Burgers + Garlic Cream Sauce

Summer is here, backyard is open, and burgers are officially back on the Zehner at-home menu. & I’ve been looking forward to making these particular Burgers with Garlic Cream Sauce for daysssss - literally since last weekend when I was first inspired to make a warm garlic sauce to spoon over some at-home burgs. I even successfully ate way healthy throughout the week in preparation for these beauties. We made it a truedf event at our house &, let me tell ya, these burgers have it all! Creamy cheese sauce, crunchy + crisp veggies, the most perfect smash burger patty, and all kinds of delicious, salty, garlic vibes loaded in the whole thing. It’s got it going on!

This was a very new style of burger for us, solely because a warm, gooey sauce was involved. & I’ve just never included a melty sauce in a burger. It was a fun a new surprise! We got yard-work done early, and then Jordan & I tag teamed in the kitchen to make this burger night at-home happen.

So one of the happiest things to happen in quarantine is my husbands new kitchen identity - Dough Exotic. He has gotten way into bread making, improving on an existing skill of his, & venturing into new territory of sourdough (our sourdough starters name is Baby Yoda). We’ve had delicious sourdough loaves & pizza doughs, & this weekend he made buns! BUNS! & literally my cheeseburger loving soul was filled with so many warm & fuzzies. My husband did this for my burger loving self, & it’s like the top 10 nicest things he’s ever done for me for sure. Back to the point - these sour dough buns we’re amazing & after years of buying hamburger buns that are just pretty blah, I never thought I’d be excited about a hamburger bun. These were so crispy golden brown on the outside, fluffy on the inside, and I had to delicately cut them with a bread knife since they had that soft, freshly baked consistency. Literally they went straight from the oven to being sandwich ends. Obsessed!

Creamy cheese sauce, but with no cheese

So my husband made buns, so what the hell did I do to stay relevant for dinner time? Well I brought the garlic cream sauce, & it was delish. & it’s a sauce for the true garlic lover. It makes your whole kitchen smell like garlic, it adds a garlic bite to every bite of the burger, and it’s savory, salty, and & just pretty damn good. You take 6-7 cloves of garlic roughly chopped, cooked over low heat in butter & then in a bath of cream sauce, and thickened up to be this ooey, gooey PERFECT warm sauce.

Think pouring nacho cheese over a burger - this burger + cream sauce combo has those kind of vibes. Except, big twist here, no cheese. Not one bit of cheese, but it tastes cheesey (if that makes sense). It’s more of like this intense garlic alfredo, but much more appropriate as a pseudo meat sauce over a burger, & so not appropriate for tossing with noodles. The gooey sauce is warm + satisfying, it soaks into the bun, replacing a need for any additional sauces or cheese. It also kinda gets all over your hands when you bite in the burger, and as barbaric as it may sound, greasy fingers are just a sign of a good burg in my book.

Smash the patties

Smash burgers are like a way of life in our house now. We went to the burger shack by our house, and just had the revelation that smash burgers that pressed out to be thin & then proceed to be cooked until browned are so good. Our new mantra when prepping burger patties - “think dinner plates not donuts.” Meaning we just try to flatten them so their like the side of v-small dinner plates. We just try to really flatten them out so they’re thin, diner style patties. Simple seasoning with salt & pepper, you’re set.

What else?

The extra toppings were kept simple. & with that being said prep + assembly for these burgers is so quick, & that’s including making the sauce. Some pieces of lettuce that were happily harvested from our at-home garden, fresh + raw red onion, and some candied jalapenos (stolen from this Triple Bacon Cheeseburger recipe). The sauce is just so decadent that having some truly fresh veggies is necessary. That’s how I keep it feeling balanced and not like a total grease bomb. Plus the fresh veggies have a good crunch component that’s pretty satisfying.

Disclaimer - no bun recipe is included in this dinner, & I’m shamefully noting to just buy buns are part of the to do. & that’s because I literally had zero part in making them. They were Jordan’s hamburger bun debut, & to be honest, a shining star of our Sunday dinner (I’ve already requested a lesson). They really were so good that I want to give my fingers a kiss and throw them up in the air like an Italian girl. In all seriousness, it’s dinners like this where we can work side by side, each utilizing our strengths in the kitchen to put something on the table that’s cohesive & just really delicious.

We were dying laughing at the cutest Baby Yoda meme last week where little Yoda is holdiing a spatula and it says “I’ll just be over here with my spatchy-spatch waiting to flip something,” & for the most part I’m in charge of meal planning and just coordinating + executing, so Jordan sometimes does sit in the corner of our kitchen (what we appropriately call his nook) waiting to flip something with his spatchy spatch. Not like in a bad way, but he helps out and I like delegate to him, & it’s always fun because we’re hanging out and just having fun in the kitchen. But Jordan is a good cook, and really good baker, so I love having dinners where we’re playing to his strengths (& effectively our strengths). We’re crammed in our cozy kitchen, each making something to contribute, but like taking a lot of pride in our contribution. It’s dinners that like this, that yes are more elaborate, but they’re some of the most fun. & I’ve may need Jordan to just right out the recipe + give a little sourdough lesson just to ensure these buns make another appearance at our house.

For the Candied Jalapenos

• 1 mason jar

• 4 thinly slice jalapenos

• 1 c. champagne or apple cider vinegar

• 1/2 c. sugar

For the Sauce

• 4 tbsp butter

• 6-7 garlic cloves roughly chopped

• 1 heaping tbsp flour

• 1 c. heavy cream

• 1/4-1/2 c. chicken broth

• Salt & pepper

For the burgers

• 1 lb ground beef

• Butter or romaine lettuce, leaves washed and left whole

• 1 red onion, halved and thinly sliced

• Salt & pepper

• Good hamburger buns (sourdough or brioche buns)

Place a small sauce pan over medium heat. Add in the butter, and once melted throw in the garlic. Cook over medium for 2-3 minutes so the garlic is fragrant & lightly toasted. Swirl the pan occasionally to avoid burning. Add in the flour, stir to form a paste, and then reduce the heat to medium low. Whisk in the cream along with a small pinch of salt & pepper. Let it bubble for a minute or so, and then reduce the heat to low. The sauce will thicken quick. Add in a little of the chicken stock if needed to make the sauce a little bit more liquidy, starting with a quarter cup and adding more a tablespoon at a time if necessary. Last step is to stir in the parsley and then cover, keeping the pan over low heat.

Take the raw meat and separate into 4 equal pieces, lightly molding into balls. Gently smash each patty down with your hand, pressing firmly but gently so the patties are the size of your buns and thin (think diner style patty). Place a griddle over medium-high heat, and cook the patties for 3-4 minutes on each side. You want them to browned + seared, but not burnt, so watch carefully.

To assemble the burgers, smear a light layer of the garlic sauce on the bottom of the bun. Top with the lettuce, some onion, and then the patties. Spoon a healthy amount of the sauce over the top of the meat so that it lightly drips down the burger. Top with 4-5 jalapeno slices and the top bun, and you’re set.