The Ultimate Newfie Touton Burger

The Ultimate Newfie Touton Burger

One of my biggest pet peeves about places that serve a big, juicy burger is that it is too often served on an bun that is not substantial enough to handle it. By the time you get half way through the burger the bun has all but disintegrated and you are waving to the server for extra napkins. A big sloppy burger needs a bun that can tame all that juicy goodness.

Here in Newfoundland we are very, very fond indeed of our toutons, which are what we traditionally call the leftover dough from baking bread that gets fried up in pork fat. You can read more about toutons here.

Toutons have body and a slightly chewy texture when fried so one of the things that I have been meaning to try for ages is to make large toutons to use as burger buns. This was a bit of a culinary lark in my mind, so half jokingly I whipped up a couple of big toutons to give it a shot. I made them from store bought touton dough which is readily available in one of our local markets. Hey, if those food trucks on TV can throw out a burger on a glazed donut, using a touton suddenly didn't seem so nuts; in fact it sounded downright reasonable by comparison.

Well, it might have started out as a semi joke but I absolutely loved this burger!! The grill-toasted touton held the burger together fantastically well and added a great, slightly chewy texture to the burger. It was delicious and Spouse agreed that it was a fantastic idea as she scarfed down her first bite!

Since I was going with a very local idea for the buns, I decided to incorporate more local products and ingredients to create a totally "Newfie" burger. A friend had gifted me with some moose meat from last fall's hunt, which is extremely lean. I ground it myself, adding 20% of the finished weight in ground salt fatback pork which added seasoning, moistness and flavor to the burger. The burger was then served with some local slab bacon that I thickly hand sliced and slowly fried to crisp. The mayo that tops the burger is infused with garlic, apple cider vinegar and savoury, a herb that is popularly used here in a very simple poultry stuffing that we call "dressing". All that sounds like an episode of Newfoundland "Epic Meal Time" doesn't it? ;)

To make the touton burger buns use

3 oz touten dough (white bread dough) per bun

Find my dough recipe for White Bread here.

Shape the dough into balls and flatten into 4 inch rounds. Let the rounds rise on a floured board under a tea towel in a warm place for about a half hour.

Heat a half inch of canola oil over medium low heat to about 275 degrees F in a large skillet. Over that temperature may result in toutons with a doughy center. You want these to bubble and begin to fry immediately so that they don't absorb a lot of oil but frying as slowly as possible is very important. When they are golden on one side flip them and fry for an equal amount of time on the opposite side. I place them on a parchment lined aluminum cookie sheet in a 250 degree F oven for another 10 minutes or so to ensure that they are cooked through.

Let them cool completely completely on a wire rack before splitting them horizontally with a sharp serrated bread knife and toasting the inside on a grill or under the broiler.

These touton buns are sufficiently large to hold 6 ounce beef burgers. (or even 2, as pictured)

The burgers shown are topped with:

• thick cut smoked bacon
• savory mayo

I make the Savoury Mayo by mixing together:

• 1/2 cup homemade or good quality mayonnaise
• 1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp dried savoury
• 1/2 clove very finely minced garlic (or 2 cloves roasted garlic)
• pinch salt and pepper

Let the mayo sit covered in the fridge for at least a half for the flavor to develop.

The Ultimate Newfie Touton Burger

One of my biggest pet peeves about places that serve a big, juicy burger is that it is too often served on an bun that is not substantial enough to handle it. By the time you get half way through the burger the bun has all but disintegrated and you are waving to the server for extra napkins. A big sloppy burger needs a bun that can tame all that juicy goodness.

Here in Newfoundland we are very, very fond indeed of our toutons, which are what we traditionally call the leftover dough from baking bread that gets fried up in pork fat. You can read more about toutons here.

