Farmhouse Burger Recipes

Steps:

• Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the butter. When it foams, add the bread, cut-side down, and toast until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Transfer the bread to a platter.
• Sprinkle the beef with salt and pepper and mix it in, using your hands. Shape the ground beef into four patties. Flatten the patties between sheets of wax paper to a 3/8-inch thickness. (The patties will be 1 1/2 times larger than your palms; it's ok if the edges look ragged, since the burgers shrink up a bit while cooking.)
• Wipe the skillet lightly with vegetable oil using a paper towel. Add the patties to the skillet and cook on the first side for 3 minutes. Flip, season again, and cook for 2 minutes. Top each patty with a slice of American cheese and cook 1 minute more.
• Smear the toasted buns on both sides with some of Nancy's Special Sauce. Stack a burger patty on top of each bun, add a slice of onion, then top with a second patty, followed by the pickles, tomatoes and lettuce. Cover with the top buns and eat with a napkin!
• In a bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, relish, Sriracha and vinegar until well-combined.

Steps:

• Sauté eggplant in 1 tbls. butter on low heat until very soft, about 15 minutes. I actually ended up adding a touch more butter so they wouldn't stick.
• Mix together eggplant and all the rest of the ingredients, except oil, let rest for ½ hour in refrigerator (or alternately, place the eggplant, mixed with 1-2 tbls. olive oil, on a baking sheet and roast about 15-20 minutes on 400*F. or till soft. Then mix with rest of ingredients-except oil- and continue with directions given).
• Form into 4-6 equal patties about an inch thickThe amount of patties will depend on the size of the eggplants).
• In a sauté pan, heat olive oil until hot, then fry patties till dark brown, about 5 minutes each side.
• Serve on whole grain sandwich buns with caramelized onions, spicy brown mustard, roasted red peppers and mix of baby salad greens(or spinach). Enjoy!
• Note:.
• I halved the recipe using a 1 pound eggplant and came out with 3 nice size patties. I did use 1 scallion and a handful of chives. I used just a little more cheese than called for(I used a mixture of cheddar and jack). Yummy!

Steps:

• Sauté eggplant on low heat till grey and very soft.
• Mix together eggplant and all the rest of the ingredients, except oil, let rest for ½ hour in refrigerator.
• Form into 4 equal patties about an inch thick.
• In a sauté pan, heat olive oil until shimmering hot, fry each side of patty till dark brown, about 5 minutes each side.
• Serve on locally made sandwich bun with caramelized onions, spicy brown mustard, roasted red peppers and salad mix.
• **Notes: These are the exact directions from the restaurant website, and it's usually best to stick to the recipe on your first try. I have made these without peeling the eggplant and the peels don't hurt anything. I don't know if I always pick unusually big eggplants, but I get six burgers from this recipe instead of the four the restaurant states. I also now use an egg as the binding agent with half the amount of cheese, which I find holds the patties together a little better. They are smashing with a whole, canned poblano on top. Enjoy!