Courtesy of Lynx, American Grill
you welcome in Clubhouse eatsWhere we celebrate the tastiest food and drinks in the game. I hope you have brought your appetite.
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When the PGA Tour descends on Hilton Head Island this year, the live oak trees, treacherous bunkers, and iconic lighthouse with a shave pole paint job will all serve as familiar sights across Harbor Town Golf Links. Within the Harbor Town Club, however – at Lynx American Grillto be specific – a new menu item is sure to garner a lot of interest this tournament week.
The dish in question, The Champions Burger, is a sumptuous creation featuring shaved black truffles, garlic truffle aioli, Muenster cheese, caramelized onions, and watercress. Also of note is the composition of the burger itself, which is a combination of filet mignon and in-house ground short rib. In fact, the restaurant’s Executive Chef, Fareed Ahmed, built the burger (and hand-picked all of its ingredients) to celebrate its high-quality beef blend.
“First and foremost,” he says, “we want guests to taste the beef. We put a lot of time into it, so it needs to be the star of the show. The second big flavor has to be the truffle, and then the sauce and cheese need to balance out the texture of the burger.”
Replicating The Champions Burger at home isn’t the easiest of tasks, especially considering the cost of getting fresh black truffles. But you don’t need to go overboard on gourmet ingredients to whip up an equally satisfying burger; And as Chef Ahmed acknowledges, it all starts with a well-balanced mix of different cuts of beef. In particular, he likes a 75/25 or even 70/30 ratio of deli meat to fat, and says the 50-50 mix of chuck and brisket is an excellent combination in this regard.
“There’s a bit of an intimidation when it comes to grinding your own meat, but if you talk to a butcher, they can do it for you,” he says, adding that you’ll just want to let the butcher know you’re making your own burgers. “From there, you just have to handle the meat properly.”
If the butcher knows that the meat will be ground for burger patties, he will mix the pieces of meat during the grinding process, which means you don’t need to do much to mix the two pieces together. This is key, because overhandling the meat can result in a denser patty that lacks tenderness once cooked through. Chef Ahmed’s advice when shaping the patties is to first create a baseball-sized ball of the meat and then toss it back and forth in your hands, which will hold the meat together without much manipulation.
“Keeping it cold will keep the meat intact,” he says. “The more you touch her, the warmer she gets, the less she warms.”
He explains that the next major step is seasoning. At Links, the culinary team uses only salt and pepper, and the chefs are generous with both spices. “The higher the fat content in the cut of beef, the more salt you can eat,” says Ahmed.
Not surprisingly, well-done burgers are cooked just right, which is why Ahmed recommends using a cast-iron skillet. “It will give it a nice crunch, and help with the caramelization,” he says.
After bringing a tablespoon of vegetable or canola oil to a semi-smoky temperature over medium-high heat, Ahmed sears his burgers to medium-rare, which he says equals about three minutes on each side. The burger is usually pulled off the heat when the meat has registered 115 degrees, as the patty will continue to cook as it relaxes. Speaking of… don’t skip the comfort step! It’s very important, as it allows the meat to reabsorb many of the juices that are naturally drawn from it during the cooking process. Ahmed’s rule of thumb is to let the burgers rest for 50 percent of the cooking time—in this case, three minutes.
Now, you’re only moments away from a delicious burger, but the last step can make or break your sandwich. When choosing which toppings to include, think of your burger as a great golf shot and each topping as a swing idea that gets you there. In other words, keep it simple. “Less is always more,” Ahmed says, “so it’s best to start small. Let the burger shine first and then finish it off with a topping or two, one sauce, and cheese.”