Have you heard of the James Beard Foundation’s Blended Burger Project? Essentially, it is a movement that is all about building a better burger. The idea is that blending ground meat with chopped mushrooms leads to an incredibly moist and flavorful patty that’s not only delicious, but healthier for guests as well as more sustainable for the planet.
Chefs from around the country were invited to create their own Blended Burger in the hopes of winning a chance to cook at the Beard House in the fall. Being invited to cook at the Beard House is pretty much the ultimate honor that a chef can hope for. The guidelines of the contest require chefs to create a burger that includes at least 25% fresh and chopped cultivated mushrooms in the patty, the rest of the ingredients are left to the chef’s personal taste and creativity
The contest began Memorial Day and will run through July 31st. Chefs are encouraged to have their diners spread the word on social media, including the hashtag #BlendedBurgerProject. Guests can vote for their favorite restaurants blended burger and the five chefs with the most online votes will win a trip to the historic James Beard House in New York City, where they will cook their Blended Burgers at a welcome reception for the annual JBF Food Conference on October 17th and 18th.
Voting
You have the rest of the month to go check out your favorite restaurants Blended Burgers and cast your votes for your favorites. As of right now, none of the Arizona participants are in the top five, but you can help to change that. You can vote once a day, so check out the participants and get testing and then vote away!
Arizona Blended Burger Participants
Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails
Photo courtesy of Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails
Blended Burger| Available on the lunch menu
A 70 percent ground beef and 30 percent mushroom/garlic/white wine burger served on a pretzel bun and topped with pepper jack cheese, fried pickles, onion, aioli, lettuce, tomato and side of fries or salad.
RnR Gastropub
Photo courtesy of Evening Entertainment Group
Crimini & Shiitake Burger
This burger is made up of a combination of ground beef and shiitake mushrooms, topped with pickled onions, oven roasted mushrooms, alfalfa sprouts and a sweet soy aioli.
The Gladly
This burger is a delicate blend of 80/20 ground chick and finely chopped shiitake mushrooms with pequillo ketchup, bone marrow aioli, chorizo chips and wild arugula on challah. Want to whip this up at home after you try it out and place your vote? Lucky you! We’ve got the recipe.
The Larder + The Delta at DeSoto Central Market
Photo by Joanie SImon
The Honeymooner
Chef Stephen Jones entry is made up of a red wine braised and ground mushrooms, ground short ribs, caramelized onion jam, gruyere cheese, watercress all on a brioche bun. The burger patty itself is made with 50% ground mushrooms (portobello, shiitake) that prior to grinding have been braised in red wine and aromatics then cooled. The patty also consists 40% ground short rib that they grind in house and 10% smoked bacon.
Mariposa Latin Inspired Grill
Photo courtesy of Mariposa Latin Inspired Grill
The Magic Mushroom Burger| Available on the lunch menu
All-Natural Certified USDA Creekstone Farms Black Angus Beef stuffed with oven-roasted duxelles of Crimini, Button, Portobello and Shiitake Mushrooms, Poblano Pepper, Malbec, Shallots, Gorgonzola and Chevre. Grilled to perfection on Mariposa’s Argentine Parrilla and topped with slow-roasted Organic Campari Tomatoes, Truffle Gouda and Truffle-spiked Mayo Sauce. Served on a house-made Mariposa-branded Brioche Bun.
“We are extremely excited to be in the running for the James Beard Foundation to promote healthier dining options and a more sustainable planet. By creating a 75/25 blend of meat and mushrooms. We appreciate your vote!” – Chef Lisa Dahl
Also participating in the JBF Blended Burger Project are RnR Gastropub and Click Cafe.
Who has your vote?
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© Taryn Jeffries 2016