Oh Baby, Have I Got a Burger For You

When I was a kid, the best burger in town was at the Royal Castle in Miami, Florida. I'm not entirely sure of the time-line, but long before White Castle and Krystal burgers came on the scene, Royal Castle was infamous in the Miami area for its small square burgers with little tiny onions on top, and great buns. Oh, and their root beer, or Birch beer, that was out of this world.

(Those of you who want to join me in waxing nostalgic for the old Miami might want to click on this link  or this link )

In any event, this past weekend, hub and I were watching Alton Brown on the Food Network, and he was making the mini square burgers.  He calls them Mini MAN burgers.  It was his method that fascinated me as he rolled ground beef out into a large square on a jelly roll pan, seasoned well, folded it in half and cut the squares with a pizza cutter. 

I was always taught that if you handled raw beef too much, it would make for a tough hamburger. But these came out sooooo good.  Normally I use lean ground beef, but I'm not sure that would work for this recipe.  I may try it that way in the future and test the results.  In any event, this recipe is a keeper.
Don't pound the beef, just roll it out. And use the wine bottle, as Alton suggested on the show.   It helps get the beef into the corners and did a neater job than the rolling pin.  You have got to try them!  It did remind me a bit of the old Royal Castle burgers from all those years ago. 

Mini Man Burgers, Alton Brown:

1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 pound ground chuck
8 (3-inch) buns or rolls, split in half
2 to 3 tablespoons mayonnaise. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Preheat a griddle to 350 degrees F.

Combine the onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.

Line a jellyroll or sheet pan with parchment paper, and place the ground chuck in the middle of the pan. Cover the meat with a large sheet of plastic wrap. Roll meat with a rolling pin until it covers the surface of the pan; it should be very thin. Remove the plastic wrap, and sprinkle the meat with the seasoning mixture. Fold the meat in half, from side to side, using the parchment paper. Use a pizza wheel to cut the meat into 8 even squares.

Wrap the buns in foil and place in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, place the burgers on the griddle and cook for 2 to 3 minutes per side.

Remove the buns from the oven. Spread a small amount of mayonnaise on each bun and top with the burger and any other condiments, as desired. Serve immediately.

*notes: skip the grocery store brand hamburger buns and get the good sweet tasting buns for this recipe.  I used Arnolds Potato buns, wrapped in foil, heated up and they came out great.

This is about one pound of ground beef after the first few passes with a rolling pin.  It's not enough! It needs to be stretched thin, all the way to the edges of the pan.  Roll gently and push evenly.

Now we're making progress. Plastic wrap goes on top of the burger as it helps you push the meat into all the corners of the pan more evenly.  You want it thin because you'll fold it in half in the next step.

Then sprinkle the seasoning all over the beef, remove the plastic wrap and fold in half:

I don't have a perfect square edge, but.. oh well. 

Cut into squares with the pizza cutter. Use a griddle for best results!  I wish I had a picture of them inside the bun, or a more appetizing picture, but these cook quickly and everybody ate 'em up right away.  Side note: consider making all of your side dishes before you start this recipe because they cook so fast.

Smack yo lips, and Happy 4th!

Comments

[Terri]

These look really yummy and so different in shape.
Enjoy the holiday down in your neck of the woods. I'm anxious for our great fireworks at 9:00 tonight.

[pam]

Mmmmm... NOW I'm hungry! :)

Happy Independence Day!!!

[Nils]

Yummm. Hmmm, I wonder if you could slip some cheese in when you're folding the burger over? It would melt inside as the burger cooked. I must try this :)

[Nils]

Oh .. kosher salt? How is that different from ... er .. salt?

[Nils]

Oh, and sorry, one more thing: Happy 4th to everybody :) It ain't Canada Day, but it's still pretty good (g)

[Laura]

Nils, you could use either type of salt. Kosher salt has thicker, coarser granules and a more pronounced taste. I had it on hand but used table salt for this recipe and it was fine.
The cheese would be great in this recipe, because the burgers cook very quickly and I think it would come out with the right texture. I diced vidalia onions very fine and sauteed them next to the burgers for a topping and it was deicious. Any sweet onion would do.

Terry and Pam, Happy 4th! I've been weeding all morning, I'm beat! We're not sure if we'll get to see fireworks here, as there is a 60% chance of rain. We'll see.

[Laura]

For the record, I wouldn't skip the step of wrapping the buns in foil and heating for a few minutes. It really seemed to make a difference. I had fries in the oven, so the oven was already pre-heated and ready for them.

[MrsDoF]

Goodness gracious, those look YUMMY!

Happy USA Independence Day!

[kenju]

They look great and I always toast the buns!
Happy Independence Day!

[Danielle B.]

Here by way of Pure Florida...and I'm glad I found you...one, it has been awhile since I visited Kenju...her address got lost in my revitalization of my blog template...and...I noticed you have some other Florida Blogs listed....secondly...I'm in line for the invite when you try this recipe again ;)

[Old Horsetail Snake]

I just had barbecue, only it was chicken. Sort of squared off, though, so maybe that counts.

[Nancy]

These look great. This is such a good idea. I hate to handle hamburger; it gives me an ice cream headache. But, I bet I could do this.

[Terri]

Hey...what on earth happened outside Tampa last night? Was on the NBC news this morning....some fool set fire purposely to a tent full of fireworks for sale?

[FC]

Sounds good!
I like fast and good.

[Laura]

FC, I'm going to assume you're talking about food, ;)

Terri, that just started a whole other post!
thank you!

Nancy, they won't cause hamburger headaches, I promise.

Hoss, LOl, you crack me up. I'm sort of square, too.

Danielle, Welcome!! It's nice to meet you, too. PureFlorida is one of my favorite real Florida blogs, that's for sure. :)

Judy and Mrs. DOF, hope you had a great 4th, too.

Sarasooo, glad you liked the paradise pics. it aint paradise when it the taxes come in, however. ack.

[thingfish23]

We have noticed in our household, as well, that Barefoot wines are damn good, especially considering how affordable they are - and we love wine here at the Band-Aid. 10 years in fine dining will give a fella expensive tastes.

I've had great wines (i.e. expensive) and they are wonderful, too. But you really don't have to pay a lot for a yummy wine, thank God. Only snooty people still believe that you do.

Barefoot reds have some nice forward fruit that I really like. Not too sweet, but not too dry. Great with spicy stuff and/or red pasta sauces.

And that will be just about enough about that.

Bon Apetit!