Scarborough Fair Burgers

A few weeks back when meal planning, we knew we wanted burgers on the menu, but we wanted to think outside of the box. Next thing I know my other half starts saying Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme. I looked at him kind of funny and he said you know what song that is from right? Sudden epiphany, Scarborough Faire by Simon and Garfunkel. Yup….you guessed it, we ran with the idea. And it came out flipping amazing! The flavors are subtle and don’t overwhelm each other and the toppings help bring it all together. I highly recommend using fresh herbs for the thyme, parsley, and rosemary, but use dried sage. Parsley especially is better fresh then dried, so if you want to use dried thyme and rosemary, go for it, just reduce the fresh amount by 1/3 and you’ll have how much you need dried.

Garden Sprout Garden Nibble

Herbs are extremely easy to grow in pots, including all of the ones for this recipe. If you want to grow herbs in containers, make sure to use a good quality potting mix (not top soil – way to heavy) and a large enough container to give them space to grow. Most herbs like sunlight, so 6 to 8 hours a day is best. There are a number of reasons to grow herbs in containers, limited space with good light, you can place them closer to your door so you are more likely to use them, and it’s just darn fun. If you are new to growing herbs in containers or gardening in general, I’d give growing basil from seed a go as it is one of that easiest to grow herbs, especially from seed. If you are looking at a recipe and wanting to use fresh in place of dried the conversion is 1 part dried herbs to 3 parts fresh. I.E. – recipe calls for 1 tsp of dried dill, you would need 1 Tbsp of fresh dill to be equivalent.

Scarborough Faire Burger

Servings – 4

Ingredients

• 1 lb 85/15 ground beef
• 3 Tbsp minced shallot
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
• 1 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• 3/4 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1/4 tsp dried sage
• 1/8 cup red wine (we used a Cab Sauv)
• 1/8 cup plain breadcrumbs
• 3/4 tsp salt
• Fresh cracked black pepper to taste
• 1 avocado (optional)
• Mayonnaise
• 4 slices white cheddar
• Arugula
• Burgers buns (we toasted ours)

Directions

1. Mix together the ground beef, shallot, thyme, parsley, rosemary, sage, red wine, breadcrumbs, salt, and pepper together in a bowl. Split evenly into 4 burger patties and place on a plate in the refrigerator to allow flavors to mingle.
2. Fire up your grill and once your grill is hot, cook your burgers to your preference.  For a great quick guide on timing for different levels of doneness, check out this post from CharBroil’s website – How long does it take to grill the perfect hamburger.
3. When burgers are nearly done, top with a slice of white cheddar and grill till cheese is melted.
4. Putting it all together – we tried something a bit fun. We took an avocado and added and equivalent of reduced fat mayo and some cracked black pepper and smeared it on the bottom half of the bun and it was outstanding! If you don’t like avocado, straight up mayo works too. Then we put some argula next (it’s a bit peppery so adds a great flavor profile, you could always just use regular lettuce as well). Put the burger on top.
5. Enjoy!