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Comeback Burger
It was time for me to come back! Had a wonderful and relaxing vacation, got to spend fun time with J-man, but am ready to rock again.
What have I been doing? Well, for starters, I managed to copy the McDonald’s burgers. I sure did and get this, I even bought MSG for it; they use lots of it and I really wanted to duplicate their burgers. So far I nailed the Big Mac. And the cheeseburger.
I like the concept of those thin, griddle-cooked burgers but I ditched the MSG. It’s just not for me. Then I started messing with the basic recipe and replaced the ketchup and yellow mustard twirl for a simplified but oh-so good Southern comeback sauce.
I also added lettuce and real onions instead of the dehydrated onions McDonald’s uses. I used my non-stick griddle mainly because I found the trick is not to use any oil or butter when cooking the patties. Less fat = less guilt.
These are my kinda burgers. Simple, fast and very tasty.
Ingredients:
Burgers:
1 pound ground beef (ground chuck works best)
4 hamburger buns
1 small onion
4 slices cheddar
iceberg lettuce
Seasoning:
2 tbsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp onion powder
(add 1 tbsp MSG if you want to duplicate McDonald’s)
Comeback Sauce:
5 tbsp mayonnaise (I use Hellmann’s)
5 tbsp ketchup (I use Heinz)
1 tbsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp mustard powder
Directions:
Here’s the foundation for my new best sauce: mayonnaise and ketchup. They get along just fine.
The pepper doesn’t make it really hot, no worries, it just adds a tremendous amount of flavour and some zing.
Stir in the remaining seasonings and set the sauce aside. The longer you give it, the better it will be.
Mix everything listed under ‘seasoning’ and put it in a shaker.
Just for the record; you put the salt mix in a shaker and you season the burgers to taste! I understood that several Europeans thought you had to use all the salt on the burgers. Maybe because we’re used to seasoning the ground beef before grilling the burgers.
Chop the onion as fine as you can without turning it into mush. For me this slap ‘n chop works best.
Slice the cheddar. I buy it in bulk and freeze it. Flavour is perfect but it gets a little crumbly after thawing but we’ll melt it anyway.
McDonald’s burgers are 2 oz per burger, so form 8 small meatballs.
Basic hamburger buns. I like the ones with sesame seeds on top. Slice them in half.
My dirty little secret: I use my tortilla press for making burgers after I line it with a cut-up ziplock bag.
You can use a rolling-pin and ziplock bag as well, though! Place a meatball in there…
And flatten the heck out of it.
Heat a griddle, mine was non stick. Use no butter or oil and bake the patties for roughly 2,5 to 3 minutes on each side.
They will instantly shrink and become the perfect bun size.
Flip them over and season them on both sides after they’re done.
Top one burger with cheddar and put another one on top. Lay the buns on the griddle and toast them slightly.
Top the buns with lettuce, the double cheeseburger, a dollop of comeback sauce and onions to taste.
You have to try them! No really, I won’t rest until you will.
| Comeback Burger | |||||||||
| Ingredients |
1 pound ground beef (ground chuck works best) 4 hamburger buns 1 small onion 4 slices cheddar iceberg lettuce Seasoning: 2 tbsp salt 1/2 tsp black pepper 1/4 tsp onion powder (add 1 tbsp MSG if you want to duplicate McDonald’s) Comeback Sauce: 5 tbsp mayonnaise (I use Hellmann’s) 5 tbsp ketchup (I use Heinz) 1 tbsp ground black pepper 1/4 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp onion powder 1/4 tsp mustard powder Directions |
|
Form 8 thin patties using a tortilla press lines with a ziplock bag or a rolling pin and ziplock bag. Heat a preferably non-stick griddle and cook the patties without butter or oil for 2 and a half to 3 minutes on each side. Season after cooking. Place a slice of cheddar one a patty and place another one on top. Lay the buns on the griddle and toast them slightly. Top the buns with lettuce, the double cheeseburger, a dollop of come back sauce and onions to taste. Meal type: |
Lunch, Main Course |
Servings: |
4 |
Copyright: |
© kayotickitchen.com |
|
38 Comments »
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Oh this looks scrumptious Kay! I try to stay away from Mc Donalds and the like but I never say no to homemade burgers like yours. Welcome back!
That’s a great looking burger, Kay! Love the Comeback Sauce :-)
I’m not a big McDonalds fan but this looks fabulous! Sans MSG of course ;-)
WELCOME BACK!! Thanks for not including that wicked stuff MSG. I am so allergic to it. Love me a greasy gooey burger. Now if we could duplicate In~N~Out fries.
What on earth are ‘In~N~Out fries’? Never heard of them!
http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/01/animal-style-fries-at-in-n-out-burger.html?ref=search
Ohhhh that looks really good. It’s 9:25am here now and it’s getting me hungry :)
I can totally see this working with the come back sauce as well. Gonna try it soon.
Kay,
In~N~Out burgers and fries are the best fast food burgers in the world. They started out in Southern Calif, and have spread East. The burgers are made fresh to order, they have condiments you can ask for or ask not to have, their fries are fresh cut while you watch, and the kids who work there are friendly and helpful. Doodles was correct in wishing for them to make at home.
We know a guy here in Phnom Penh who fled Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge time when he was only 14 (walked for days to the border along with thousands of others who escaped). He ended up settling in Long Beach, CA where he worked as a mail carrier for the US Postal Service for 30 years. He moved back to Cambodia about 4 years ago and has opened his own place called “Mike’s Burgers” in the same building as a gas station. He modeled his products on the In-N-Out chain, and will even make you an “Animal Style” if you are savvy enough to ask for it. As you can imagine, he’s VERY popular with the American crowd over here. Kay, your burger above looks a bit like his, other than the great looking cheddar, which is pretty hard to come by in these parts.
What a brilliant idea to use your tortilla press for the patties! I can never get them as thin as I’d like.
It works perfectly! You can make them as thick or thin as you like and they are always evenly flattened.
Looking good, Kay! It makes my stomach long for lunchtime.
Just one question though: 2 tbsp of salt for one pound of beef seems kind of excessive. You sure it’s not 2 tsp?
You put it in a shaker, silly… and you sprinkle some of the seasoning over the patty after its cooked :)
Woah duh… I guess I suffered a small stroke just reading about those 2 tbsp. I should have scrolled through your post a little more carefully haha. My bad!
You had me laughing out loud, girly… that would have been one seriously salty burger :)
Being a vegetarian does not prevent me from speculating about the taste, so here goes: Looks absolutely delicious!! :)))
Hmmm you gave me an idea. Have to see if I can come up with a vegetarian version.
If I look at the onion pieces they lappear a model of geometry – cube shaped.. Can I assume then that the slap ‘n chop is good? Thx, Bingo
I have no idea how the thing does it, but you can chop onions really, really fine without them turning into a pile of mush, they keep their shape and structure. I only use this thing for onions and other things I want really finely chopped without being mushy, oh, and for garlic and hot peppers.
Looks like an awesome summertime burger!
I do have a weakness for Big Macs, though I haven’t had one in years.
Here’s a true southern recipe for comeback sauce! http://lollingabout.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/foodie-friday-comeback-sauce/
That’s the one I found on several sites after a friend of mine gave me this recipe a few weeks ago! Love it.
Waar haal jij je Cheddarkaas, bij een kaasboer? Ziet er erg goed uit
Ik koop meestal een kilo tegelijk bij de Hanos en vries het dan in stukken van 150gr in.
Lidl and Aldi sells processed Cheddar cheese, and it melts perfectly. The slices are individually wrapped in plastic.
Yeah, but that’s only 40% real cheese and the rest is palm oil or something and it barely has any flavor compared to real cheddar.
To copy McDonalds burgers is no easy task. There are some important cooking tips.
1. McDonalds uses ground chucks, so it’s 80 % lean. Freeze the patties for at least an hour. This keeps them falling apart when you grill them.
2. Searing the beef patties is very important. So you applying 20 seconds pressure to the frozen patties as they cook on the griddle, with a spatula.
3. The “McFlavor” comes from seasoning one pound ground chuck with 4 tbsp salt, 2 tbsp MSG, 1 tsp ground black pepper and 1/4 tsp onion powder. Mix well in a spice shaker and use it on all the burgers.
4. Use dried onions that you have to re-hydrate with some water. And they are always chopped and never minced.
5. McDonalds ketchup is basically Hunt’s ketchup or Heinz ketchup with garlic powder.
6. The mustard is classic yellow mustard, but the pickles are difficult. Heinz Original Sour Dills is close, but you have to slice them very thin. A Mandolin is very handy.
. “Q-ing” the McDonalds term for helping the flavor to melt via mechanical means, like a heat lamp or microwave. Wrapping the burgers in waxed paper for the important “Q-ing” and placing them in a warm oven for 5 to 10 minutes. You use the oven as a heat lamp substitute. You can also microwave these burgers, still wrapped, no more than 15 seconds each.
How do I know this? I worked as one of the managers at McDonalds (Zuid Plein, Rotterdam) once. Not the happiest moments in my life.
It’s as easy as 1-2-3, really. I even duplicated the Big Mac sauce.
The seasoning you mention is exactly the same as mine, only I cut it in half since the recipe you can find online makes for way too much seasoning.
Couple burgers to go please… :)
I just knew you were gonna say that :)
Kay what is msg? Looks absolutely fabulous….
Brilliant idea to use your tortilla press for the burgers–I would never have thought of it. One of those burgers would hit the spot right about now…yum!
Hi Kay,
Made it, ate it, loved it! Made is without the MSG. Really am not a fan of McDonalds.. Definitely my least fav restaurant. Went there a while back, since there we’re no others available long side the highway for miles, and I had the Big Tasty wich has no taste whats so ever. This burger of yours has lots of it and I love the fresh ingrediënts.
made these tonight and they are so good, thanks Kay, will do these again
personally, i think there is too much salt in it, tried it like it said in the recipe, but it was too much, i lowered it. and i’m a salt lover :) but that’s to a person’s taste :) else it was fab! that sauce, awesome!
Not sure what you mean? You control the salt content yourself. In my recipe you put the salt, pepper and onion powder mix in a shaker and then you put a little on the burgers.
You mean you actually sprinkled all the salt, 2 tbsp, over the burgers? :)
Yum! – My mom has always made a similar sauce for us when we were kids. It is ketchup, mayo, prepared mustard (just a bit), minced onion and green sweet relish. Always a big hit with people that want everything on their burgers….you get a little taste of everything in each bite.
That sounds great! Gonna try it!