Herb and Balsamic Burgers

Herb and Balsamic burgers are my first try at a blog recipe living in the temporary house also known as the RV. The food props are non-existent and my lighting is sun and whatever is built into the RV ceiling. It is not the fault of the Herb and Balsamic Burgers that I only had my phone to take photos with and a paper plates to present them on. The burgers are still really tasty and simple to make. The mix of herbs in the meat and the balsamic mayo on the bun is great and gives a basic dinner a simple twist that is really scrumptious. We may be living in a Winnebago but we still live by two rules do NOT skimp on the quality of the cheese or buns for your burgers. Get the good stuff, you only live once.

Why are we living in an RV?

Moving into the Winnebago while we remodel our new house was not accomplished with military precision. The thought process went like this. We woke up on day two of living in the reno with stuffy noses and a layer of dust on everything. We had zero desire to move our possessions into a house that was looking less like a home and more like a construction site every moment. That night we considered our options over vodka and came up with two ideas: burn the house down and wait for the Red Cross to put us up somewhere or get an RV. Come to find out arson has some serious criminal penalties so we went RV shopping.

The boxes we packed up when moving were not packed with the RV plan in mind so finding the few things I desperately need to make the RV function as our house is like looking for a needle in a haystack. There is no box marked must have kitchen stuff for RV rather there are 20 boxes marked Kitchen. FML! Same thing for clothing, I found winter coats and formal gowns no problem but the bathing suits and horseback riding clothes I need for summer at an “equestrian estate” in Florida, nope. (Please note use of sarcastic quotes around estate, right now my dressage horse is living in a field with a car port for shelter.)

What mix of ground beef for burgers?

For conventional ground beef I think 80/20 blend is the best burger mixture, so I can get some good fat in the burgers and lots of beef flavor. I did a simple pan fry on these herb fill burger patties, toasted the fluffy bakery fresh burger buns and then assembled. I think this burger will stand up to the gourmet burger places popping up all over at about half the price. The mixed field greens are a nice change from the normal leaf lettuce and with the balsamic mayo we didn’t miss the ketchup. And yes I came up with this recipe because I forgot to buy ketchup for the RV. We dipped the spicy sweet potato fries in the extra balsamic mayo and it rocked!

Can you cook burgers in a frying pan?

Heck Yeah! So we have not set up a gas grill yet and my Traeger grill needs pellets, so I pan fried my herb and balsamic burgers right on the cook top inside the Winnebago. I even have acquired a $5 non-stick frying pan from the grocery store since I did not want to unpack all my kitchen boxes to find a single pan. Frying burgers is about getting a nice sear on the outside then turning down the heat to cook through. But if you like to grill a burger then go for it! I have even been known Sous Vide a burger then sear the outside for extra juicy-ness with a tasty outside. Anyway you cook them my herb balsamic burgers are a great upgrade on a basic cheese burger.