Our Recipes

ARC Burger

Serves Two

ARC Burger

Adapted from West Coast Prime Meats Cooks © 2015

Burger Patties

Ingredients

  • One pound boneless short rib, chilled
  • One pound ribeye strap, chilled*
  • Three cloves garlic, peeled and minced
  • Two tablespoons olive oil
  • Half of a large yellow onion, thinly sliced, crosswise
  • Quarter-pound bacon lardons (3/8-inch cubes)
  • Half-cup rendered duck fat (or melted butter)
  • One teaspoon salt
  • One teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • One tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives
  • One tablespoon chopped fresh chervil

*If you cannot find the rib-eye strap (also known as rib cap steak or spinalis), increase the amount of boneless short rib to two pounds. Also, if you prefer your butcher to prepare the meat, ask for a coarse grind on the short rib and ribeye strap instead of hand-chopping it yourself.

Instructions

  1. In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, sauté the bacon lardons until crisp. Remove from the pan and set aside.
  2. In a separate, medium skillet, heat the two tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat, add the sliced yellow onion and toss to coat with oil. Cook until the onion starts to soften and turn brown. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until nicely browned, about 15 to 20 minutes. Set aside half of the onion for this recipe and allow to cool; refrigerate the remainder for another use.
  3. Hand-chop the cold short rib and ribeye strap and place in a bowl. Add the garlic, the caramelized onions, the crisp lardons; gently toss the mixture with your fingertips. Add the salt, pepper, chives and chervil and toss again. Add 1/3 of the duck fat, reserving the rest to use when cooking the burgers.
  4. Form two large patties, seal well with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Chef’s Tip

These burgers are cooked on a charcoal grill over briquettes and fruitwood chips. Prepare the patties one day ahead. Also, soak the fruitwood chips in water overnight, then drain and use.

Pickled Red Fresno Chiles

Yield: One Cup Pickled Chiles

Ingredients

  • Five large, red jalapeño chiles, stemmed
  • One cup rice wine vinegar
  • Half-tablespoon coriander seed
  • Half-teaspoon whole black peppercorn
  • Half-tablespoon sugar
  • Half-tablespoon salt

Instructions

  1. Cut jalapeños in thin slices, crosswise.
  2. In a medium saucepan, add rice wine vinegar, coriander seed, whole black peppercorn sugar and salt.
  3. Boil mixture over high heat until the sugar dissolves.
  4. Add the chile slices and remove from heat.
  5. Cool; refrigerate at least 12 hours and up to five days in an air-tight container.

Garlic Aioli

Yield: Approximately One Cup

Ingredients

  • Two cloves garlic, peeled
  • Eighth teaspoon salt
  • One teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • Two egg yolks
  • Juice of half of a lemon
  • Three-quarters-cup room-temperature canola oil
  • One teaspoon salt
  • One teaspoon pepper

Instructions

Note: At ARC, we make this in a mortar and pestle, but our instructions here are for a food processor, to ease preparation.

  1. With the motor running on the food processor, drop the garlic cloves through the feed tube. Once they are minced, stop the motor and add the 1/8 teaspoon salt, mustard, egg yolks and lemon juice. Pulse to combine.
  2. Turn the motor back on and slowly add the canola oil in a continuous, thin stream.
  3. Season with remaining salt and pepper.
  4. Refrigerate in a well-sealed container until ready to use.

Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette

Yield: Three Cups

Ingredients

  • Two large shallots, peeled and minced
  • Four garlic cloves, peeled and minced
  • One cup Sherry vinegar
  • Two cups roasted garlic oil*
  • Approximately one teaspoon salt
  • Approximately one teaspoon pepper

*We make roasted garlic oil at ARC but you can purchase it at Sur La Table, Williams-Sonoma or check your local grocer.

Instructions

  1. Put minced garlic, shallots and vinegar in a blender jar and blend on high until smooth.
  2. Slowly pour in the garlic oil until incorporated and thick.
  3. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Refrigerate in a sealed container until ready to use.