Toutons have body and a slightly chewy texture when fried so one of the things that I have been meaning to try for ages is to make large toutons to use as burger buns. This was a bit of a culinary lark in my mind, so half jokingly I whipped up a couple of big toutons to give it a shot. I made them from store bought touton dough which is readily available in one of our local markets. Hey, if those food trucks on TV can throw out a burger on a glazed donut, using a touton suddenly didn't seem so nuts; in fact it sounded downright reasonable by comparison.

Well, it might have started out as a semi joke but I absolutely loved this burger!! The grill-toasted touton held the burger together fantastically well and added a great, slightly chewy texture to the burger. It was delicious and Spouse agreed that it was a fantastic idea as she scarfed down her first bite!

Since I was going with a very local idea for the buns, I decided to incorporate more local products and ingredients to create a totally "Newfie" burger. A friend had gifted me with some moose meat from last fall's hunt, which is extremely lean. I ground it myself, adding 20% of the finished weight in ground salt fatback pork which added seasoning, moistness and flavor to the burger. The burger was then served with some local slab bacon that I thickly hand sliced and slowly fried to crisp. The mayo that tops the burger is infused with garlic, apple cider vinegar and savoury, a herb that is popularly used here in a very simple poultry stuffing that we call "dressing". All that sounds like an episode of Newfoundland "Epic Meal Time" doesn't it? ;)

To make the touton burger buns use

3 oz touten dough (white bread dough) per bun

Find my dough recipe for White Bread here.

Shape the dough into balls and flatten into 4 inch rounds. Let the rounds rise on a floured board under a tea towel in a warm place for about a half hour.

Heat a half inch of canola oil over medium low heat to about 275 degrees F in a large skillet. Over that temperature may result in toutons with a doughy center. You want these to bubble and begin to fry immediately so that they don't absorb a lot of oil but frying as slowly as possible is very important. When they are golden on one side flip them and fry for an equal amount of time on the opposite side. I place them on a parchment lined aluminum cookie sheet in a 250 degree F oven for another 10 minutes or so to ensure that they are cooked through.

Let them cool completely completely on a wire rack before splitting them horizontally with a sharp serrated bread knife and toasting the inside on a grill or under the broiler.

These touton buns are sufficiently large to hold 6 ounce beef burgers. (or even 2, as pictured)

The burgers shown are topped with:

• thick cut smoked bacon
• savory mayo

I make the Savoury Mayo by mixing together:

• 1/2 cup homemade or good quality mayonnaise
• 1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp dried savoury
• 1/2 clove very finely minced garlic (or 2 cloves roasted garlic)
• pinch salt and pepper

Let the mayo sit covered in the fridge for at least a half for the flavor to develop.

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Chorizo Pepper Jack Cheeseburgers with Guacamole

Chorizo Pepper Jack Cheeseburgers with Guacamole

Since I made some delicious homemade chorizo sausage last week, I've been enjoying it in as many ways as possible. I've grilled the sausage, smoked it and used it in an absolutely amazing brunch dish with eggs and spicy tomato compote. (See that photo along with the original sausage recipe by clicking here.)

Yesterday when burgers were on our weekend menu, I decided to add some of the loose sausage meat to the ground beef as I've done before with other sausages. The burgers turned out juicy and delicious and worked beautifully with the melting pepper jack cheese and guacamole. If you're looking for a way to breathe some life into boring burgers, this is a very tasty choice.

Makes 4, six ounce burgers.

• 6 ounces chorizo sausage meat
• 18 ounces regular ground beef

Combine the sausage and ground beef well and form into 4 large patties. Season the patties with salt and pepper or dust them all over with some of our Smokin' Summer Spice Dry Rub.  Cook to well done over high heat on a gas or charcoal grill, about 6 minutes per side. In the final minute or two add:

• sliced pepper jack cheese (about 1 1/2 ounces per burger)

Serve on toasted buns topped with

• thick sliced tomatoes
• guacamole

Easy Guacamole

• 1 large ripe avocado
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 tsp fresh black pepper
• 4 tbsp hot sauce (optional or to taste)
• 1/4 tsp sea salt (or to taste)

Crush the avocado roughly in a mortar and pestle or just with a fork. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well. Store in a glass bowl with plastic wrap touching the surface of the guacamole to preserve the color.

