TOPPING IT OFF

August 4, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Creatively layering condiments adds personality to a patty

Chicago Tribune

You’ve been grilling burgers for a while now, and you’re thinking it’s about time to up your game, to move beyond the ketchup-relish-mustard rut.

It’s time to strut your stuff. But you don’t know where to start, right?

Many high-profile chefs have been playing with burger toppings, coming up with inventive approaches to the traditional so-so toppers. Some then have opened upscale burger restaurants and written cookbooks — Bobby Flay and Hubert Keller are among them — to showcase their creations.

Of course, they’re playing with the burger’s mix, serving up all beef, beef and pork, beef and sausage, turkey, fish and veggie patties. But in the toppings department, they’re mixing flavors and textures to maximize the eating experience.

“A burger is such a wonderful combination of taste and flavors and texture and temperatures,” said chef Jeffrey Starr, culinary director of the 20-year-old Sutter Home Winery’s Build a Better Burger recipe contest. “You bite through a bun that’s a little crunchy on the outside, then soft and then through the crisp lettuce, then the cold tomato and into the hot beef.”

His advice: “If you want to create your own burger, think of dishes that are not burgers that you love to eat. Chefs do this all the time — they deconstruct a dish and reconstruct it into something else. If you like moo shu pork, make a pork burger with hoisin sauce and fried vegetables on it.”

Spike Mendelsohn (the guy from the fourth season of “Top Chef”) is a firm believer in toppings. “I think that’s what makes the difference in burgers,” said Mendelsohn, who opened his burger-rich Good Stuff Eatery in Washington two years ago.

“We have a really, really great blend of meat, but our chefs in the restaurant group came up with some innovative toppings to put on burgers — and we always try to incorporate texture and balance the flavors.”

Be inspired by these topping ideas from a trio of chefs. Some of the combos may be a bit overwhelming, but, like the fashions on Parisian runways, pick and choose what you like and try a few.

GRILL SMART; BE SAFE, TOO

Chicago chefs, local TV celebs and safety experts gathered recently on a patio at Aqua, a Columbus Drive skyscraper, with four gas grills and a few dozen pounds of ground meat, looking for “Chicago’s Safest Grill Master.”

The reason? The sponsor was Underwriters Laboratories, the Northbrook, Ill.,-based product safety group, which knows the dangers of bum igniters on gas grills and improperly stored propane.

So as burgers sizzled on grills, UL’s director of consumer safety John Drengenberg strolled among the contestants: Insulated flame-retardant gloves? (Good.) Wander away and leave the grill unattended? (Bad.) Use a spray bottle of water to control flare-ups? (Good.)

The teams: WBBM-TV meteorologist Don Schwenneker with help from chef Audry Triplett of Gibsons Steakhouse; WFLD-TV news reporter Sondra Solarte with Rick Gresh from David Burke’s Primehouse; Francisco Damian, a UL engineer, with Bernie Laskowski from Park Grill at Millennium Park; and WLS-TV food reporter Steve Dolinsky with Aaron Deal, formerly of Custom House. Scoring was split 50-50 between the burger and safety.

Schwenneker took the top prize, $10,000, which he donated to Feed My Starving Children.

Drengenberg’s safe-grilling tips:

“Grill outdoors. And people say, ‘What are you talking about, we always grill outdoors,’” he said. But people put grills in a garage when it rains. “You get a flare-up, and your garage is on fire.”

Don’t dispose of hot charcoal in the sand on the beach or in the corner of your backyard. “Charcoal takes a long time to cool down,” he said, and kids running barefoot can get burned. “If you’re in a hurry to get somewhere, put the garden hose on [hot coals].”

Be sure a grill is a safe distance from buildings (about 10 feet), and keep flammable items away from the grill. Think he’s overreacting? “Common sense is not as common as you think,” he said, noting outdoor grills are responsible for 19,000 emergency-room visits and 7,900 home fires each year.

HOW MUCH FAT IS IN HAMBURGER?

The meat counter always seems confusing when it comes to choosing ground beef. Packages look similar, but prices vary widely. What gives?

Butchers mix a certain amount of lean beef with a certain amount of fat.

For example, a package could be labeled 75/25 (that means 75 percent lean beef was mixed with 25 percent fat).

Others could have higher amounts of lean beef. So how do you decide what to buy? It depends on how you plan to use it, health concerns and your budget.

Several chefs we talked to prefer an 85/15 ratio for making burgers because the fat gives the patty moisture and flavor.

But if you’re trying to cut back on fat consumption, you might prefer a leaner version.

You should get more meat for your money plus less fat to drain off and discard.

BURGER TOPPERS WITH STYLE

With high-profile chefs headlining burger eateries (Hubert Keller in Las Vegas, St. Louis and San Francisco, plus Spike Mendelsohn in D.C., to name two) and new burger cookbooks on the market, it’s time to get caught up in the burger mania.

Chefs happily work with all sorts of burgers — beef, pork, beef-pork, lamb, turkey, sausage, seafood and veggie.

But when it comes to toppings, they balance flavors and textures.