The Cattle Call – Chef Russell Booth from The Hard Rock Café
The Cattle Call – All the beef that’s behind the people who make & connect us to the Burgerverse.
Name: Chef Russell Booth
Website: http://www.hardrock.com
Where do you live: I live in Orlando, Florida. I’ve been in Orlando on and off for a couple of decades, 20 years. Well, I grew up in Miami and one day I ventured up to Orlando and I stayed.
Favorite Style of burger: I like a burger that is medium-rare, charred, heavily seasoned, with cheddar cheese and vine-ripe tomatoes. That is it. Little hot sauce on the side.
Favorite Childhood burger: Every kid loves cheeseburgers and so I can just remember eating cheeseburgers often and every kid loves that. And certainly as you grow older, the ingredients change and you venture into the ingredient list and have so many great things to put on a burger. You can put jalapenos on it, blue cheese, beef brisket, whatever you can imagine. Fresh kosher pickles. So, you know, the selections are endless.
Burger that haunts your dreams at night: Well the burger that haunts my dreams at night would probably be a liver burger. I’m not much into liver so if you made a burger out of liver I’m not sure I’d be wanting to eat that.
What is the one burger you’ve always wanted to try but still have not: Well, I’ve tried most every burger out there. Certainly like to work with all proteins. Recently tried a shrimp burger which was fantastic. That was good. But you know, we have so many ingredients that we work with that I think I’ve tried almost every combination there is.
The secret to making a great burger: Secret is pretty simple. Great ingredients, cooked to the right temperature, that’s where you start. We use certified Angus beef. I prefer using 80% lean to 20% fat because that fat will burn off and it gives the meat such great flavor. Then we make sure that is cooked on a hot grill at 550 degrees. Don’t overwork the burger, you put it on there and turn no more than three times. And then you put your favorite toppings on there and you’re ready to go.
Under no circumstances whastoever, what should NEVER be put on a burger: I’m not sure there, the sky’s the limit. There’s nothing you probably don’t want to put on a burger. Probably toothpaste, maybe? That may be the only think you don’t want to put on a burger? But ya know, if it’s edible, I think it can be put on a burger. Even probably including gummy worms if you wanted to do that. So anything goes with a hamburger, I think. What you like is up to you.
If you could be any Mythical Creature, which would it be: Probably a fire breathing dragon. And what kind of burger would you cook up: I don’t think it would be that tough, but it would be spicy.
If you could have a burger with anyone alive, or dead, fictional or real, who would it be and where would you take them: Well that’s a pretty easy choice. For me it would be either Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin and certainly we’d go to Las Vegas.
Name one burger in LA that for once, people should get off a plane and go eat instead of In-N-Out: Well, in Los Angeles our Chef is very creative and he has so many things on his burger that he offers. But the key is fresh ingredients and in Los Angeles we use everything fresh and in California the produce is as fresh as it gets so all the burgers are fabulous in Los Angeles and we have great chefs there at the Hard Rock Café.
Tell us how our love of burgers could win us trip to Punta Cana: Well, in the month of May we’re celebrating by giving a trip for two away to Punta Cana and it’s very simple all you do is visit a Hard Rock Café, you bite into a legendary burger, you snap a picture of yourself eating that burger, post it on Instagram or Twitter and you could be in Punta Cana on the beach, it’s that simple. Visit www.HardRockBurger.com for details.
