Dry Aged BriSkirtRib Burger

Back in November 2008 I was sitting around playing with menu ideas and I came across the recap of the Rachel Ray Burger Contest at the NY Wine and Food Festival. While the winner of the contest was Katie Lee Joel (Billy's wife) with her patty melt I clicked away at a tangent that took me to La Frieda's Meats in the meat district in New York.

A couple great articles chronicled the "special black label blend" that La Frieda Meats put together for the competition. I started with The Feedbag., and then moved on to A Hamburger Today.. "The Black Label blend was aimed at high-end restaurants and featured an "intoxicating" mix of skirt, brisket, short rib, and a secret cut that is actually dry aged! It has an extremely generous 70/30 meat-to-fat ratio, making for an ethereally succulent burger."

I went out to Star Market after church that day and got myself a 3 Lb brisket, a couple lbs of boneless short ribs, and a skirt steak..broke out the trusty villa home grinder and went after it. 


I pan seared an about a 10 oz burger-on the outside..completely 
cold in the center, topped it with a sliced red onion, tomato, and some sliced home cured pickles and a sprinkle of Monarch steak dust.

The Dry Aged BriSkirtRib Burger was born...Delicious!

Last week I hosted the Walnut Creek Build a Better Burger Blitz featuring three different burger patties, three different buns, three different cheeses, three different sauces, and five different toppings for endless possibilities.

The now annual burger blitz is timed to coincide with the New York City Wine and Food Festival Burger Bash.  The People's Choice winner for the third year in a row is Josh Capon for his burger topped with Niman Ranch bacon relish.  The judges favorite again this year is Michael White.  You may remember seeing Meat Man Pat LaFrieda working on the White Burger on his show last year.