Buttermilk Potato Buns

Ingredients

  • One and one-half medium russet potatoes
  • Half-cup unsalted butter
  • Two cups buttermilk
  • Three tablespoons fresh cake yeast or two packages dry yeast
  • Two eggs
  • Two tablespoons sugar
  • Two-and-one-half teaspoons salt
  • Four cups whole wheat flour
  • Three-and-one-half cups bread flour
  • Half-cup cornmeal for dusting

Instructions

  1. Peel and cut potatoes into large chunks. Place in a medium saucepan and boil until tender, about 20 minutes. Immediately rice the potatoes. If you do not have a ricer, mash thoroughly with a potato masher.
  2. Fit an electric stand mixer, such as a Kitchenaid, with a dough hook. Add warm potatoes and butter and mix until incorporated.
  3. Add buttermilk, yeast, eggs, sugar, salt and two cups of the whole wheat flour. Mix on low for three minutes.
  4. Continue adding the remaining whole wheat flour and bread flour until the dough forms a soft, smooth ball. Once this happens, let it knead on low speed for six minutes.
  5. Remove, place in a large, lightly floured bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, draft-free spot until the ball is double in size.
  6. Once doubled, punch down, separate into 8 equal rolls, roll in the cornmeal and place on a sheet pan that is lined with parchment paper. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a clean dish towel and allow to rise again until nearly double in size.
  7. Bake in the oven until golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.
  8. The extra baked buns can be held in the freezer, stored in an airtight container, for up to one month.

Assembly

Ingredients

  • Two Burger Patties (see recipe)
  • Half-cup rendered duck fat, melted butter or high-end olive oil
  • Optional: Half-cup shredded aged white Cheddar (we use 5-year-old)
  • Quarter of a red onion, shaved
  • Handful of baby red oak lettuce
  • Two large heirloom tomatoes, contrasting colors (such as one red and one orange) cut in 3/8-inch slices and lightly salted
  • Two Buttermilk Potato Buns, sliced in half
  • Two tablespoons melted butter
  • Approximately four tablespoons Garlic Aioli (see recipe)
  • Eight to ten slices Pickled Red Fresno Chiles (see recipe)
  • One tablespoon Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette (see recipe)

Instructions

  1. Heat briquettes in a charcoal grill. Top with the pre-soaked chunks of fruitwood (apple, cherry, citrus). Let the fire burn down until the flames die down, then rake the coals to make an even surface. Place a cast iron skillet directly onto the coals. Note: We use a skillet and do not cook the burgers on a grate. That way, the fat stays in the skillet and does not drip into the coals and catch on fire.
  2. Place about one tablespoon of the duck fat in a cast iron skillet. Place the patties in the skillet and ladle the remaining duck fat over and around the meat.
  3. Cook until the burgers are well-crusted on the bottom, about 10 minutes. With insulated barbecue mitts and a long spatula, carefully turn the burgers. Allow to cook to the desired degree of doneness, about 10 minutes for medium rare or 12 to 15 minutes for medium.
  4. Using the insulated mitts, carefully remove the skillet from the heat to a trivet or other heat-safe surface. If you are making cheeseburgers, add the cheese to the top of the burger now.
  5. Replace the grate on the grill, brush the tops and edges of the buns with the melted butter and lightly brown the cut sides of the potato buns.
  6. In a small bowl, gently toss by hand the lettuce and the vinaigrette.
  7. Spread a thin layer of aioli on the cut side of the buns. On each bottom half, place a burger patty, then shaved red onion, lettuce, 2 tomato slices and a few slices of pickled chiles. Top with the other bun half and serve immediately.

Copyright © 2015 by Amy and Craig Nickoloff and West Coast Prime Meats
Recipes reprinted with permission of the owners.

Contributor

Marin Howarth von Blöm and Noah von Blöm
Owners, ARC Restaurant

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