Cooking and Drinking – Black Garlic Burgers

I thought I should throw this recipe/pairing up before it really starts getting cold outside.  It was designed to be the centerpiece of the “Backyard BBQ” menu my mom and I had assembled.  It’s kind of interesting for me to dig up a hamburger recipe today because I have since become a vegetarian, but we did test it out with the suggested pairings and I remember it being fantastic.

If you haven’t had black garlic before, you are missing out.  It’s an amazing combination of garlic, molasses, and sweet dried fruit.  I was introduced to it at the downtown San Diego location of Karl Strauss.  They make a black garlic fondue with Cambozola cheese, roasted peppers, caramelized onions, a cream sauce flavored with their Red Trolley Ale, and, of course, black garlic.  Unbelievable.  My mom found an online specialty food store that sold black garlic, and immediately found a home for it in this burger recipe she developed. 

Enjoy!

Black Garlic Burgers

2 lbs. Ground Beef

1 tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce

2 heads Black Garlic (cleaned and mashed)

1 Egg

0.25 cup Milk

Salt and pepper to taste

8 Hamburger Buns

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients (except buns).  Cover and refrigerate for two to four hours.  Preheat grill to low heat.  Form meat into eight patties.  Cook burgers on grill to desired level of doneness (keep the lid closed as much as possible and flip patties minimally).  Serve on buns. 

Chef’s Note:  Black garlic can be kind of hard to come by.  Rest assured that it is worth the effort, but if your hunt ultimately ends unsuccessfully this same recipe (and beer pairing) works beautifully with regular minced garlic.  Just use the same quantity as called for in the instructions above.

Chef’s Tip:  Tired of your perfectly formed burger patties turning into fat balls of beef on your grill?  Try this… press a deep thumbprint in the middle of each patty before you close the lid.  As the meat cooks, it will fill in the hole and retain its burger-like shape.

Beer Recommendation: 

Bootleggers’s Brewery (Fullerton, CA) – Black Phoenix

Chipotle Coffee Stout (limited availability)

The relationship between chili and beer has come a long way since Crazy Ed Chilleen was hand-dropping Serrano peppers into his Cave Creek Chili Beer back in the late 80’s and early 90’s.  Over the past decade, chili has slowly earned a reputation as a respectable addition to beer when it’s not used as a novelty.  Dogfish Head uses Ancho chilies to balance out the cocoa sweetness in their Theobroma.  Stone complimented the spice of cinnamon with Anaheim peppers in the 11.11.11 addition of their Vertical Epic series.  And Cigar City Hunahup’s Imperial Stout is delicately laced with both Ancho and Pasilla chilies.  There are also breweries that provide spiced variants of their core beers.  Goose Island has been known to heat up their Bourbon County Stout.  Ballast Point frequently does the same thing with its Sculpin IPA.  These modifications often come as welcome deviations from some of our favorite brands.  For those of you that still want to shock your friends, or strip the paint off the side of your house, they still make Cave Creek Chili Beer in Tecate, Mexico.  But if you’re interested in experiencing the flavor of a well made beer that also has chili, please see below.

Bootlegger’s is a small-batch, craft brewery in Orange County, California.  They are well known among beer enthusiasts for creative style bending and interesting use of ingredients.  One of their creations that does a little of both is Black Phoenix.  Chocolate malt, roasted barley, and oats are teamed with both Arabica coffee and Chipotle peppers to give the brew a delicious roastiness, a hint of smoke, and gentle warmth on the finish.  These flavors come together with the savory hamburger and the sweet, molassesy black garlic to create an amazing pairing.  Drinking it slow and allowing it to warm will give you different perspectives on the chili.

Glassware – Pint Glass

ABV – 6.7% ABV
Serving Temperature – 45 to 50°F

Possible Substitutions: 

Rogue Ales & Spirits (Newport, OR) – Chipotle Ale

Amber Ale (seasonal availability; spring)

In 1575, Spanish author Juan de la Cueva wrote about a Mexican dish that was a combination of beer and seedless chipotle peppers.  This passage served as inspiration for Rogue to blend smoked chili into their American Amber Ale.  The result starts malty, moves into smoky, and quietly fades away with a touch of heat.

Boston Beer Company (Boston, MA) – The Vixen

Chocolate Chili Bock (limited availability)

The Vixen was one of four initial offerings in Sam Adam’s limited “small batch series”.  It’s like a scaled back version of their Chocolate Bock, with cinnamon and almost a suggestion of pepper flavor.  Take a sip, wait ten seconds, inhale, and it suddenly comes alive.  This base beer, perhaps more than any other recommendation, compliments the unique sweetness of the black garlic and ties everything together beautifully.

Last Resort: 

Your local chili or chipotle beer.

-Matt