The Classic Hamburger – by Michelin Star Chef Henrik Yde, Restaurant Kiin Kiin.

Henrik Yde is the owner of the world’s only Thai Michelin Star restaurant in the World. It’s location in the center of Copenhagen, Denmark may seem a little strange but after spending 4 years on a culinary journey through Thailand he decided to open Kiin Kiin.

Trying to teach the American man how to cook is the purpose of this blog. We have brought you many different recipes on finer food and everyday food but few real American classics have been presented here. Now the time has come for the ultimate American Classic – the hamburger; Michelin Star Style.

Making a classic burger is not as simple, as one should think and there are ingredients that are important to balance and combine the flavors to perfection. For this not to be too overwhelming the different chores can work as buy-in for your next poker night.

1st buy-in:
Onion, Lettuce, cheese and burger buns.

The onions has to be white onions – and not the regular yellow kind. They have to be finely chopped. If it’s onion rings you will pull them out with your teeth.

The lettuce has to be crunchy and that’s why a regular iceberg is the perfect choice.

At Restaurant Kiin Kiin they have eksperimented with a dusin different types of cheddar cheeses.  It has to be a sharp chedder approximately 180 days old. The old english cheddars are way too sharp in the taste so a good American cheddar will definately do great – but of course in the right quality.

If the buns have to be home made, they have to be soft and sweet. Don’t even think about the italian bred types. The good old burger bun is what completes the classic burger.

2nd buy-in
Pickled cuecumber is a must. Put 2 cups of vinegar in a casserole. Add suger (taste your way but youl will need plenty ½-1 cup) whole black pepper corn and plenty of chopped dill and pearl onions. Heat it up and let it boil for a few minutes. Slice the cuecumbers thinly. Take the casserole of the burner and let it cool with the sliced cucumber in the fridge for two days.

3rd buy-in: Meats The Bacon cannot be too lean. If you can get it, buy dry salted, air dried bacon. 
Ground beef with 18% fat so it won’t get too dry. Remember the ground beef shrinks then cooked and you don’t want to end up with a small and tall paddy. From and old American cook book, Cooks Illustrated the trick is described. Shape the ground beef round and make a dent in the center. When the paddy cooks the dent will ‘undent’ from the meat shrinking. This should make the paddy round and flat. Try and get the beef freshly grounded from the butcher so you are 100% sure it’s fresh.

4th buy-in:
The Mayo cannot be made without using fat. And this is how to make a best mayo for your prime classic burger.
Use 4 egg yolks, 2 tablespoons mustard, 4 oz terragon vinegar, salt, pepper and sugar. Blend it in a blender. Add 7 oz of rapeseed oil or good olive oil and 20 oz of a neutral flavored oil e.g grapeseed oil. Pour the oil in VERY SLOOOWLY while the blender is running. Remember that all ingredients has to be the same temperature (room temperature when blending the mayo. 

5th buy-in:
Ketchup is inspired from the asian cuisine. 
Boil 32 ounces of tomatoes with 1 peeled apple, 2 peeled, chopped onion , 3 peeled cloves of garlic, 1 tea spoon of cinnamon, ½ teaspoon allspice, 1 cup of brown sugar and 7 oz vinegar for 10-15 minutes. If you want a chunky kind, you can serve as is or choose to blend it.

Virgin Lobster baked with cinnamon and pine straws - by Michelin Star Chef Thomas Herman of Nimb

This dish is created by one of the top Michelin Star Chefs of Copenhagen; Thomas Herman. He is the owner of Restaurant Herman in Hotel Nimb in Tivoli.

When I saw this dish I thought of my mother in law, Susan, who is a brilliant cook herself. The combination of lobster and cinnamon would probably appeal to her. It almost seems like the fresh lobster of Florida where she resides, the taste of cinnamon from her Lebanese roots and the pine and lemon thyme combination that it very 'new nordic cuisine' brings us together again accross the Atlantic. Susan, this is for you. I love you and miss you.

Small appetizer, serves 4 

Virgin Lobster 

• 8 large virgin lobster in the shell and head
• 2 fresh, new sprouts of small biodynamic pine needles (use only the very soft part)
• 8 thin sticks of cinnamon
• 1 handfull of fresh lemon thyme
• 8 tea spoons peanut oil
• Salt and pepper 

Virgin lobster oil

• Shells from the lobster
• Grape seed oil 

Take out the meat from the lobster and save the shells and head in a bowl. Rinse and clean the lobster tails. Keep the tails refrigerated untill they are to be used.

Mince the shelles thoroughly and roast them slightly in a bit of oil in a caserole. our over the grape seed oil until it overs the shells. Turn down the burner to low and let the oil sit at about 80 C / 180 F for about 20 minutes so the oil will take flavor from the shells. Remove the caserole from the burner and let it sit and cool off for at least an hour. When cool, strain the oil through a fine strainer or coffee filter. Make sure only the oil is strained so no other fluids or impurities mix in. Disgard the shells.

Let the oil cool to room temperature and now it's ready for use for lobster mayonnaise.

• 4 egg yolks 
• 1 tea spoon sherry vinegar 
• 1 table spoon water
• 2.5 cups of lobster oil
• Salt and white pepper 
• (If you can get it in a specialty store: pine needle oil)

All ingredients have to have exactly the same temperature and may not be too cold Whisk the egg yolks with a bit of salt for a few minutes. Add the sherry vinegar and water. Whisk the oil in a little by little. You have to whisk constantly. If they mayo gets too thick you can add a little more water atleast at room temperature.  Pisk æggeblommerne med salt et par minutter og tilsæt herefter sherryeddiken og vandet.
Adjust flavor with pine needle oil, salt, pepper and sherry vinegar. 

Enter the lobster tails: 

Take out the lobsters about an hour before serving. Take 8 pieces of tin foil approx. 5 x 5 inches and ley them out on your counter top. Put a lobster tail on each piece of tin foil and season lightly with salt and pepper. Pick the soft part from the pine needles and put about 10-12  pine needles on each lobster tail.

Then put a cinnamon stick on each lobster tail and twigs of lemon thyme. Finally pour over a tea spoon of of peanut oil over each lobster tail and wrap the tin foil around it all. Pre-heat the oven to 210C/410F. Put the tin foil packages on room temperature a baking plate. A pre heated plate can over cook the lobster. Bake them for 5-6 minutes depending on size. Be careful they don't over cook.

• Serve
  Take the baked lobster tails out of the tin foil wraps and distribute on 4 plates. Use the cinnamon and lemon thyme as decoration. Serve the lobster mayonnaise in little side dish bowls. Dip the lobster tails in the mayo and enjoy. A good thing would be serving the dish with wet naps as you are supposed to use your fingers eating this dish.
  
  A nice, warm piece of french bread would compliment this dish.

Appetizer by Michelin Star Chef Thomas Herman is served!