Recreating Jamie Oliver's Insanity Burger From Taste | Bon Appétit

Hey guys, it's and to be a test kitchen, I'm here to have a secret conversation about Chris Morocco. Everyone put their super flavor skills to the test once again. This is Jamie Oliver's crazy

burger

. We are challenging Chris to replicate this exact dish with every ingredient in just two days you will be able to

taste

it touch it smell it but at no point will you be able to see the

burger

at the end of the second day I will come back to see where it landed on your burger and I will be the final judge Wow, what I smelled it was some kind of hamburger bun with ketchup, the image that appears in my mind is some kind of fried fish sandwich, oh okay, so we have bacon, so I feel like my assumption about this thing about being fish is obviously totally wrong, so I have a crinkle cut or maybe half sour pickle that

taste

s like pure ketchup, it has a spicy taste, but I can't tell if it's like white or red onion, ooh, okay, so "Such maybe I've hit something else here, so I'm getting a good feel for the cheese.

I'm getting some superficial details that make me feel like maybe I've got some holes in the world of an Emmentaler so salty that there's like a sharpness and there's like a sting. of this is like swiss or like gray air, but it's not obviously super stinky like grier, but it doesn't taste like pure cheddar cheese. It's really complicated, it's a burger, it's a cheeseburger, like I've tasted meat. Obviously there's salt, but don't get too intense black pepper. I'm going to assume it's there, it doesn't taste like it's roasted, there's nothing obviously smoky about it. Imagine it could have been cooked in a cast iron, like peeling the layers of an onion, it just tastes like an iceberg.

I can't understand why the lettuce is on the bottom, that bothers me a lot, it's like in the world of a Big Mac, there is some fat in there, but this is giving me like mayonnaise it doesn't obviously taste like a pickle II there is a little bit of shine in it like a few drops of vinegar it has a little sweetness maybe a little sugar salt you have a button of sesame seed it gives me a little bit of an enriched dough aroma like something that has like a little bit of egg it also has like a push very pronounced like when you make a gouache like an enriched dough the origin of this dish is like who knows there's no obvious, like a signifier of green chili, type of flavor or smokiness, or you know, a particular type of ingredient that it's something very in between, other than the cheese, which for me is a little bit specific, you know it has to be like someone with some kind of name recognition like you know Guy Fieri, you know like a little bit of this, I'm a little bit of that and hey it tastes good together so you know who gives us so let's map this out.

We have brioche bread with seeds and tomato sauce, crinkle cut pickles, bacon, pickled onions, fish fry, if I could get the ripe cheese I would be very happy with myself, but if I don't I will still love myself and then we'll have our burger, so let's call this the layer of sadness. I'm going to err on the side of mayonnaise, then sugar, salt and then we need iceberg. I'm going to check this list and go to the supermarket. This is a brioche bun, we may have to put some sesame seeds in it. I'm going to get as close to the classic as I can here kosher.

Dill is just looking for a bitter medium, so I'm going to buy a couple of white onions, but I'm going to buy a red onion just to be safe bacon you have the smoky, salty flavor you know, if we assume it's like smoked bacon obviously the question is how do you choose I don't want bacon sundae without reduced sodium, I'm not sure about that, I don't even want to say I understand this. Apple Game's grass-fed beef has a little spice. I don't think it was grass-fed beef. I think I'm going to get a pound of pure ground beef, 85 percent and 50 percent fat, I think. like I'm trying something like something in the world of a Swiss style cheese with that sharpness, not a lot of funk, but just with that like cutting a high note and then that's a little bit like you already know that model.

You know, there are some holes in the texture, so I'm looking for a cheese that doesn't really want to melt, probably a little bit high in fat, a style like an Emmentaler like the one you're in the back, okay? Great man, thank you very much, this is cave-ripened Emmentaler. I'm going to buy one of these. The craziest thing about this burger is that damn piece just came back to the supermarket and we're ready to get rolling here. I'm going to start cooking. my bacon comes in at 350. I can't tell if it's like white or red onion.

I'm aerating the side of this white onion just because that's what I would do, even the thickness will mean the Funyuns soften evenly. I think this is pretty good. I'm going to err on the side of hot brine. 1/2 cup white wine vinegar. 1/2 cup of water. 1 spoon of sugar. One and a half teaspoons of kosher salt. That's all. It's bubbling, so it won't take long. to mellow out, I feel really good about this balance of salt, sweet and sour, so this is a brioche bun. I just dumped an egg white into this bowl, the protein and egg white will help the sesame seeds bind together and this goes straight into the oven when the bacon comes out, so the bacon I tried was very crispy.

I think we're going to stick with these pickle options, okay. I thought maybe it was medium sour, with a lot of garlic and then these are crinkle cut kosher pickles. This is truer than what I ate this morning. Sesame is sticking. I don't know about cheese. It's like a mild cheddar cheese. It's like it's so bland like it has no character. So it's a little better now, but that's Emmentaler Swiss cheese. this is also so tasteless this is our call back this is like that's too much we have an M in thaller this is how this is like real cheese I'm getting some superficial details that make me feel like it had some holes in the world of like a mm of dollar, so this is much closer.

I guess I'm going to use this, but now I'm second-guessing everything. I'm going to focus on the sadness cape, also known as iceberg lettuce with some sort of mayonnaise-based dressing, situation which was a quarter cup of mayonnaise. I'm going to start with half a teaspoon of vinegar here and a pinch of salt. I'll try that first. It tastes very strong to me, as if it wanted even a touch more acidity. This is a little more white wine and then a touch of sugar. I'm making another mix and will basically try adjusting this with ketchup to make some sort of secret sauce. setup that seems a little better so I'm going to grow it in a bowl and mix it with a spoonful of that sad boy burger, well I can't understand why you put a layer of shredded lettuce under a hot burger, who thinks? so I feel pretty good about it so Andy, you know what this is, like a little bit of special sauce for me, that seat would seem to indicate that I'm like I'm close there, who's a brand name chef that America I've heard of who could have made a burger recipe from.

I thought that everything I came up with, well, if that's the case, I have to be like Guy Fieri or Bobby Flay and keep working on each layer and then until everything arrives. together all right good luck thanks man so here I have a pound of 85/15 beef so I'm guessing it was an 8 ounce burger like this it's a very fun meat very fun and it's seasoned For this guy, this is just some neutral oil. I didn't get any detectable smoke flavor in the burger I tried this morning, it doesn't taste like it's grilled, there's nothing obviously smoky about it, so I'm going to lean it as a cast iron skillet.

It probably took me about three minutes or so on that first side, that's three four minutes on this side. I end up with the 60 day Emmentaler cheese, not really a great melting cheese, whatever it is, I don't want to overcook the beef bacon next, these are my pickled onions catch up with the top bun, crinkle cut kosher. The dill feels pretty good overall, not too bothered by anything, looking at this, you know, I'm really curious about this layer here. I'm pretty good with Most things here haunt me with cheese, man, I just want to try the next burger and, as you know, collect my thoughts again.

I'm worried I'm missing something in terms of oh, this is a Grubin burger, this is a yes. You know, but I think I'm close to a lot of things. I'm going to give the ingredients an 80 because if I love something like cheese, that's really going to hurt me. Is it possible that the onions were just given a cold Stoke? in the brine, I'm sure it was possible for the burger to be cooked in a different way, possibly in appearance, I mean it has a ninety flavor. It would be hard to find huge differences, I think, but I feel good, like 90 percent.

I'd like to hedge my bets a bit, but I'd say I'm solidly in B territory. This upcoming blindfolded tasting is absolutely crucial, it's my last chance to try the burger before I have to introduce Andy. To taste I'm investing this quickly to see what I can get. I think my sauce needs a little more ketchup. It's like a very pronounced flavor. Is there a little bit of spice in there? Oh, I think there's the top bun. I feel like maybe. I'm getting a little toasty around the edge. I have the cheese. This is like my confrontation.

Well, again I have a little crack here in the cheese that feels like it's natural for the cheese that I have. two very square edges here and then I have slightly less square edges, so maybe this is such a salty hand cutting situation. I feel very good about the idea that this is a Swiss cheese, possibly like pure Gruyere. it doesn't turn into waxy enos like the Emmentaler I had does, it was like a real sourness, if that makes sense, I want to buy a different cheese for tomorrow, there's something in there that doesn't have enough character. or the sharpness to be like a Dijon mustard.

I guess it could just be like a yellow mustard. I'll try some mustard options in the morning and then our old friend pickled onion, honestly I feel really good about my pickled onion. I might try the red one tomorrow. There are so many elements that we have like bun ketchup relish onion situation pickle situation bacon she is mustard and something like that situation a hamburger we have them like shredded lettuce special sauce like that it's a lot of things that it just comes from like the school of thought which is like more It's better so I'm doubling down on Guy Fieri.

I have your number. I would expect to find American cheese or you know whatever, like a blend of cheeses or maybe borderline, like a sharp cheddar on a guys burger. I don't know why it's called comte, but I guess we'll find out tomorrow, maybe we'll start with onion, there's a lot of raw stuff in any bite, maybe it wasn't a hot brine put on the onion, you know, the hotter brine will do more. fast and smooth. some of the flavor this is white wine vinegar I'm going to have the same proportions as yesterday red onion waiting for onion going in there I'm going to let this sit and soften and see how the flavor compares after about another hour.

It's going to be the Applegate again, it's going to continue at 350. I'll check it out for 15 minutes so I felt really good about the buns I chose which were these brioche buns so yesterday for my burger I chose an Emmentaler it was really waxed . I have some additional options. I'm just not sure I can focus on the exact cheese. I mean, you could do a whole show that was like I guess the cheese. This is our talk. It's definitely a maybe. It's sharp. It's funky. a comparison flavor-wise, it's the closest because it has the least amount of nonsense, it's similar richness, but I like this comparison chart and I think I'm going to use it flavor-wise.

It's like I'm getting closer. I still don't know if I liked the one that looks good. Next let's make pickles. We'll stick with these today. I guess we're ready for the special sauce, so. I'm just going to make ketchup and mayonnaise. I didn't experience any noticeable sting when I first tried the mystery burger yesterday, but I did experience a bit when I tried it later that day. Is there a little bit of itchiness there? Oh, I think so. Is this a vinegar based hot sauce? I'm also going to put a little salt here. I feel good because between the cheese and the burger there seemed to be some kind of extra layer of sauce that tasted a little like mustard.

I am trying five different mustards, it is as if the mustard is so strong that it burns, that is not what I was tasting, Dijon has a certain softness, a certain creaminess. I could see how Dijon mustard could have some yellow meaning. mustard has so many spices and turmeric, I just don't think it's that. I guess I'm leaning towards the Dijon, actually maybe let's check our onions here, they've been here for about an hour, maybe I I like the texture of this I like the flavor of this it's a good combination between pickled and raw for The moment we go with red I'm going to start toasting my bread.

I'm just imagining that it was roasted in the oven a little dry so, we'll be fine, so in terms of themeat mixture, I'm going to use the same thing I used yesterday, it's that 85/15 ground beef. I could probably make it a little bit thinner and even touch wider than yesterday, so I'll take care of getting some extra kind of browning on that first side. I think what happens with the mystery burger is that it got flipped and then covered with a little bit. of mustard before the cheese was put on, the cheese is melting on its own.

I like how these edges stay a little distinct, I'm literally fucking desperate to know what the cheese is on the mystery burger, yeah, playoffs there, I feel good about that. I'm going to start assembling these layers here, so I have a sadness burger layer. crinkle bacon pickles then onion and then ketchup on the button burger number two okay I'm going to cut this up so we have our shredded lettuce mixed with our special sauce that's kind of shredded into the bun that seems pretty accurate to me this cheese It's definitely better than yesterday's Heaven Thaller and has the right mouthfeel.

I'm curious about the mustard layer. Dijon mustard has a kind of mildness to it. Is working. It's giving me what I tried yesterday. this first side got a little aggressive. I think I needed to back off a little. Overall, I'm happy with the flavor ingredients I'm getting. 90 I think in general it seems to me that there is a flavor perception like this. In terms of technique, I'm going to go for 85 because who's to say you could cook bacon and kill it on a stove? You could finish the burger in the oven with the cheese on top.

