I've been watching "adult cartoons" ever since I was probably too young and my brother had control of the remote, and when Bob's Burgers came along, I assumed it was one and the same with The Simpsons and Family Guys of the world—dysfunctional American family with lovable functional qualities. And though that's the idea, Bob's has a special, even more lovable punniness to it, both in the illustration and writing and it is always fun and fresh. One of its trademark features is its daily punny specials written on the chalkboard behind the counter. Some genius already made a blog and a cookbook from it, so I used it as source material to tackle all the delicious sounding burgers in the show. The Belchers don't have a ton going for them, but their burgers always sound pretty amazing.
I recruited the help of my most Bob's Burgers-loving friend (with a beautiful big kitchen) on this one, and we did like the blog said and experimented with a few of the recipes. We played with using more than just beef, kept it casual (paper plates) and went slider so we could try a bunch. We paired it with Trader Joe's frozen fries because who needs to do the extra work (until I make fries, just wait).
I've Created a Muenster Burger
inspired by Bob's Burgers season 1, episode 11
makes 4 (regular sized) burgers
- 1 10-ounce package white button mushrooms, sliced (according to the book, verify that they are indeed cute as a button)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 pound ground beef
- 8 thick slices of muenster cheese
- 4 buns
- green leaf or Boston lettuce (according to the book, if using Boston lettuce, consider renaming this the "green Muenster Burger" but only if you're serving it to someone from Boston because only they will get it)
- ketchup
Sauté the mushrooms in the butter over medium-high heat until they are limp and light brown.
Form 4 patties and season both sides with salt and pepper. Cook the burgers.
While the burgers are over the heat, put one slice of Muenster on each burger. Then pile on a healthy scoop of the mushrooms and then a second slice of Muenster to hold the mushrooms in place.
Build the burger: bottom bun, lettuce and a cheesy mushroomy burger, a dash of ketchup to taste if you wish, top bun.
recipe from The Bob's Burgers Burger Book, which is just as funny and clever as the show.
[cooked while watching Bob's Burgers, of course!]
The very episode! Image: Playbuzz.com.