Friday, June 18, 2010

The best burger I've ever made

Psst . . . here's a brillantly delicious secret: Ray's Cafe Salmon Burger with Basil Mayonnaise (click here for a copy of the recipe).
   It’s the best burger I’ve ever made, and I’ve tried several recipes.
   Although it’s in the casual food realm, I wouldn’t hesitate for a second to make it for a backyard party full of foodies.    It’ll impress them, and all your non-foodie guests, too!
   This recipe is a favourite in my family.
   It’s so, so easy to make.
   One thing: The basil mayonnaise, meant to be served on the burger, (no ketchup or relish here) is absolutely key to this recipe’s success.
   I would dare say you shouldn’t bother making these burgers if you can’t make the topping due to a glitch such as the unavailability of fresh basil (but you should be able to find it this time of year at the supermarket.)
   However, I have made the mayo without the called-for capers, and it still worked fine. Fresh basil is really the key.
   I also highly recommend putting fresh lettuce on the burger.
   For the recipe, sautéed onions are mixed with salmon fillets that have been ground up in the food processor (it calls for wild salmon in the recipe, but the regular grocery-store variety will do fine).    Lemon pepper, granulated garlic, and kosher salt and pepper are added and the mixture chilled for an hour.
   The mixture is divided into patties and grilled, then served with the basil mayo.
   The mayo is a combination of mayonnaise (of course!), capers, fresh basil, lemon juice, kosher salt and Tabasco sauce, which is mixed with a hand blender until smooth (I’m betting a regular blender would work just fine.)

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