You could roast the appearance of the button. I would say 95 percent. and then I taste, I give 90 subtle difference in cheese selection, char level on the burger, you know, that can add up to some differences, but overall I feel good about it, I'd say it's an average of 88. be plus, you know, so this is my last chance to get this burger right before Andy tries it. I'm going to go through this so we can have it ready for when it gets here, we'll stay with you. sexy bun for Andy there's something there so I'm going to go back to the mustard.

I'm going to try to get a really even layer here final creation. This is what Andy is going to serve. I still shoot like this as b-plus. Every time you do this exercise I think you learn something and improve a little, we'll see what happens. Good, because how are you doing? How do you feel? I was running at 88%. I'm just saying I'm down like 72. Who do you suspect is behind this dish? I have no idea. I've been joking like Swiss Fieri. I want to introduce Jamie Oliver to the crazy burger. Damn, you should be proud of your sanity.

Yeah, for me, this was always very in-between. Ingredients from the road thrown off the cliff. What is that cheese? Okay, it's Red Leicester Red Leicester I really like Jamie Oliver, you like him, he's a very solid chef and he has an incredible personality and he relates to people in incredible ways knowing that he is Jamie Oliver liked it if I ruined the cheese, yeah, Of course you do, why don't we cut them out and see what's inside and then break down each element? I think the look got it right, I think with the oozing sauce. okay, I'll refresh my memory, okay, I'll take a bite.

I'll take a bite of yours. Okay, look, look how I'm going to compare yours now. I'm going to take a bite. I would say the big one. difference actually I think you went hard on your burger big time. I don't understand that from here, yeah, so how did you cook your obviously hand-formed burger and then in cast iron neutral oil over medium-high heat when you seared the burger? Did you put anything on it before you put the cheese on it? Yeah, I put mustard on it just because once I got Patty on, something like a mild little bit of mustard I identified as Dijon, so Jamie spreads his burger with mustard on both of them. sides yellow mustard, okay and a little bit of sauce, that's wonderful, yeah, you want the high road, so I think some of the credit is due, okay, how did you get to the point where you realized that It was a sesame brioche, but I smelled it like an organic burger and when I broke it? in it, you know you can sense the way that brioche tears with that slightly chewy top is okay, so you use the actual salty vinegar solution for your onions, yeah, so Jamie just uses white wine vinegar, red onion and gives you a mix that is pretty close.

I mean, I think, like, understanding the fact that it was already a red onion, it's like you nailed it. I want to give you almost, so you've got the pickles, you've pretty much got the bacon, you've got the ketchup on the bun when it's time. the cheese, I knew you had some difficulties, yeah, just trying to find that red Leicester, red Leicester, that's where you lose the most points. I mean, I think in every other category, either nail is pretty close, but with the cheese like yeah, you got the fact that there's a slight there's a slice of cheese in there, but I think you went in a different direction.

The last part is the iceberg lettuce situation, so it uses mayonnaise to bring back some of the Chipotle Tabasco sauce, oyster sauce and sometimes it's cognac or brandy optional on the second tasting I finally got cute and that's when I put it on crystal clear hot sauce so three out of three out of five I'll say the brandy layer is police Andy I mean I'm sorry I don't know no I don't even know what you're tasting if you're tasting it it's an improvement from the last round, okay, so your total score we still do it in the type of your I'm still a student in a... 90% student.

It's okay, I can live with that. I always strived to be an A-minus student because, frankly, I was a B-Plus student. Thank you. Alright. Brilliant. I feel like I did well. Know? I walked in today feeling like you knew the joke was going to be on me, that you guys put powdered mushrooms in the burger or that it was actually like an impossible burger and I was just being a real fool, but I'm so happy. With how things went, I was actually a little surprised to try a burger yesterday, but in the end it was a good challenge.

Jamie Oliver, nothing but the greatest respect for you, but please, next time put the shredded lettuce on top of the burger. everything when you dress, that goes, but not completely, the creak goes, the creak goes