Jul 04

Here’s how John Tesar makes a perfect summer burger at Knife

: See how chef John Tesar makes this July 4 pimento cheese burger

: get your mis all in place before you start.

: Brush your burger patties with a bit of butter so they get crispy and crunchy on the outside

: while the first side of the burger gets a sear, add a bun to the pan to brown the toast it. It’ll be ready in about a minute.

: Add the burger salt-and-peppered side down, then rain salt and pepper on the unseasoned side. Don’t move the patty for at least two minutes if you want a golden sear. And do not press down on the patty. Ever.

: get a pan smoking hot, then add a little canola oil or clarified butter to the pan before you add the beef. That’ll keep the burger from sticking and help develop a crispy, crunchy crust.

: Salt and pepper your burgers on one side, letting the seasonings fall on the patties like rain

: Get ready to flip

: Looks like a steak, right? Don’t move the patty for at least two minutes if you want a crispy crust.

: While your burger cooks, check on the steaks cooking in the pan next to it. You have steaks cooking in the pan next to the burgers, right?

: get a big dollop of pimento cheese ready for the burger

: spoon the pimento cheese onto the top of the burger right after you flipped the burger. As the uncooked side of the burger cooks, the cheese will go all gooey on the top side.

: Cover the pan with another pan (or a lid) to help the cheese melt.

: mis en place again. Get ready to plate that burger

: Now that’s gooey. Ready to go to the plate.

: Never trust a chef who won’t eat his own food.

: Tesar’s burgers at Knife are a rowdy crowd

Did you know the first draft of the Declaration of Independence included the phrase, “…Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Burger happiness,” but the word “burger” was dropped in a last minute compromise with the crazy vegans, who refused to sign the document.

So today, it’s fitting to examine how to construct one of the world’s great burgers. No, not a thin-patty smash burger or even a thick chunk of ground beef charred and made acrid by flames.

Instead, I like my burgers the way John Tesar likes his burgers: a mixture of ground chuck and brisket with about 25% fat (because fat is where all the flavor lives) and cooked in a smoking hot skillet.

Still want to use your grill? Me too. Stick your skillet on the grill and cook the burgers in the skillet on the grill. Why? Because you want to save and concentrate all those beefy juices as they drip out of the burger.

That, my friends, is burger pan sauce. Very French. Very American. Very Cheffy. We snuck into the kitchen of Knife and caught John Tesar working his magic on a burger with poblano-spiked pimento cheese.

Here’s a VIPeak at how to make a winning burger.