Chorizo Pepper Jack Cheeseburgers with Guacamole

Since I made some delicious homemade chorizo sausage last week, I've been enjoying it in as many ways as possible. I've grilled the sausage, smoked it and used it in an absolutely amazing brunch dish with eggs and spicy tomato compote. (See that photo along with the original sausage recipe by clicking here.)

Yesterday when burgers were on our weekend menu, I decided to add some of the loose sausage meat to the ground beef as I've done before with other sausages. The burgers turned out juicy and delicious and worked beautifully with the melting pepper jack cheese and guacamole. If you're looking for a way to breathe some life into boring burgers, this is a very tasty choice.

Makes 4, six ounce burgers.

• 6 ounces chorizo sausage meat
• 18 ounces regular ground beef

Combine the sausage and ground beef well and form into 4 large patties. Season the patties with salt and pepper or dust them all over with some of our Smokin' Summer Spice Dry Rub.  Cook to well done over high heat on a gas or charcoal grill, about 6 minutes per side. In the final minute or two add:

• sliced pepper jack cheese (about 1 1/2 ounces per burger)

Serve on toasted buns topped with

• thick sliced tomatoes
• guacamole

Easy Guacamole

• 1 large ripe avocado
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 tsp fresh black pepper
• 4 tbsp hot sauce (optional or to taste)
• 1/4 tsp sea salt (or to taste)

Crush the avocado roughly in a mortar and pestle or just with a fork. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well. Store in a glass bowl with plastic wrap touching the surface of the guacamole to preserve the color.

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Roasted Garlic and White Cheddar Burgers with Beer and Bacon Jam

Roasted Garlic and White Cheddar Burgers with Beer and Bacon Jam

As the school year starts and we progress further into September, a touch of Fall is definitely in the air but there are still plenty of days to get out and do some great grilling while the weather still allows here in Newfoundland. This weekend is a good opportunity to enjoy one of the best burgers I've tasted this summer.

My versions of cheeseburgers often include cheese stuffed inside but while some recipes add grated cheese, I prefer to add small cubes of cheese into the ground beef mixture, so that it melts in little pockets and oozes out when you bite into the juicy burger. Delicious, robust aged Canadian white cheddar is what I used in this recipe but you can easily substitute any of your own favorite cheeses.

The crowning glory of this burger is again one of my favorite new condiments that I recently featured on Rock Recipes, Beer and Bacon Jam! The discovery of this amazing addition to grilled chops, steaks, chicken and of course, burgers, has to be my favorite new recipe of the grilling season. If you didn't catch that recipe a few weeks ago, be sure to check it out here: Beer and Bacon Jam.

Roasting garlic for this recipe is very easy. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Slice about a 1/4 inch off the top of a head of garlic, place it on a square of aluminum foil, drizzle with a little olive oil add a pinch of salt and pepper and bring all the edges of the aluminum foil over the garlic head and squeeze it together to seal completely. Roast for about 35 minutes or until the garlic is completely softened and turning golden brown and are easily able to be removed from the skins.

For each burger combine:

• 6 ounces lean ground beef
• 1 1/2 ounces aged white cheddar, cut in 1 cm cubes
• pinch kosher salt
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 3 cloves roasted garlic, mashed
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp ground dry thyme
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Form into patties and cook on a hot grill or in a hot, lightly oiled cast iron pan until well done (internal temperature with a meat thermometer should read 160 degrees F or higher). Serve on toasted crusty rolls topped with Beer and Bacon Jam.

Roasted Garlic and White Cheddar Burgers with Beer and Bacon Jam

As the school year starts and we progress further into September, a touch of Fall is definitely in the air but there are still plenty of days to get out and do some great grilling while the weather still allows here in Newfoundland. This weekend is a good opportunity to enjoy one of the best burgers I've tasted this summer.

