*Return to Grilled to Perfection menu.
White Spot restaurants, known for their excellent old-fashioned hamburgers, are a fixture in British Columbia. In recent years they’ve gone a bit upscale, adding more gourmet fare to their classic dishes, including a phenomenal salmon burger. Executive chef Chuck Curry likes to play his recipes close to the chest, so I’ve had to re-create this dish based on my experience of eating it, but this comes pretty close to the real thing. If you don’t have the time or the inclination to make the aïoli, substitute with regular commercial mayo doctored with finely chopped fresh basil, a squeeze of lemon juice, and some freshly ground black pepper.
Ingredients
Basil Aïoli
2 large egg yolks
2 tbsp (25 mL) fresh lemon juice
1-1/4 cups (300 mL) extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup (50 mL) tightly packed fresh basil leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Burgers
Four 8 oz (250 g) boneless, skinless wild BC salmon fillets (farmed salmon will do, but it’s just not as good)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
Fixin’s
4 large sesame hamburger buns
Butter
1 large, perfectly ripe beefsteak tomato, cut into 4 slices
1 red onion, thinly sliced
Green leaf lettuce
Directions
1. Combine the egg yolks and the lemon juice in the bowl of a food processor; process the mixture for 5 seconds. With the machine running, drizzle the olive oil through the feed tube in a slow, steady stream, processing until the mixture is combined. Coarsely chop the basil and add it to the mixture.
2. Whiz the machine again until the basil is incorporated into the aïoli. Season it with salt and pepper and set it aside. It will keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
3. Prepare the grill for direct medium heat. Season the salmon fillets with salt and pepper and drizzle them with a little olive oil. Make sure the cooking grate is scrubbed clean. In this case, you may want to coat the cooking grate with a little oil just before you put the salmon on. Place the salmon on the grill, cover it, and cook the fish for 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until the core temperature of the fillet reaches 130°F (55°C).
4. Take the salmon off the grill and loosely tent it with foil. While the salmon is resting, butter the buns, place them buttered side down on the cooking grate, cover the grill, and toast the buns for maybe half a minute, taking care not to burn them.
5. Slather both sides of each toasted bun with the basil aïoli. Place the salmon fillets in the buns and top them with tomato, onion, and lettuce.
6. Serve the burgers with a cold beer or a glass of crisp, fruity white wine.
Makes 4 burgers
Recipe excerpted from Barbecue Secrets Deluxe by Rockin’ Ronnie Shewchuk. Published by Whitecap. Copyright 2009 by Ron Shewchuk. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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