"Steak Tartare" Compressed Watermelon and Hayden Mango "Yolk", Lamb Burgers with Tomato-Mint Salsa and Feta Cheese

We recently dropped a few pennies on a commercial-grade vacuum sealer, which has really paid off nicely in terms of safe food storage, but I had really been waiting for the time that I could use it in cooking applications. Namely, very good friends of ours managed to get us a signed copy of Thomas Keller's cookbook Under Pressure, which deals exclusively with sous vide (vacuum) cooking. This was our first chance to actually do one of the recipes.

The compression of the watermelon changed the textures and also turned it an extremely vibrant red. Nice mix of salty and fruity. I would have liked the mango to have been a bit sweeter, but oh well. Cool visual take on it looking like steak tartare with an egg yolk on top. The mango 'yolk' was done using and algin bath and gluconate/xanthan gum mixture in the mango to achieve the spheres.

The burgers were nice and simple. I added some smoked paprika to it to make it sing a little louder. Good contrast of cool salsa to hot burger.

"Steak Tartare" Compressed Watermelon and Hayden Mango "Yolk"

WATERMELON
¼ ripe seedless watermelon, rind removed
kosher salt
extra-virgin olive oil

MANGO "YOLK"
125 g mango juice
0.8 g Kelogel F
0.2 g sodium hydroxymetaphosphate
30 g calcium gluconate
0.4 g ascorbic acid
75 g sugar

FINISH
½ lime
freshly ground black pepper

WATERMELON:
Place the piece of watermelon in a bag and vacuum pack at the highest setting. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

To complete: Cut the watermelon in a fine dice and then finely mince to resemble tartare. Drain in a chonois with a pinch of salt and a drizzle of olive oil.

MANGO "YOLK"
Put the mango juice in a Vita-Prep. Place the Kelogel F, and sodium hyroxymetaphosphate on a saucer. Hold it above a Vita-Prep and, with the machine running, and with the machine running on low speed, slowly tap in the powders in steady small amounts until they are all incorporated. Turn to high speed for 2 to 3 seconds, then strain the mixture through a chinois or fine-mesh conical strainer.

To complete: Pour 500g of cold water into a deep bowl. Whisk in the calcium gluconate, ascorbic acid and sugar to dissolve. Put another deep bowl of cld water next to it. Drop a teaspoonful of the mango mixture (keeping it as close to a ball as possible) into the calcium gluconate mixture and let sit for 1 minute. Remove with a slotted spoon and place into the bowl of cold water. Repeat with the remaining mango mixture. Use the best yolks.

AT SERVICE: Spread one-quarter of the watermelon in a ring mold on each plate. Lift off the mold and top with a mango "yolk". Finish with a squeeze of lime juice and a grind of black pepper.

Lamb Burgers with Tomato-Mint Salsa and Feta Cheese

TOMATO-MINT SALSA
2 ripe beefsteak tomatoes, finely chopped
1 small red onion, finely chopped
1 jalapeno, finely chopped
juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon honey
2 tablespoons mint leaves, finely chopped
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper

LAMB BURGERS
1 ½ pounds ground lamb
1 tablespoon cumin
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons canola oil
8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

SALSA
Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour before serving. The salsa can be made 1 day in advance, covered, and kept refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before serving.

BURGERS
Heat grill to high.

Mix together the lamb, cumin, salt and pepper in a bowl. Shape the mixture with your hands into 4 round patties about 1 1/2" thick. Brush the burgers on both sides with the oil. Grill the burgers for 2-3 minutes per side until slightly charred and cooked to medium. Divide the cheese among the burgers, close the lid of the grill and cook an additional minute to slightly melt the cheese.

Top each burger with a large spoonful of the tomato-mint salsa before serving.