Shepherd's Pie Burger

A great idea... Wife and I were talking the otherday and I said that I want to do more "burger" type of recipies. Experement and do some thing's a bit different than "normal". Well, I guess you started it for the winter food thiem.
I have a book on cheese, I will dig it up and post what I find that might work well with what you did. Oh ya, AMAZING.......

Mike

Mike:
Thanks! I will be curious to see what you turn up on the cheese.

If you are going to venture into interesting burgers let me suggest an interesting book you should still be able to turn up. It is called Build a Better Burger and is written by James McNair and was published around 2005. Back in 2006 I was trying to recreate a Quesadilla Burger that Applebee's was adding to it's menu. I discussed it with my former boss, who was an avid griller. He spotted the book shortly after I did my Quesadilla Burger and gave it to me as a present. There is an annual contest out in California to build a better burger. The book features the contest winners.

If this sounds interesting, you can see pictures and descriptions of some of the burgers on my webs site. Use the web site link below in my signature. Once on the home page click on the Pictures link in the Masthead. There you will see links for the various Picture sections on my site. Many of the burgers in the Burgers 1,2 & 3 Picture sections came from this book. Actually if you click on Index by Source, you can use that page to go straight to the burgers from this book.

I had a fun summer of burgers after getting this book. I'll wish you a wonderful winter experimenting with burgers.

Jim

Jim,
Found the book but have not made the time today to really look into it yet. Was busy with 2 pork butt's, beans and bacon wraped tatertot's today.

I have seen that book, I guess I need to buy it.
Thank's for the info, I will get back about the cheese ASAP.

Mike

No worries Mike, it certainly sounds like you had your hands full. Hope it turned out well. You should post some of your pix.

My To Do queue always seems bigger than my available cooking time anyway so there is no shortage of things to make. Today is a grilled vegetarian paella. Let me know when you get around to it, but do it when it works for you.

You're welcome on the book. It does sound like just the thing for the burger exploration mission you mentioned.

Jim

The book is called The art of selecting & serving cheese.
Over 100 varieties from around the world.
I will start with the semi-soft, what I found I might like.
BUTTERKASE
Originated in Germany and is made throughout Germany and Austria. The name of this creamy, semi-soft cheese litearly means "butter cheese." Although it contains no butter, the texture is like butter. This mild, delicate cheese is sometimes called Damenkase or "ladies cheese." Eighty percent of domestic Butterkase is produced in Wisconsin in the Alpine tradition.
PREPARATION: Butterkase is tasty on sandwiches and pairs nicely with pickles. For cooking, this cheese melts well and can be used over vegetables or to top hamburgers. It has a mild flavor which often appeals to children.

EDAM; is almost as well known as cheddar. it takes its name from a town just north of Amsterdam, where it originated more than 800 years ago. With a taste that is similar to Gouda but with slightly more tang. Edam is made from reduced-fat pasteurized cow's milk. It has a smooth, supple, waxy texture and a mild, sweet and nutty flavor. Edam that has been aged for at least 17 weeks will have a black wax coating. Wisconsin cheesemakers produce Edam in smoked, caraway, aged and organic varieties.
PREPARATION: Aged Edam is excellent for cooking. Can add flavor to twice-baked potatoes. Shredded Edam enhances creamy pasta dishes such as Fettuccine Alfredo.

Thanks for taking the time to post this Mike. I will check them out.

Jim

I have more, just had to go to do other stuff...
All the typing, reading and proper spelling is not my strong point. It might be a couple of day's but there is MORE cheese I want to share if ya want me to.

Mike

Wow Mike I am struggling for the right way to put this. I don't want to say yes I don't want to say no. I was thinking the same things RE the amount of typing there was myself yesterday when I read your reply.

OK here we go: Any additional input would be greatly appreciated, but certainly not expected or required. Thanks again for what you have done so far.

Jim

I will throw a few more out there in brief context.

Farmer's cheese; mild flavor, melt's well and a great after school snack.
Fontina.
Havarti.
These semi-soft cheeses (acording to the book) all go well on burger's and grilled cheese sandwiches.

Then there is the hard/firm cheese, more later.

Mike

As for better burgers, there's another new source. I was leafing through Planet Barbecue again last night and noticed that Steven included a page or two from Paul Newman's chef. Definitely worth a browse, as the guy has 24 tips to making the perfect burger. Now I'm not sure if the "perfect" label is merited as I'm a skeptic, but I'm looking forward to trying the recipes and seeing how they turn out.

NICE, thank's for the tip. I will have to go and re-read the book.

Mike

Mike:
Thanks again for the cheese picks. Havarti is one of my favorites anyway and I may just have to do one with Havarti just because.

CanadaBBQGuy:
I'd seen that section in PB and had the same initial feeling of skepticism. But there is one way to find out.

I must say I think that I will end up making the most recipes from Planet Barbecue than from any of Steven Raichlen's other books. It is funny too, because 7 years ago when I got serious about this, I really wasn't into international foods. HTG is what got me started and I've made the most recipes from it - 22 to date. If I liked something in HTG, I would check out regional variations in BBQ USA from which I've made 14 recipes to date. Along the line I started trying some international recipes from BBQ Bible and other cookbooks.

Planet Barbecue arrived at a perfect time, because these days the international recipes are the first, not the last, thing I check out in new cookbooks. I didn't really crack it open until August, but I have now made 9 recipes from it and every week I see one or two more from Primal Grill I want to try. I can tell it is going to take a long, long time to get through all of the interesting recipes in that book. Funny too because, as I said, 7 years ago I might not have even bought the book.

BTW: If you think it odd I have all those stats about recipes at hand, blame my website. I have a page which is an index by source, so people can see what cookbooks things came from.

Jim