Chef Carl Heinrich’s Station Burger with Pommes Kennedy
I wasn’t quite sure what was coming when Chef Carl Heinrich said he’d be sharing the recipe for Station Burger and Pommes Kennedy. We had talked about doing a recipe that would push me, and maybe you, to try something new in the kitchen and on the plate. But I didn’t expect that making a burger with potatoes would do that. I could not have been more wrong.
The core of this burger is stuffed with braised beef which has been combined with a glaze made from the stock it was cooked in, then formed into a torchon. The torchon solidifies overnight and is then sliced as a stuffing for the burger. This is the best all beef burger ever. The rest of the recipe, while not overly complex, does involve making every single element in the dish from the patty to the bun, from the mayo to the relish. Everything except growing the lettuce and rendering the tallow. (Since I have done both of those things in the past, I’m may just claim I made everything.)
The Pommes Kennedy are one of the best potato dishes I’ve ever had. They are simple, but they are labour intensive.
This combination of recipes will show you the level of effort and care good restaurants put into even the “simplest” dishes you order. Maybe even why dishes you make at home often don’t compare. (and they rarely look as pretty)
Give this dish a try, and put in the time because boy oh boy, it is worth it! Grown-up burgers packed with flavour, literally! Grown up potatoes, cooked to be massively flavourful and crispy.
Okay, enough talking, there’s plenty of cooking to do, so let’s get down to it.
A couple of quick notes before you get into the recipe:
- Leave plenty of headspace when you do the Pommes Kennedy, a good 1″ or more. Otherwise, you may find your tallow bubbling up and over the lip of your pan and causing a fire in your oven. In fact, why not also put a baking sheet under your pan, just in case you do have a bubble over. Trust me, no one likes the fire alarm going off.
- Do not season the ground beef before forming the patties. Season them right before you cook them.
- Salt and Pepper in all recipes below are to taste.
- Toast the cut side of the buns only, or the tops might get a little too dark to take a good photo.
- If you look close at the photo below, you’ll see the braised meat running almost side to side in the middle of the burger, this is the goal since it will give you a hit of that intense braised flavour with every bit. So do try for getting your torchon about 3″ in diameter.
- This is the first recipe in the series where everything is in weight. I had to use our very wonky shipping scale since I don’t have a kitchen scale. It worked out just fine.
- The quality of the beef and the stock really stood out in this burger, so get good stuff if you can.
Station Burger
This is a grown-up burger packed with flavour, literally! The core of this burger is stuffed with braised beef which has been combined with a glaze made from the stock it was cooked in.
This is the best all-beef burger ever. It is worth the time and effort!
Ingredients
Torchon
- 400 g Beef Shank or Neck or Rib, whole
- 1 L Beef Stock
- salt and pepper
Burgers
- 900 g Ground Beef
- Torchon (from above)
- salt and pepper
Instructions
Make Torchon
- Season braising cut with salt and pepper
- Sear the braising cut on all sides
- Braise the branding cut in the beef stock, covered until it basically falls apart.
- Remove the braised beef from the stock (braising liquid).
- Strain the braising liquid and reduce to a glaze, skimming the surface as necessary.
- While the liquid is reducing, shred the braised meat with your fingers.
- Mix the shredded meat and reduced stock together and season to taste.
- Cool the mixture slightly and wrap into a tight log (torchon). If you are having a hard time wrapping the mixture, you can stuff it into a mould. You want the resulting tube of braised meat to be approximately 3 inches in diameter.
- Put this in the fridge overnight. When cold it will be hard and sliceable.
- When cold, slice thinly into pieces about 30 g each.
Make Burgers
- Weigh the ground meat into 150 g portions and slightly flatten them on a cutting board.
- Place a piece of the cold, braised meat on piles of ground beef and wrap the sliced braise so that there is ground beef all the way around.
- Press firmly and refrigerate for at least an hour.
- Season the patty with salt and pepper to taste.
- Sear the burgers on each side until well caramelized,
- Place in a hot oven until a skewer inserted into the center of the patty comes out warm (5 minutes total).
Notes
The quality of the beef and the stock really stood out in this burger, so get good stuff if you can.
Do not season the ground beef before forming the patties. Season them right before you cook them.
If you look closely at the photos, you’ll see the braised meat running almost side to side in the middle of the burger, this is the goal since it will give you a hit of that intense braised flavour with every bit. So do try to get your torchon to be about 3″ in diameter so you get that extra edge-to-edge flavour. Note that my torchon was not quite big enough.
Station Burger Milk Buns
Ingredients
- 500 g All Purpose flour
- 225 g Milk, warm
- 1 Egg
- 50 g Vegetable oil
- 25 g Sugar
- 10 g Salt
- 5 g Dried Yeast (or 10 g Fresh)
- 1 Egg – for egg wash
Instructions
- Stir the yeast and sugar into the milk and let sit until it starts to bubble.
- Mix in the egg and oil.
- Mix the flour and salt in a bowl
- Add the milk/egg/yeast mix to the flour mix
- In a bowl or mixer, mix the dough until it forms a ball. Knead the dough 6 minutes until smooth and elastic.
