Fast Food. Love it or hate it, it is a part of our culture. The question is, how did it become that way? The Founder seeks to answer that question from the view of the growth of McDonald’s. McDonald’s has been around since 1940 when it was originally a barbecue restaurant. We were inspired by the film to create an upgrade to the fast food burger we have all grown up with.
The Founder is directed by John Lee Hancock (SAVING MR. BANKS) and features the true story of how Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton), a struggling salesman from Illinois, met Mac and Dick McDonald. The McDonald brothers were running a burger operation in 1950s Southern California. Impressed by the brothers’ speedy system of making the food, Kroc saw franchise potential. Writer Robert Siegel (THE WRESTLER) details how Kroc maneuvered himself into a position to be able to pull the company from the brothers and create a billion-dollar empire. The movie is a fascinating look into one of the largest fast food chains in the world.
When creating an upgrade to the quintessential fast food burger we asked ourselves, what goes on a basic burger? We decided that we could stick to basics: burger, cheese, pickles, onions, ketchup, and mustard. The burger was first up. We added Worcestershire Sauce and Lawry’s Seasoned Salt to give the burger more flavor. For the cheese, we substituted Colby Jack for American. Pickle and onions were next. We left the pickles alone (we like regular dill pickles) but switched regular white onion for red onion. Finally, for ketchup and mustard, we used a sun dried tomato ketchup and spicy brown mustard. All of these flavors combined give the burger a nice upgrade while keeping the nostalgia factor of the fast food burger.
What do you like on your burgers? Do you have a favorite topping? Let us know in the comments below or take a picture of your favorite burger and tag us!
The Founder is now out on Digital HD, Blu-ray, and DVD.
Ingredients
- 1 lb Ground Beef
- 1 tsp Lawry's Seasoned Salt
- 1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 4 Hamburger Buns
- 4 slices Colby Jack Cheese
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp finely chopped Red Onion
- 8 pickles
- Sun Dried Tomato Ketchup (we used Traina Brand)
- Spicy Brown Mustard
Instructions
- Combine ground beef, seasoned salt, and worcestershire sauce.
- Separate into 4 even patties.
- Cook patties on flat top griddle or in a frying pan until desired temperature is reached.
- Put cheese on burgers just before they are done and allow to melt.
- Put finished patty on bun and top with: 2 pickles, 1 tsp red onion, ketchup, and mustard.
- Serve.
The Geeks were provided with a copy of The Founder for research purposes. