Burger Week: #6: Grilled Camembert and Mustard Topped Burger

Burger Week at Arcisfoodblog: 6 posts on some of the more remarkable burgers I “encountered” in the past couple of months; either homemade or in restaurants. To end on a high note, this burger was based on the “Brie” burger from the cookbook “Hamburger Gourmet” by Victor Garner of the Parisian burger bar chain Blend Hamburger.

Why I picked this recipe:
A juicy burger covered in gooey whole grain mustard coated brie? Nuff Said.

The Recipe:

Likely easier to find in France, but I tried a few cheese delis here, but I couldn’t find any 125g round sized brie. Therefore, I had to resort to a 250g mature Le Rustique Camembert, which worked great too, albeit it got a bit runnier than a brie would. Consequently, I only added the oven-baked camembert in the assembly stage.

The patties:

500g mixed ground beef
few pinches of sea salt

The sauce:

1 finely chopped onion
50g honey

To serve:

2x 125g Brie de Meaux cheeses
50g breadcrumbs
150g wholegrain mustard
1/2 head of iceberg lettuce, shredded

Preheat the oven to 180C.
Form the beef into 4 patties and season with salt.
Sauté the onion in a saucepan with the honey on high heat for about 5 minutes until caramelized.
Halve the brie cheeses horizontally to make 4 rounds. Put them on a baking tray, cut side up. Spread each round with the wholegrain mustard, reserving a little mustard for assembly stage. Then sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the brie to make an even layer. Put them in the oven for 5 minutes.
Cook the patties in a hot pan over high heat in the 3 minutes on each side for rare (4 minutes for medium). Put the rounds of brie on top of the patties.
Toast the halved buns in 2 minutes. Spread the bottom half with the mustard and the caramelized onions, then add the cheese-covered patties and finish with the shredded lettuce.

What worked and what didn’t:
Burgers and cheese fondue in one, what is there not to love? To my slight surprise, even the kids loved them, especially as the sweet caramelized onions mellowed the mustard.

Don’t let the caramelized onions get too cold as they will get a bit chewy. So make sure that the oven is preheated before you wack in the cheese rounds.

Verdict: 9/10