Époisses Cheeseburger at Home in Oakland

Direct from Oakland, CA, here is Simone Rubi's second post on TofC ( mmmmmmmmm ) :

To keep in rhythm to company that is kept on TofC, I thought I'd post about yet another cheeseburger. This burger is inspired by an off-menu cheeseburger I had at one of my favorite restaurants in San Francisco, Heirloom Cafe. The cheese is Époisses. A deliciously stinky washed rind cheese from the Burgundy region of France. The method? Work the cheese, shallot, egg, garlic, into the meat. The cheese isn't stacked and melted on top of the meat later. Unreal. Each bite is filled with the essence of Époisses. It also makes the patty unbelievably juicy. Make the patty by forming the freshly ground meat gently into a log and wrap it up tight with parchment paper. Chill the meat for a a few hours then cut into thick cylinders. The result is the ultimate, bottom line, fantastical, dream of a burger. We didn't eat them on buns like a lot of cutting-down-on-flour folks these days but I imagine a soft brioche bun would be sublime. We had the burger with an arugula salad with a touch of fleur verte cheese and a glass of 2008 Vincent Raimbault Vouvray Demi-sec. We also lucked out and found some fresh Chanterelle mushrooms, wait, no, the mushrooms lucked out to find us and a home at $30. a pound (!) at market hall in Rockridge. Still, we took them home because the idea of sauteing them in butter and fresh thyme then putting them on the burger was too spectacular of a mind movie. So the burger ended up with Chanterelles, carmelized onions, and homemade mustard. A friend, artist Nathaniel Russell, visited Oakland and this is how we did and continue to do.

All photos and text: Simone Rubi