Oh, HELL, this is just NASTY...Crest Cafe (San Diego) "Butter Burger"...PHOTOS

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Crest Cafe's Butter Burger Redefines Gluttony in San Diego

Posted by Erin Jackson, August 27, 2010 at 2:45 PM

http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/08/crest-cafes-butter-burger-review-san-diego-ca.html



Crest Cafe

425 Robinson Avenue, San Diego CA (map); 619-295-2510‎; crestcafe.net
Cooking Method: Charbroiled
Short Order: Gluttony at its best: a burger stuffed with butter, then topped with cheese and spicy mayo. You won't find a juicier burger anywhere else
Want Fries With That? Go for it! All burgers come with your choice of crispy fresh cut fries, homemade potato chips, or several salads
Price: Butter Burger, $10.95; Crest Burger, $8.95
Notes: 2 for 1 burgers on Tuesday evenings, plus free delivery if you don't feel like hunting for parking in Hillcrest

If eating a burger stuffed with butter is wrong, then I don't want to be right. Crest Cafe has turned me on to a higher form of gluttony than I ever thought possible, and it feels good to be bad.



The cozy and colorful diner in Hillcrest features classic American comfort food, including their signature burger: the butter burger. This beast of a burger is made of half a pound of ground beef stuffed with garlic and herb butter. During the cooking process even more of the seasoned butter is slathered on top. And then, as if that wasn't enough, it's topped with cheese and a spicy garlic mayo.



I'm more than a little proud to say I conquered this beast and lived to tell the tale. For those of you AHT readers who can't make it to San Diego to take on the butter burger, here's the recipe.

Crest Cafe Better Butter Burger

4 servings

COMPOUND BUTTER

1 pound unsalted butter, softened

2 large garlic cloves, minced

11/2 teaspoons minced fresh tarragon

11/2 teaspoons minced fresh basil

11/2 teaspoons minced fresh parsley

Pinch cayenne pepper

Salt and pepper, to taste

ROASTED GARLIC AIOLI

1 cup mayonnaise

11 small garlic cloves, roasted, chopped

1 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

BURGERS

2 pounds fresh ground beef or Angus beef

Sliced cheese

Sliced red onion

Sliced Roma tomatoes

Green leaf lettuce

4 onion hamburger buns

For the Compound Butter: Stir together all the butter ingredients, then spoon onto plastic wrap in a six-inch long mound. Fold plastic wrap over butter to enclose and roll to form a log about 21/2 inches in diameter. Chill butter until firm, about 2 hours.

For the Roasted Garlic Aioli: Combine all ingredients in a food processor until smooth.

For the Burger: Form beef into four (8-ounce) patties. Stuff a slice of the compound butter inside the middle of each patty. Broil the burgers to desired doneness, then place another slice of butter on the burger. Top burgers with sliced cheese and broil just to melt cheese. Place burgers on bun. Top with Roasted Garlic Aioli, onion, tomato and lettuce.

(From Ruben Medina and Luis Moreno of Crest Cafe.)

[blue neen]

1. That does not look good AT ALL!

With all the fat and calories, I'm quite thankful that it is not appealing to me! :)

[Amerigo Vespucci]

2. They even managed to make the BUN look greasy!

:rofl:

:toast:

[snagglepuss]

8. One would have to be depraved to find that juicy tender looking burger appealing

[Bennyboy]

3. My arteries are hardening just looking at that...

But does that sound yummy! Gonna pass it on to some chefs I know...

[Akoto]

4. Paula Deen will be right over. n/t

[Kali]

5. regular ground beef is 20 to 25% fat so if the meat was super lean

a couple tablespoons of butter wouldn't really be that much over the top for an 8 oz patty (and if it was super lean, it would probably need at least one of them), so I wonder what kind of hamburger they use.

I don't like soggy bread, but other than the bottom half of the bun it doesn't sound or look all that bad to me.

[surrealAmerican]

6. The mayo-cheese topping ...

... is something I could do without, but otherwise that it might be good.

[realisticphish]

7. Stuffed with butter??

I love a good garbage burger, but that sounds disgusting.

Though I would ask anyone showing disgust if they've ever eaten cheesecake. Yeah, cause to me? Exact same thing.

[kimi]

9. When I was a kid

my mom came up with this concoction of two thin hamburger patties stuck together with a processed cheese slice in the middle. It was actually quite popular at the time, as I recall. But it was sort of gross, kind of slimy when you bit into it. Just ONE reason why I am a vegetarian now.

Processsed cheese is an abomination anyway. Roasted Garlic Aioli, actually, doesn't sound so bad as a topping for anything, though.

[gvstn]

10. I knew

Someone who used to brush a steak with butter after broiling it. Not to my taste but some people might like it. Pan frying steaks in butter used to be common many years ago although I find it greasy.

To me it's starting with an 8oz. hamburger that is always unappetizing. That same recipe with all ingredients cut in half might be worth a try as a treat with a crunchier lettuce.