My versions of cheeseburgers often include cheese stuffed inside but while some recipes add grated cheese, I prefer to add small cubes of cheese into the ground beef mixture, so that it melts in little pockets and oozes out when you bite into the juicy burger. Delicious, robust aged Canadian white cheddar is what I used in this recipe but you can easily substitute any of your own favorite cheeses.

The crowning glory of this burger is again one of my favorite new condiments that I recently featured on Rock Recipes, Beer and Bacon Jam! The discovery of this amazing addition to grilled chops, steaks, chicken and of course, burgers, has to be my favorite new recipe of the grilling season. If you didn't catch that recipe a few weeks ago, be sure to check it out here: Beer and Bacon Jam.

Roasting garlic for this recipe is very easy. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Slice about a 1/4 inch off the top of a head of garlic, place it on a square of aluminum foil, drizzle with a little olive oil add a pinch of salt and pepper and bring all the edges of the aluminum foil over the garlic head and squeeze it together to seal completely. Roast for about 35 minutes or until the garlic is completely softened and turning golden brown and are easily able to be removed from the skins.

For each burger combine:

• 6 ounces lean ground beef
• 1 1/2 ounces aged white cheddar, cut in 1 cm cubes
• pinch kosher salt
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 3 cloves roasted garlic, mashed
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp ground dry thyme
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Form into patties and cook on a hot grill or in a hot, lightly oiled cast iron pan until well done (internal temperature with a meat thermometer should read 160 degrees F or higher). Serve on toasted crusty rolls topped with Beer and Bacon Jam.

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Vegetarian Grilled Corn, Roasted Red Pepper and 5 bean Chilli...on burgers!

As food jokes go, this one is pretty lame, I have to admit...but since we did have some of this delicious vegetarian chilli on hand to serve a couple of our herbivorous friends and I was in the mood for a big juicy burger, as often we do here, we combined the two. 

One of the ways we serve up our vegetarian chilli is spooned into large tempura battered red onion rings. It really is delicious this way and can serve as an appetizer or as a vegetarian main course. On a burger, the large onion ring serves as a vessel to contain the spicy chilli on top. It may have been a collision of herbivores and carnivores at our table but it sure was delicious!

Chilli

Soak 1 to 1 ½ cups dry 5 bean mix beans overnight, depending on the amount of beans you prefer in your chilli. You may use canned beans if you prefer.

In a large pot heat 3 tbsp olive oil.

Add
6 cloves minced garlic
2 medium red onions

Cook until the onions begin to soften.

Add

1 ½ cups tomato sauce
4 cups crushed tomatoes
2 roasted red peppers chopped
3 ears of grilled corn, removed from cob
1 minced jalapeño pepper( optional)
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
4 heaping tbsp chili powder

3 tablespoons molasses
Salt and pepper to season

4 tbsp chopped cilatro

pre-soaked r canned  beans

Simmer very gently over low heat for 1 ½ to 2 hours stirring occasionally. Serve alone or with tortilla chips and garnishes of grated cheddar cheese, sour cream and lime guacamole.

Tempura Red Onion Rings

Heat canola oil in a deep fryer to 350 degrees F or shallow fry in an inch of oil in a deep cast iron frying pan using a thermometer to keep a careful eye on the heat level.

Mix together

1 egg + enough whole milk to make 1 cup

Whisk in

1 cup flour

Some lumps in this simple batter is just fine. Let batter stand for 10 minutes before dipping

1  inch rings of red onion

into the tempura batter and then dropping them into the deep fryer. Cook for only a few minutes until light golden brown.

As food jokes go, this one is pretty lame, I have to admit...but since we did have some of this delicious vegetarian chilli on hand to serve a couple of our herbivorous friends and I was in the mood for a big juicy burger, as often we do here, we combined the two. 

One of the ways we serve up our vegetarian chilli is spooned into large tempura battered red onion rings. It really is delicious this way and can serve as an appetizer or as a vegetarian main course. On a burger, the large onion ring serves as a vessel to contain the spicy chilli on top. It may have been a collision of herbivores and carnivores at our table but it sure was delicious!

Chilli

Soak 1 to 1 ½ cups dry 5 bean mix beans overnight, depending on the amount of beans you prefer in your chilli. You may use canned beans if you prefer.

In a large pot heat 3 tbsp olive oil.

Add
6 cloves minced garlic
2 medium red onions

Cook until the onions begin to soften.

Add

1 ½ cups tomato sauce
4 cups crushed tomatoes
2 roasted red peppers chopped
3 ears of grilled corn, removed from cob
1 minced jalapeño pepper( optional)
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
4 heaping tbsp chili powder

3 tablespoons molasses
Salt and pepper to season

4 tbsp chopped cilatro

pre-soaked r canned  beans

Simmer very gently over low heat for 1 ½ to 2 hours stirring occasionally. Serve alone or with tortilla chips and garnishes of grated cheddar cheese, sour cream and lime guacamole.

Tempura Red Onion Rings

Heat canola oil in a deep fryer to 350 degrees F or shallow fry in an inch of oil in a deep cast iron frying pan using a thermometer to keep a careful eye on the heat level.

Mix together

1 egg + enough whole milk to make 1 cup

Whisk in

1 cup flour

Some lumps in this simple batter is just fine. Let batter stand for 10 minutes before dipping

1  inch rings of red onion

into the tempura batter and then dropping them into the deep fryer. Cook for only a few minutes until light golden brown.

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Jalapeno and Queso Fresco Stuffed Burgers

The great grilling continues with another winning combination in a stuffed burger. This time some locally made queso  fresco artisan cheese from Five Brothers Cheese gets layered with diced fresh jalopeno peppers and stuffed into extra lean ground beef flavored with garlic and even more jalopenos! This is a very flavorful burger with plenty of punch. Plenty of crisp bacon was the only thing my inner meat-a-tarian needed to complete this burger but next time I'm trying it with some fresh homemade salsa as a condiment.

Makes 4 burgers

Mix together:

2 lbs extra lean ground beef

1 or 2 finely diced jalapeño peppers

1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp kosher salt

2 tbsp smoked paprika

1 clove minced garlic
1/2 tsp ground cumin

4 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Form into 8 individual burger patties. On four of the patties, place about 

2 ounces thinly sliced queso fresco cheese layered with a sprinkle of diced jalapeño peppers between the layers of cheese.

Place the remaining four patties over the cheese and pinch the edges together to seal.

Grill over medium high heat  for 4-5 minutes per side or longer if you prefer well-done. Serve on well toasted burger buns with plenty of crispy bacon.

The great grilling continues with another winning combination in a stuffed burger. This time some locally made queso  fresco artisan cheese from Five Brothers Cheese gets layered with diced fresh jalopeno peppers and stuffed into extra lean ground beef flavored with garlic and even more jalopenos! This is a very flavorful burger with plenty of punch. Plenty of crisp bacon was the only thing my inner meat-a-tarian needed to complete this burger but next time I'm trying it with some fresh homemade salsa as a condiment.

Makes 4 burgers

Mix together:

2 lbs extra lean ground beef

1 or 2 finely diced jalapeño peppers

1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp kosher salt

2 tbsp smoked paprika

1 clove minced garlic
1/2 tsp ground cumin

4 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Form into 8 individual burger patties. On four of the patties, place about 

2 ounces thinly sliced queso fresco cheese layered with a sprinkle of diced jalapeño peppers between the layers of cheese.

Place the remaining four patties over the cheese and pinch the edges together to seal.

Grill over medium high heat  for 4-5 minutes per side or longer if you prefer well-done. Serve on well toasted burger buns with plenty of crispy bacon.

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