Labor Day is next Monday…yeah we can’t believe it either. In Wisconsin the beginning of September means the end of summer and the start of the school year. For anyone who has ever experienced Wisconsin summers, you know how precious this time is to natives. Carefree cookouts complete with farm-fresh corn and watermelon. Spending weekends with friends and family up at cabins on the lake. Sipping New Glarus’ Spotted Cow. Our glorious summers more than make up for long winters and tons of snow.

Full disclosure: it may sound like we’re sad to see summer go and trust me we are, however the change from summer into fall brings some really fun changes for us as well. We get to play with different veggies, winter squashes, pumpkins, apples (duh) and all the fun root vegetables we can get fresh in autumn and early winter.

For now, though, we thought we give summer one last hoorah with a great burger recipe! We dreamed up these burgers as an ode to everything we love about summer cooking: using the grill, fresh veggies and fruit, LOTS of different flavors, and of course the generous use of black garlic. For those of you who aren’t red meat eaters, we also made a Black Garlic Chicken Burger that was to die for…you can find that recipe below!

Black Garlic Beef Burgers

Here’s what you need:
3 lbs chuck roast
3 lbs short ribs
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon Black Garlic Puree
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon black pepper 

Start by cutting your meat into 1 inch cubes. Place the cubes on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper and place into the freezer along with your food processor blade for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, pulse the meat into the food processor until it is ground. Add your egg yolks, black garlic puree, salt and pepper, and mix to combine.

Form your patties, and depress them slightly in the center to keep them flat. Heat up your grill and cook your burgers to the desired doneness. 

Parmesan Crisps
3 oz Fontina Cheese
3 oz Pecorino Romano Cheese

Heat your oven to 400 degrees. Grate all of the cheese and combine in a bowl until the cheeses are blended. Form mounds on a silpat the same size as your patties or buns. Cook for 8 - 10 minutes in the oven until the crisps are golden brown and crunchy.

Black Garlic Chicken Burgers
1 lb ground chicken
2 tablespoons tahini
3 teaspoons Black Garlic Puree
salt and pepper to taste

These are seriously too easy to even justify not making. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix until well combined. Form into patties and pop on the grill. Cook through and enjoy!

Don’t forget grilled pineapple! We cut our pineapple into 1/3 inch thick slices and grilled over medium heat until heated through. If you want to go whole hog (which we highly recommend doing), you can make your own buns!

We used this recipe for Mexican Sesame Seed Sandwich Buns from Serious Eats, and we are SO glad we did. We also topped our burgers with fresh spinach, onions, ketchup and mustard (of course) and local farmers market pickles!

Enjoy! We hope your end of summer celebration is just as tasty as ours was.