Goat cheese burger with olive and artichoke tapenade
For those who don’t know, Schlotszky’s is a restaurant franchise that gained popularity selling their version of the muffuletta sandwich in Austin, Texas for $2.95. Thousands of University of Texas students later, they expanded to other states and cities and started selling paninis, pizzas and salads and such, but The Original is what made them famous.
Much like the original muffuletta, Schlotzsky’s signature sandwich is also made with an olive salad (sans giardiniera unfortunately) and is a great place to get a very respectable sandwich and feed a crippling salt and vinegar potato chip addiction. It’s also a welcome respite from all the taco places and barbecue joints — that in conjunction with banks and pharmacies — are apparently the only four businesses zoned for my area.
We decided to try out this goat cheese burger with olive and artichoke tapenade one afternoon after a quick lunch at Schlotzsky’s while running errands to the bank and pharmacy. Olive salad might work well with burgers too, right? We tossed the idea around for awhile over chips, and eventually artichokes and goat cheese entered the conversation and our burger took a decidedly more Mediterranean slant — which was just fine by me.
It wasn’t exactly a Schlotzsky’s spin anymore but the tapenade was very fresh, with complex, bright flavors and each bite brought that salty tang of goat cheese to the forefront. Piled on top of a perfectly-cooked burger and served on a nice, high-quality bun, this goat cheese burger might just be good enough to start our own sandwich shop if we could ever get the zoning.
Image: ForkingSpoon
Goat cheese burger with olive and artichoke tapenade recipe
This Mediterranean-inspired burger with olive and artichoke tapenade and a tangy goat cheese takes this burger to the next level .
Ingredients
Instructions
Make the olive and artichoke tapenade
In a food processor or blender, pulse the chopped olives, artichokes, basil, thyme and garlic while slowly adding in the olive oil. The tapenade should be well-blended and have a coarse texture.
Make the goat cheese mixture
In a small mixing bowl, gently mash together the goat cheese, lemon juice and black pepper until the mixture is completely blended and creamy.
Prepare the hamburger buns
Preheat a grill pan or electric griddle to medium to high heat. Spread butter or margarine on each half of the bun and grill both halves cut-side down for 2 minutes each or until the bun becomes slightly crispy and golden brown.
Assemble the burgers
For each burger, place the hamburger patty on the bottom half of the bun (heel) and top with equal portions of the goat cheese mixture and the olive and artichoke tapenade. Top with top half of the bun (crown) and serve.
Notes
The tapenade in this recipe isn't really a super-authentic one. It uses black olives and capers but isn't puréed into a paste and doesn't use the anchovies, making it more of an olive salad with delusions of grandeur. Feel free to take the tapenade full monty if you prefer.
Ingredients
Directions
Make the olive and artichoke tapenade
In a food processor or blender, pulse the chopped olives, artichokes, basil, thyme and garlic while slowly adding in the olive oil. The tapenade should be well-blended and have a coarse texture.
Make the goat cheese mixture
In a small mixing bowl, gently mash together the goat cheese, lemon juice and black pepper until the mixture is completely blended and creamy.
Prepare the hamburger buns
Preheat a grill pan or electric griddle to medium to high heat. Spread butter or margarine on each half of the bun and grill both halves cut-side down for 2 minutes each or until the bun becomes slightly crispy and golden brown.
Assemble the burgers
For each burger, place the hamburger patty on the bottom half of the bun (heel) and top with equal portions of the goat cheese mixture and the olive and artichoke tapenade. Top with top half of the bun (crown) and serve.
IMPORTANT SAFETY WARNING: The USDA cautions against washing your meat before grinding or cooking due to it's ineffectiveness and risks of cross contamination. Additionally, they recommend that all ground beef be cooked to 160 degrees F as measured by a "thermistor or thermocouple food thermometer if possible" (a ThermoWorks Thermapen or Lavatools Javelin for instance).
RELATED LINKS
Handling food safely
Safe cooking temperatures (Chart)
Using a thermometer
The importance of resting
Fresh ground meat and ground turkey can be safely refrigerated for 1-2 days and frozen for up to 4 months with minimal quality loss. To freeze, place the fresh patties on a tray, cover and freeze for 6-8 hours. Wrap patties individually using plastic wrap or freezer paper, removing as much air as possible. Stay organized and give your frozen food extra protection by placing the wrapped patties in a labelled and dated freezer bag. Stacked patties should be separated with wax paper squares (or a suitable substitute).
RELATED LINKS
Preparing food to freeze
Refrigerator and freezer storage times (Chart)
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