The burger: Yes, there is a deep-fried cheeseburger on the menu at the Copper Cow Bar & Kitchen. This total talker is exactly what it sounds like, an entire cheeseburger that's dipped in batter – bun and all -- and eased into the deep fryer. I'll leave the virtues of this State Fair-esque behemoth to my Outta Control colleagues, who are well-schooled in the exultation of excess.
That widowmaker is one of 11 burger options on the Copper Cow menu; there are a dozen, if you include the build-your-own option. If there was a popularity contest, chef Kyle Darling said that the blue ribbon would be pinned on the "Cow and the Sow," which features a patty that's a 60/40 beef/bacon combo, crowned with bacon Cheddar, aioli, pickles and butter lettuce. "It's a user-friendly bacon cheeseburger," he said.
As I perused the menu and considered the merits of various add-ons (roasted mushrooms, beer-braised pulled pork, tomato aioli), my appetite landed on the "Sweet Milkmaid" (pictured, above) for two reasons: I don't know that I've ever encountered figs as a burger embellishment, and the inclusion of chevre is such a burger rarity that it sounded intriguing. Turns out, both are superb additions to the burger topper pantheon.
"I'm a huge fan of goat cheese," said Darling. "I've got it on two of the burgers, and they're probably my favorites. [The second is titled, "A Cow, A Duck & A Goat Walk Into A Bar," and it's paired with duck confit]. I was interviewing for this job when I made the burger last year, and I used fresh figs, which I knew I wouldn't be able to do year-round. I later tried dried Mission figs, and they add a little texture."
And a marvelous, goes-well-with beef flavor. Turns out, another ideal cheeseburger component is creamy, tangy chevre, making me wonder why it's so rarely called upon in Cheeseburgerworld, at least beyond goat and lamb burgers.
The other flavor-enhancing topper is a compote that's fashioned from red onions that are cooked for three hours with red wine, red wine vinegar and sugar ("I call it a 'red wine marmalade,' but it's not necessarily that," said Darling). It's a subtle way to introduce a bit of onion-ey bite to counter-program the sweetness of those dried figs.
Still, the real story here is the whopper of a patty. Thick, juicy and engineered to deliver a profoundly beefy bite, it ranks as one of the region's better burger building blocks. The goodness begins where so many top-rated Twin Cities burgers start, with well-raised Limousin cattle from Peterson Craftsman Meats in Osceola, Wis.
When he was mapping out his hopes for the restaurant's signature beef grind, Darling knew that he wanted to include flavor- and texture-enhancing qualities locked within short rib. "But the price is outrageous," he said. That roadblock disappeared when the farm's co-owner, Andy Peterson, made a helpful suggestion. "He gives me the short rib end pieces," said Darling. "Once he cuts that beautiful rib eye square, there's a byproduct, and he doesn't have a use for it."
