Show dad how much you love him with the best burger for Father's Day

Father's Day is this Sunday and what better way to fête good ole dad than by making a hamburger especially for him?

This is one burger that you want to be the best, as a celebration requires, and so some attention should be paid to the quality of the ingredients and the technique used to prepare the burger.

The beef you use to make the burger is at the core of a good burger. Use the best quality beef you can find, USDA Prime is the best, but don't make it too lean. The marbling or fat content of a burger is in direct relationship to its flavor. What you add to the beef, how it is seasoned is important, too, although care should be given to not over-season and as a result mask the flavor of the beef.

Use the same criteria when buying the other ingredients for your burger. Get real cheese, preferably an artisanal cheese made in the United States or Europe, not the egregious USDA "food product," which means texture with no flavor at all. The same goes for the bread; there are a good handful of great bakeries around so get a fresh loaf of a hearty wheat or multi-grain bread and slice it to the thickness you like.

Consider the side dishes you want to serve but remember this is about the burger so you don't want to usurp the main event with a side that is overpowering. Good, ole homemade french fries and coleslaw top my list, but you might want to have a few different condiments on hand for the picky eaters in your party. If you want to keep it simple, serve the best quality chips you can afford.

This is a burger that should be topless. One thick slice of bread is more than enough. You don't want to fill up on lots of bread when the point is the burger itself. So serve this burger open faced.

As far as cooking the burger, the best way is on an outside grill with a hardwood fire. A good quality hardwood charcoal is next, followed by a gas-fired grill and, lastly, cooked inside in a sauté pan in oil.

TOPPINGS

One of my favorite topping combinations is cheese and mushrooms. I like portobello mushrooms because they are thick and meaty and connect better with the burger. Sauté them in a little olive oil until done or cook them on the grill.

The cheese options are numerous, but the top picks have to be those creamy cheeses that melt so well and are a bit sharp. Try Taleggio, Irish cheddar or the king of melting cheeses Gruyere.

This burger in the recipe below goes well with garlic-lemon mayonnaise and ketchup, but good homemade pickles add a good zing too.

Prepare the burger as

in the master recipe that follows, but two or three minutes before they are done, add the cheese and mushrooms and close the lid on the grill or cover the burger with a pan until the cheese is properly melted.

Another of my favorite burger toppings is tomato and bacon. I prefer thick slices of smoky bacon and even thicker slices of red ripe tomatoes. Sprinkle the tomatoes with fresh ground black pepper and for something a little different put them on the grill for a few minutes to make them soft and smoky.

Another option with this burger is spinach that has been sautéed in a little olive oil and garlic just until wilted.

As with any meat grilled over a hot fire, you should let your burger rest just a few minutes before serving. If you take a bite of a just-off-the-grill burger the juice will all run out and what you have left will be dry. The trick here, just like with toasting the bread is timing. Don't let the burger get cold, add the toppings quickly, being careful to make an interesting presentation and serve it to Dad while it is still piping hot.

These are my tips for a perfect Father's Day hamburger.

GARLIC LEMON MAYONNAISE

1 cup best quality mayonnaise

Juice of 1 lemon

2-3 cloves minced garlic

2-3 pinches Tony Chachere's Seasoning

Place the garlic in a food processor along with the lemon juice and process until smooth. Add the mayonnaise and seasoning and pulse until smooth. Put in a squeeze bottle so you can apply it artfully.

THE BASIC BURGER

1 loaf locally made artisanal whole wheat or multi-grain bread

1 pound of best quality ground beef

1/4 cup panko bread crumbs

2 tablespoons Dales Steak Seasoning or good quality soy sauce

1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper

1 tablespoon Tony Chanceries Seasoning

2-3 tablespoons best quality olive oil

Butter and olive oil as needed

Cut the bread into thick slices, butter well and place on the grill to toast. Timing here is critical, don't put the bread on too far in advance or it will be cold when the burger is ready. Mix all the other ingredients carefully and thoroughly. The panko bread crumbs keep the burger from being too dense, adding a little lightness. Form the burgers into squares (Why does it have to be a circle?), spritz with a little olive oil and grill over a medium fire until charred and done. Do not cook your celebratory burger to death. You don't have to eat it rare, but do not overcook it and dry it out.

Julian Glenn Brunt, who has been a Mississippi Gulf Coast resident for more than 20 years, has a deep and abiding interest in art, culture and the culinary heritage of the South. His column runs weekly in Taste. You can contact him at living@sunherald.com.

This story was originally published June 13, 2012 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Show dad how much you love him with the best burger for Father's Day ."