- Place the dough in a greased bowl and wrap tightly.
- Let bulk ferment until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Turn the dough out onto a counter and cut into pieces 80 g in size.
- Ball individually and place at least 3 inches apart on a baking tray.
- Press firmly and cover, let rest 15 minutes.
- Press firmly again and cover, let rest 15 minutes.
- Press firmly again and cover, let rest until doubled the original size.
- Lightly eggwash
- Bake at 350 F until lightly golden, about 25 minutes.
- Cool and cut in half, lightly butter each side.
Mayonnaise
Ingredients
- 1 Egg
- 1 t Dijon Mustard
- 1 t Sherry Vinegar
- 1 small clove Garlic- finely minced
- 1 c Vegetable Oil
- pinch of salt
- pepper to taste.
Instructions
- In the bowl of a food processor, blend the whole egg, Dijon, vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper until combined.
- While mixing, slowly add in the oil.
- The mixture should stay emulsified and become very thick.
- Adjust seasoning if necessary.
Pickled Onion
Ingredients
- 1 large red onion
- 160 g red wine vinegar
- 90 g water
- 20 g sugar
- 5 g salt
- spice of your choosing
Instructions
- Peel and slice the onion thinly.
- Mix all of the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.
- Pour the brine over the sliced onions and cover immediately.
- Place in the fridge until cold.
Beet Relish
Ingredients
- 250 g Red Beets, grated
- 50 g Shallots, diced
- 7 g Garlic, minced
- 325 g White Wine Vinegar
- 175 g water
- 200 g Sugar
- 5 g Mustard Seed
- 3 g Dill Seed
- 1 g Celery Seed
- 8 g Salt
Instructions
- Put all ingredients in a small pot and simmer until thick. Cool
Notes
Beets, even raw, will stain, so be careful what you are wearing and where you are grating the beets. This is a GREAT time to wear that apron your Great Aunt gave you that you love/hate. I recommend grating into a bowl, on a stainproof surface. If you don't have one, put your bowl in the sink or on a large roasting tray while you grate so that any "grate spray" is contained.
Pommes Kennedy
This is an incredible alternative to fries, and well worth the effort to make it at home if you have the patience.
Ingredients
- 6 large Russet Potatoes
- 1 L melted Beef tallow (yes, 1 litre)
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Peel the potatoes and slice very thinly into the warm beef tallow.
- Removing the slices one at a time and layer them into a parchment-lined 9” casserole dish.
- Season every couple of layers. You should end up with 7-8 layers.
- Place another piece of parchment on top and weigh the potato layers down with another tightly fitting pan.
- Put some more weight on top and bake in a 350 F oven until a knife inserted into the center goes in and out without resistance.
- Transfer the dish to the fridge and keep the weight on.
- Cool overnight.
- The next day, flip the pave out of the dish (you may need to put it in the oven for a few seconds),
- Cut into small triangles.
- Deep fry at 350 F until golden brown and crispy.
- Season and eat immediately.
Notes
- Keep the tallow warm as you slice your potatoes into it, it will make it much easier to work with the slices later.
- Times are approximate. Base your cooking on the details in the recipe not on time.
Assembly
Ingredients
- 1 small head Iceberg Lettuce- sliced thinly
- 100 g Aged Cheddar- sliced thinly
Method
- Season the patty with salt and pepper to taste.
- Sear the burgers on each side until well caramelized,
- place in a hot oven until a skewer inserted into the center of the patty comes out warm (5 minutes total).
- Top with cheese and let the cheese melt.
- Toast the buns on the cut side.
- Spoon the mayonnaise onto the top bun and top with the iceberg lettuce.
- Spoon the beet relish onto the bottom bun and top with the pickled onions.
- Place the patty on the onions, top with the top bun and cut the burger in half.
Amusing Note:
This is the first dish we actually saw and tried before cooking it. Note Gerry reviewing all the elements and plating.
Of course that meant I got to photograph the restaurant’s plating of the dish, so I used some of those photos in this post. Mainly because everything I made came out much darker than Carl’s did in the restaurant kitchen. Also, even with some detailed review of the plating, we didn’t get a perfect plate. It didn’t matter though. Everything turned out wonderfully! Station Burger was amazing and the Pommes Kennedy did not disappoint. Not even a little bit!
Learn more about Chef Carl Heinreich
Note: this post is part of my Canadian Beef Brand Ambassador series. For more information on my relationship with Canada Beef Inc read about my Foodie Adventure: I’m a Canadian Beef Brand Ambassador. #LoveCdnBeefand my disclosure statement
alexaclark great post!
JSlighte Thanks!
Rob Hyndman one can buy this burger Richmond Station.
Diane McConnell the beet relish turned out wonderfully. I cooked it down a bit more than suggested, so it was thick and a little candied. Best beets I’ve ever had. (Yes, I’m posting this answer twice because it will only get pulled into my blog if I post it over here on unsweetened.ca’s page. Irksome but true)
Best new restaurant in Toronto. 🙂
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