Life’s A Beach Burger

Vacationing in Cape May, NJ there is a place called the Ugly Mug that had an Ocean Burger that was fabulous.Taking inspiration from that when I moved to NC, I wanted to have something that combined the same surf & turf profile.

Ingredients:

Crab Topping

½ cup lump crab

½ cup special crab

¼ cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon Old Bay

1 tablespoon lemon juice

¾ cup panko

Coleslaw

Coleslaw mix (Fresh Express 3 Color Deli Slaw preferred)

2 ounces lump crab, shredded

1/3 cup mayonnaise

½ teaspoon Old Bay

½ tablespoon lemon juice

pinch salt

Patties

2 ¼ pounds ground beef (20% fat)

¼ cup Chardonnay

2 tablespoons Old Bay

¼ teaspoon white pepper

Other

Vegetable oil, for rubbing on the grill rack

pinch salt

6 slices White Cheddar cheese

6 kaiser rolls, split

6 Boston lettuce leafs, trimmed to bun size

Instructions:

To make the crab topping, in a medium bowl combine the crab and mix with fork. Add the mayonnaise, Old Bay, and lemon juice the stir together. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.

To make the coleslaw, in a medium bowl combine all ingredients and stir to combine. Cover and keep refrigerated until ready to assemble.

To make the patties, combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix together well while handling the meat as little as possible; this prevents it from becoming too dense. Divide the mixture into 6 equal portions and form into patties. Set aside until ready to grill.

Heat the grill to medium-high. When the grill is ready, with a paper or cloth towel, rub the grill rack with vegetable oil to prevent sticking. Sprinkle a pinch of salt on each patty. Place the patties on the rack salt side down and cook until done to preference, 4 to 6 minutes. Do not push down on the patty because this will release the juices and dry out the burger. While the burgers are cooking, stir the panko into the crab mixture. Before flipping the burger and sprinkle the uncooked side with salt, then flip and cook until desired, 4 – 6 minutes. When the burgers are two minutes from being done, top each with a heaping spoonful of crab mixture and a slice of cheddar. Place rolls split side down on grill. Close the grill cover, and cook for 1 minute. Remove the buns and burgers from the grill.

To assemble the burgers, top each bun bottom with the desire amount of tartar sauce (approximately 1 tablespoon) and spread to coat. Place a lettuce leaf on top of each bun bottom. Set the patties on top of the lettuce then top with other half of roll. Slice each burger in half before serving.