I decided to try creating a burger take on a caprese salad. Definitely Italian!
I drove over to the store and got the ground beef and a box (8 oz) of Crimini mushrooms. The contest allows you to choose from a list of common mushrooms to use, but I chose Crimini because they are a bit more mature than the white button variety, which gives them a nice brown color, they have a meatier flavor and texture, which will blend well with the ground beef, and they are readily available, and therefore not too expensive.
I used 80% lean/20% fat ground beef. I figured the fat content would lend more flavor to the mixture. Ai thought about just putting a slice of tomato on top of the burger, but I wanted to infuse the meat/mushroom mixture with tomatoey flavor, so I splurged on a jar of sundried tomatoes. They are a real pain to try to chop with a knife (it is a possibility that it’s time to sharpen my knives), so I find it easier to use my kitchen shears to cut them into chopped-sized pieces. I also thought about just melting the mozzarella slices over the burgers, but I decided to stuff it inside instead. It makes a fun surprise when the burger is slices open. Of course, if you are like me and prefer your burgers rare/medium rare, the cheese may not melt completely, however although it is warm and soft, it also retains more of a caprese salad mozzarella texture. If you cook the burgers to a higher temperature, the cheese will ooze out, which is really cool.
I whipped up a garlic-sundried tomato-basil mayo to slather over the top and bottom buns, just to keep up the caprese salad vibe. I also served air-fried polenta fries and used the mayo for a dipping sauce for the fries. To air fry polenta fries, just get a tube of polenta, cut it into fry shapes, place them in the air fryer, spray them with a cooking oil spray, salt and pepper them, and air fry them for 20 minutes at 390-400 degrees. Take the basket out half-way through and shake it to keep the fries from sticking.
I did actually put the recipe on the contest site, and from what I saw on Instagram, there were about 2,000 entries so far. I’m not expecting anything to come of my entry, but it was extremely cool to download my official Contest Entrant pdf!
Stuffed Caprese Beef-Mushroom Burger with Garlic-Sundried Tomato-Basil Mayo
Ingredients
Burgers:
1 lb ground beef
6 oz minced mushroom
½ cup chopped sundried tomatoes
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp salt
½ tsp fresh cracked pepper
5 slices fresh mozzarella
Good quality hamburger buns, enough for 5 burgers
Garlic-Sundried Tomato-Basil Mayo:
½ cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp chopped sundried tomatoes
1 tbsp fresh minced basil
1 lg minced garlic clove
Instructions
Combine the mayonnaise, tbsp of sundried tomatoes, basil and garlic in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate to meld the flavors.
Mince the mushrooms and chop the sundried tomatoes (I find kitchen shears work best for the tomatoes). Mix the ground beef, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper with your hands until combined.
Form the mixture into 10 thin patties. Place a slice of mozzarella on the middle of 5 of the patties, and cover each with the remaining patties. Pinch the edges to keep the cheese from oozing out while they cook. Place the patties in the fridge for a ½ hour to firm up.
Oil and heat a cast iron skillet on medium high until it starts to smoke. Cook the burgers approximately 3 minutes on each side for medium rare.
At this temperature, the cheese in the middle of the burgers will retain its shape, more closely resembling a classic Cabrese (tomato/basil/mozzarella salad). If you cook the burgers longer, the cheese will melt and ooze out when you cut into it – not bad either way. Spread the garlic-sundried tomato-basil mayo on the top and bottom of the bun. Serve with polenta fries and additional mayo for dipping.
