Burger Toppings and Fixin's: The Topic

[Beebs]

Roasted garlic

Grilled veggies

Salsa

Tzatziki

And hummus makes a great sandwich spread although I've never had it in a burger, but I imagine it might be good.

[jsmeeker]

Another set of votes for sautéed onions and avocado.

[toweringpine]

Sometimes we take a break from standard burgers and make souvlaki burgers with ground pork. I like tatziki, tapenade, a little oregano and some tomatoe and red onion slices on them. Maybe a little crumbled feta too. All these toppings are great on standard burgers as well.

[chefadamg]

Aussie style: Beets and fried egg..pretty darn good.

[daves]

At our cookout this afternoon: thick slice of blue cheese, tomato, red onion, and arugula.

[KatieLoeb]

Boursin and watercress is one of my favorite burger toppings.

Guacamole and salsa are a close second.

[alexthecook]

Basil Mayo (just blend mayo and fresh basil)

Thick slice of mozzarella

Confit tomatoes (cut italian tomatoes in three parts, deseed, put on a pan in the oven at 200F for 4 hours with a sprinkle of kosher salt and a quick slug of olive oil)

[MattJohnson]

Someone said grilled pineapple. If you go that route, have it with blue cheese. I did this last night and it was great.

[642nater]

ive always loved blue cheeses with beef, especially if its rare! and boursin cheese is just amazing anywhere, on anything, even by itself!

[Chris Amirault]

Burgers tonight, and I'm trying to decide between doing the full-on breakfast burger (bacon, egg, and cheese) and something quasi-Korean (kimchi, ssamjang, some quick pickles). Surely I'm not the only person grilling burgers in this crazy heat....

[christine007]

anyone else like them "California" style? My friend from there got me hooked.

it's the basic cheeseburger, lettuce onion slice, tomato, but the only condiment is thousand island dressing.

yummmm

[Katie Meadow]

Before I lived in CA I imagined that CA style burger meant the inclusion of lettuce, tomato and possibly avocado. The lettuce and tomato slice were new to me (the avocado still seems perverse), but what I found most characterized the way west-coasters (like my native CA husband) eat burgers versus the way I grew up eating them in NY was the addition of mayo or mustard or both PLUS ketchup. I don't remember ever putting anything on a burger besides ketchup and pickles, w or w/o cheese in NY.

After a 6-yr stopover in NM, between NY and CA, I am pretty committed to a green chile burger. I no longer eat cheeseburgers, altho a green chile cheeseburger is a pretty standard classic in NM, but I do like a tomato slice and a little feathery red onion, or pickled red onions if available. I grill poblanos, which is what's most easily available here, and I make my own ketchup, and I use it, along with a little mayo and dijon mustard--my adjustment to CA. I can't stand hamburger buns. I like toasted sour or semi-sour batard or country bread.

Does CA style means the use of thousand island dressing? Since the basic ingredients of that are ketchup and mayo, I guess adding mustard to that isn't such a huge leap.

[heidih]

Does CA style means the use of thousand island dressing? Since the basic ingredients of that are ketchup and mayo, I guess adding mustard to that isn't such a huge leap.

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I have lived in So Cal all my life and have never seen the 1000 Island as a "standard". I thought it was just an approximation of McD's "secret sauce".

[BarbaraY]

Does CA style means the use of thousand island dressing? Since the basic ingredients of that are ketchup and mayo, I guess adding mustard to that isn't such a huge leap.

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I have lived in So Cal all my life and have never seen the 1000 Island as a "standard". I thought it was just an approximation of McD's "secret sauce".

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I have lived in Northen CA all my life and have never considered 1000 Island to be California style either.

[JimH]

Surely I'm not the only person grilling burgers in this crazy heat....

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Grilling back in July, 100+ in the shade, I took the lid off my kettle the wave of heat hits me and for the first time in my life I thought "what the hell am I doing?"

Ground chuck, cooked medium, a slice of cheddar cheese, a slice of red onion, mayo & mustard on an untoasted egg bun.

For variety, mix into meat finely chopped onion & pickled jalapeno peppers, worcestershire sauce, BBQ sauce and a little juice from the pickled jalapeno's.

[Toliver]

Does CA style means the use of thousand island dressing? Since the basic ingredients of that are ketchup and mayo, I guess adding mustard to that isn't such a huge leap.

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I have lived in So Cal all my life and have never seen the 1000 Island as a "standard". I thought it was just an approximation of McD's "secret sauce".

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Katie, I think you were right about the avocado. That says "California" more to me than Thousand Island dressing.

Wihch came first? Thousand Island salad dressing or McD's secret sauce?

[Katie Meadow]

Maybe the thousand island concept comes from the fact that if you add mayo to the ketchup that's already on the burger, you are already in thousand island territory. There is a lot more use of mayo in CA, or at least is sure seemed that way when I first came out here. Mayo on a burger, mayo on artichokes. I grew up with melted butter on chokes.

As for the avocado, they aren't as common on the east coast, although they are probably more common now than they used to be. I didn't grow up with them, but you can't live in NM and not eat them. I don't think my mother ate an avocado until she was in her eighties! I still find the CA roll sushi to be a dreadful idea. Avocado on a hamburger or in Japanese food? I just don't go there.