Burgers, like most Americans, were something that I grew up on. But as my childhood metabolism started to slowly diminish and I would order burgers out of the restaurant. Well, they would take me down. They would put me out for a few hours and for me, it’s not just important that the food tastes delicious. That is one piece of the puzzle. It’s equally as important that I feel good after. That’s the complete package that I’m looking for.

So as I got older, I kind of just ruled the burgers out for a bit, thinking that they were just too decadent, too rich, that I couldn’t handle them. But then over the last few years I’ve started to focus a little bit more on sourcing certain ingredients. Making these burger elements from scratch. I realized that I can make a really decadent gourmet loaded up style burger that doesn’t make me feel like shit. Check out the full video here.

Brioche Buns

Ingredients:

Tangzhong

• 50 grams of flour

• 125 grams of milk

Dough

• 2 teaspoons of yeast (5-7 grams)

• 15 grams of sugar

• 1 Egg

• 360 grams of all purpose flour

• 125 grams of warm water

• 10 grams of salt

• 60 grams of butter

• Sesame seeds, optional

Instructions:

1. For the tangzhong, add the flour & milk into the pot and stir it around on low heat for 5 minutes until it thickens up, almost like a roux. Let it come down in temp.

2. Activate your yeast; Take a medium-size bowl and add in yeast and sugar. Let that activate for 10 minutes until it’s nice and bubbly.

3. Take a big mixing bowl and add the activated yeast, beaten egg, flour, water, salt, and tangzhong. Mix that up until it starts to come together.

4. Take your dough out from the mixing bowl and put it on the floured surface and start kneading until it starts to come together.

5. Let the dough sit, let those glutens relax a little bit.

6. After the dough is relaxed, add in the softened butter. It’s going to be hard to knead with the butter in at first, but eventually, this will come together. Knead for about 5 minutes.

7. After kneading it, let it rise for about an hour to an hour and a half or until it doubles its size.

8. Once proofed, put your dough on a floured board and chop that into 6 -7 pieces. Round out your pieces.

9. Take a sheet pan and spray that down so it doesn’t stick. Put the buns on the pan and make sure they have enough space to rise.

10. Let that sit for an hour until it doubles in size. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 375°F.

11. Beat up an egg with a bit of milk to brush on the dough, so it gets a nice golden crust. Sprinkle on some sesame seeds if using.

12. Bake For 20-25 minutes and enjoy!

Caramelized Onion

Ingredients:

• 4 onions, sliced from root to stem

• 1 tablespoons of oil

• 2 tablespoons of butter

• Large pinch of salt

Instructions:

1. In a skillet on low heat, add in all your ingredients. Let the onion cook for 30 minutes, melting down those sugar.

2. You should be left with soft caramelized onions. Set aside.

Homemade Pickles

Ingredients:

• 4 kirby cucumbers, sliced

• 1 cloves of garlic

• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds

• 1 teaspoon of coriander

• 1 teaspoon of cumin

• White vinegar*

• Water*

• 2 tablespoons of sugar

• 1 tablespoons of salt

Instructions:

1. In a jar, add in your sliced cucumbers, garlic, and spices.

2. Next, pour white vinegar. Go up to either ⅓ or ½ of the jar. ⅓ for less acidic pickles and ½ for more acidic pickles. Fill up the remaining space with water.

3. Pour out all the liquid into a jar and add in the sugar and salt. Set the heat to medium low and let the sugar and salt dissolve.

4. Pour everything back into the jar, seal it, and let it sit overnight in the fridge.

Homemade Aioli

Ingredients:

• 1 egg yolk

• Olive oil

• 2 capfuls of apple cider vinegar

• Pinch of salt

• 1 clove of garlic

• Handful of chopped parsley

Ingredients:

1. In a bowl, add in 1 egg yolk and start whisking, Slowly drip in the olive oil and continue whisking. As the mixture thickens you can add more oil. Once your have as much mayo as you need you can begin flavoring it.

2. Add in 2 capfuls of apple cider vinegar, pinch of salt, 1 clove of grated garlic, and a handful of chopped parsley.

3. Give it a mix and place in the fridge until ready to use.