I’ve done my fair share of hamburger posts on here. But anytime I’m shaking it up, I’ll share it with you. The burger’s simplicity is its deliciousness. It’s versatile in that you can add (almost) anything to it and make a creation. You can also go a little too far and ruin the damn thing. Luckily, this is a good one, but this is about as fancy as I’m going to get on here, I think. I may get reckless, but that’s me.
I saw a video of some dude taking a blanket of cheese and topping the burger (bun and all) in it and I’m just like, “why”. Then I saw Red Robin is doing the same thing and mainstreaming it. C’mon, now. Hit the recipe link above for a quick scroll to the recipe.. Read along and you’ll find out why this is about the summit of my “elegant burger” experience.
The Prep Table
We’re going to flood the place with flavor. I read somewhere that Brie was a top-notch cheese for a burger. I don’t think I’ve done much in the stuffed-burger post realm, so we’ll give it a whirl today. We’re going to pack even more of an earthy flavor into that elk meat by putting some sumac and parsley in there. And we’re going to top it all off with an onion jam. Told ya, we’re going big.
We’re going to cook these onions down and pack in the flavor. It is pretty cool watching the sugars and vinegars do it’s thing while making one heck of a delicious spread.
We’re then going to blend up that Ground Elk (with beef) with some sumac, parsley and onion and make a fancified burger. I told you, we’re pulling it all out today. First thing’s first, the onion jam.
The Process
MrsForensicBBQ was curious for this one. I think it was like 80% curious on if I was going to clean the stovetop and how well.. and 20% curious how I use so much onion in my life. So she watch this one all come together. That sautéed onion will always bring people to the kitchen.
Once this is all nice and thick-like, I threw it a mason jar and kept it for awhile. Nice topper for a lot of things, not just this particular burger. This is the last picture you’ll get of it before the burger is topped, so enjoy it. Take it all in.
Pound of meat all balled up. I knocked the parsley back a little bit in the recipe I’m giving you, because I think it was a little bit too prevalent. It added what I wanted it to, but I did get just a bit too much of it. You’ll see in the patties below, there’s a lot of green. This was also my first time ever buying brie cheese and honestly, I wasn’t all that impressed. It was just meh, but I’m committed and curious to see if it just needed a little bit extra.
The 1/3lb burger is about the perfect size for me. Unless we’re talking sliders and smash, because those are a different beast altogether. When we’re talking like gourmet burger-style, the 1/3 pound works. I took that meaty dough-ball and portioned it out into 3. The cut those in half and gave it a solid press. Top with cheese, cover in meat and seal it on up on all sides. You just stuffed a burger. Next time I head to Minneapolis, hopefully this year, I’ll stop over at Matt’s Bar and get the O.G. stuffed burger, the jucy lucy.
Throw it on the grill to your preferred cook. Might think about going a little bit long to make sure that heat gets to the cheese, but brie is soft, so you’re fine either way. All said, onion jam is ready, burgers are coming off the pellet grill, now it’s time to assemble.
The Result
Was going to put a little special on a side of fries, but I kept those bitches on the grill for too long and charred ’em. You ain’t here for frozen fries, you’re here for the burger. And that there is pretty darn delicious. I kept the lid off her so you can see that jam. Let’s top it and get to eating.
So shocker, the brie just oozed right out of it.. but it was still a pretty good burger. There was a lot of flavor going on, but it wasn’t unpleasant. I mentioned above, I knocked back the parsley.. but otherwise it was good. I don’t think stuffing the burger added anything special to it, so I don’t know if I need to be stuffing burgers for any particular reason. I’d like to hear your yays or nays about it, but this was still pretty good!
The Recipe
Brie-Stuffed Elk Burger w/ Onion Jam
Ingredients
Onion Jam
- 2 Yellow Onions diced
- 1/2 Lemon juiced, zested
- 7 Tbsp Sugar
- 2.5 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
- 2 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
- 1 Tbsp Thyme Leaves divided
- 1 Tsp Salt
- 3/4 Tsp Black Pepper
- 1/2 Tsp Olive Oil
Elk Burger
- 1 Force of Nature Ground Elk
- Brie cheese
- 3 Hamburger buns
- Lettuce
- Tomato sliced
- 2 Tbsp Parsley minced
- 2 Tbsp Red Onion minced
- 1 Tsp Sumac
- 1/2 Tsp Paprika
- 1/2 Tsp Black Pepper
- 1/3 Tsp Salt
- 1/4 Tsp Cayenne
- 1/6 Tsp Ground cloves
Instructions
Onion Jam
- Put diced onion in medium sized bowl. Add Salt, mix and keep at room temperature for about an hour
- Heat Olive Oil in skillet over medium heat. Saute onions for 10 minutes
- Add Black pepper and half the Thyme. Stir.
- Reduce heat to medium low, add red wine/balsamic vinegars. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mixture should be thick and heavy
- Add sugar, lemon juice/zest and stir on medium-high heat. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, making sure nothing is sticking to bottom. Should be viscous. Remove from heat, let cool.
Elk Burger
- Combine burger with spices in medium sized bowl. Once combined, add in onion/parsley. Combine and refrigerate for an hour or two
- Form patty shapes (I did 6 for ~1/3lb burgers). Put a good amount of brie cheese on one and use a patty to top, sealing it up on all sides. Place back into refrigerator until ready to cook.
- Grill to desired cook
Why ruin a perfectly good piece of elk by violating it with brie??? (A joke of course, just had to say something because of the elk).
Slide
from The Elk Capital of Michigan