Cooking Corner: Bison Burger

Few dishes can top the great taste of an amazing hamburger. This recipe aims to recreate the flavor and satisfaction received from the first hamburger ever tasted. Some of the more premium ingredients can be a bit pricey, but when the goal is to create an exceptional burger, only the best will do.

Ingredients:
¼ lb ground bison
1 slice of cheese of choice (the picture shows a year aged cheddar)
4 shiitake mushrooms
½ cabernet-red onion
1 tbs of olive oil
2 tbs of ketchup
1 tbs of balsamic vinegar
2 tbs of Worcestershire sauce

1 leaf of romaine lettuce
1 Kaiser roll
Black pepper to taste
Salt to taste

Start by dicing the onions and mushrooms, making sure to have a consistent size to ensure even cooking. Place the now diced onions and mushrooms in a bowl and stir in ketchup and balsamic vinegar. Set aside and shape the ground bison into a patty after adding black pepper to taste. Rolling the ground meat into a ball, passing it from hand to hand, and pressing on it creates a nice patty shape. Bison meat tends to be more lean than beef, which means that there is a better chance of the ground meat crumbling. Avoid being too rough with the patty now or when frying. Take a spoon and press the bottom against the patty. In this indentation, add a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce.

To cook the patties, oil a pan and set it to medium heat. Once the pan is hot, add the patty. Flip it every thirty seconds, but remember to be gentle. Make sure to use a spatula. Cooking should take about six minutes. Occasionally add some of the remaining Worcestershire sauce to the pan, in the area near the burger. For those with digital thermometers, make sure the meat is at least 155º F, if cooking to FDA standards. Once the patty is done cooking, remove it from the pan. Add cheese and put it in the oven. Next, increase the burner temperature from medium heat to medium high and add the diced onion and mushroom. Fry the onions until golden brown. Remove the onions and mushrooms, and set aside. Take the Kaiser roll, slice it in half, and fry the bread to warm and toast. Once this is done and the cheese is well melted on the patty, add the patty to the bottom bun, the fried and diced vegetables to the top, and the leaf of romaine lettuce in between.