Hello, Fall!
Wave a breezy welcome to fall on the horizon! That’s right—the first official day of the season is Thursday, September 22. We don’t know about you, but we’re already eagerly anticipating the changes the new season will carry.
Bring on the beautiful scenery, the changing colors, the seasonal flavors, and the sweet autumn fragrances!
To celebrate the date, let’s look at a few favorite things about the coming season:
- Toasty Martin’s Swirl Bread as a mid-morning snack
- Still-warm days and cooler nights
- Seasonal produce like squash, cauliflower, and sweet potatoes
- Pumpkin spice and everything nice
- The gorgeous ombré effect of the changing leaves
- Freshly picked apples from a local orchard
- Chilly evenings around the campfire
- Hunting season (if you’re into that sort of thing)
- Corn mazes and hay rides
- Comfort food like soups and stews or freshly baked pies!
Check out our Fall Resources Guide at the bottom of this blog for more fun seasonal ideas!
Martin’s Seasonal Burger Blog Series: Part 3
In case you missed it: this year, we’ve been featuring a specialty burger recipe at the start of each season as a way of highlighting the season’s unique flavors and features! Take a look at our spring and summer burgers below:
- https://potatorolls.com/blog/seasonal-burger-spring
- https://potatorolls.com/blog/seasonal-burger-summer
For the upcoming autumnal season, we are combining a few fall favorites from our list above into one flavor-packed, hefty, hearty burger recipe that gives off serious comfort food vibes.
Keep reading to learn how to make Martin’s Seasonal Fall Burger Recipe!
Martin’s Fall Burger: Maple BBQ Bacon Burger
Fall is the season of comfort food, pumpkin spice lattes, hunting, camping, harvest festivals, and seasonal festivities. It’s the time of year where the weather is just starting to cool down (some would say, the perfect temperature), which makes it great for sporting events and other athletic activities. It’s the ideal combination of classic and cozy—and, even better, it carries with it a whole host of iconic flavors, scents, and scenes.
To personify this third season of the year, we constructed a custom-blend burger patty, topped with sharp cheddar cheese, caramelized onions, maple BBQ sauce, and plenty of bacon, all tucked into a Martin’s Sandwich Potato Roll.
Learn more about the key ingredients of this recipe below!
About This Recipe
The Burger: (½ lb. Beef | ½ lb. Venison) – serves 4
Our fall burger patty is made with a 50/50 blend of beef and venison, resulting in a complex earthy flavor that pairs well with our selection of seasonal flavor toppings.
Deer season begins in the early fall here in the U.S., sometime between late September and early October, depending on the state. If hunting is something you’re well acquainted with, then this recipe will be a perfect use of your fresh game meat. Or if you’re looking for a less involved way to try venison, look for a local meat purveyor or an online butcher shop that offers specialty game meats.
While some people may describe venison meat as “gamey,” skillfully prepared venison meat takes on fresh, earthy notes that pair well with robust flavors such as mushrooms, berries, onions, apples, bacon, and sweet spices like cinnamon, maple, and caramel.
When choosing the meat for your custom burger blend, make sure to keep in mind the 80/20 meat-to-fat ratio rule. Venison is a lean meat, so you will want to choose a fattier cut of ground beef to combine it with. (Tip: try mixing in some chopped bacon for an extra rich and smoky variation!) Check out the bottom of our Ultimate Guide to Beef for some pro burger building tips.
Once prepared, form the ground meat into four ¼-lb. patties, season with salt and pepper, and cook on a large skillet over medium-high heat until cooked through.
Caramelized Onions in Apple Butter:
Remember those flavors we said paired well with venison? Well, here we have the ultimate trifecta in the form of buttery-sweet onions, caramelized until tender and coated with cinnamon-spiced apple butter. The jammy caramelized onions add the perfect blast of sweet to complement the burger’s savory.
The Maple BBQ Sauce:
Another sweet seasonal element, this homemade barbecue sauce incorporates a favorite fall flavor: maple! Maple may just beat out “pumpkin spice” as the most-loved fall flavoring to add to seasonal beverages, desserts, and more; never mind the fact that it is truly a year-round ingredient. It is a choice companion for breakfast sweets like glazed donuts and French toast, and can even hold its own against smoky bacon or—in this case—a savory blended burger.
Prepare the quick-and-easy sauce by combining butter, tomato sauce, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, maple syrup, and apple butter together in a small saucepan, bringing to a simmer over medium-low heat, then adding a touch of vanilla extract and cooking for an additional few minutes. (Tip: You can also use bourbon in place of the vanilla extract. Just be sure to cook for a few minutes to cook away the alcohol.)
The Rest:
- Sharp White Cheddar Cheese: What’s a burger without cheese? A sharper cheese such as white cheddar is what’s needed here to stand up to the other bold ingredients without overpowering any one.
- Bacon: Do we ever really need a reason to add bacon? Two slices of thick-cut bacon per burger adds a wonderful smoky element that amplifies both the caramelized onions and maple BBQ sauce, and accentuates the quality of the venison-beef burger.
- Martin’s Sandwich Potato Rolls: A classic choice for a not-so-classic burger combination. These buns are just the right size for a ¼-lb. patty, and their built-in hinge helps to contain all those juicy toppings!
- To serve: we suggest a side of sweet potato fries! This fall-friendly side pairs deliciously with the other elements of this burger, from the Maple BBQ sauce to the caramelized onions and half-venison patty.
View the full recipe at: https://potatorolls.com/recipes/maple-bbq-bacon-burger/
Watch our stop-motion recipe video below!
Additional Fall Resources
Kick off the new season with these additional tastes and techniques!
- Firecracker Burger – Try this monthly burger recipe and explore our Ultimate Guide to Beef.
- Seasonal Fall Recipes – Dive into fall with these easy recipes to kick-start your morning!
- Fall Veggie Dishes – Find a list of seasonal fall veggies, accompanied by delicious recipe ideas including Cheesy Cauliflower Bake and Fall Veggie Panzanella with Maple Glaze.
Fall Blog Archive: https://potatorolls.com/blog/tag/fall
Fall Recipes Archive: https://potatorolls.com/recipes/?re_campaign=fall
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