The burger: Which arrived first, the lilacs, or the food trucks? Probably the latter, but spring has indeed sprung, with both blossoms and mobile restaurants visible at seemingly every turn. Hungry for a burger, my mind immediately flashed to a summer-of-2014 encounter with the sliders at Butcher Salt, so I took to Twitter and tracked the vehicle's whereabouts. Turns out, it was parked across the street from my office. Kismet, right?
It's easy to appreciate the underlying simplicity of owner Jean Hutar's operation, which boils down to a single thematic ingredient: salt. Specifically, a sea salt infused with rosemary, sage, thyme and marjoram. Hutar sneaks it into dishes up and down the menu, and like all bedrock building blocks, it pretty much improves everything it touches.
Starting with sliders. Hutar isn't relying upon a premium beef -- no rattling off the name of a local, family-owned, grass-fed operation -- and she doesn't grind her own tailor-made blend of cuts. "We use an ordinary ground beef, and we make it extraordinary," she said. Her secret? That aromatic salt, of course.
Prior to creating each hand-formed patty, the salt is sprinkled into a lean ground beef, along with a little butter (to fatten up the beef's 90/10 meat/fat ratio) and fresh thyme. Why thyme? "It really plays best with a burger," said Hutar. "And it's an ingredient in the butcher salt, so it calls back to it." (That happens a lot: order the truck's hash browns -- which, by the way, you should -- and you'll encounter a quiet rosemary finish). The patties are hand-formed, pressed relatively thin and compact and fried to order on the truck's flattop grill.
"I'm a huge fan of the flattop burger," said Hutar. "It reminds me of growing up in my parent's restaurant, which was near Ely. I started eating burgers there, and that's how they made them."
As sliders go, they're a generous size, weighing in at 3 ounces and cooked to a no-pink, no-nonsense medium. Their diner-style attributes are more flavorful than textural; the grill draws out all kinds of sizzling, caramelized tastiness, but don't leave a ton of juices in its wake. And yes, this is one well-seasoned patty.
Although it may appear otherwise, the minimalist add-ons manage to add a lot. Hefty strings of slow-cooked red onion, splashed with balsamic vinegar, lend plenty of sweet-tangy kick. Kudos to the thick-cut bacon, which is smoky enough to alert the senses yet doesn't overpower every other flavor component. Even the cheese, a thin strip of Monterey Jack, doesn't call much attention to itself, allowing the beef to remain in the forefront.
The buns are definitely this burger's crowning touch. Here's a secret: They're not buns, they're dinner rolls, and fairly yeasty ones at that. "I tried so many slider buns and hamburger buns, and there was just too much to them," Hutar said. "These hold the patty nicely, but they don't take over the taste of the burger." Agreed. That's often a problem with sliders: they're all bun, and it makes for an off-kilter burger experience. Not here. Hutar seems to have struck the just-right balance between beef and bread.
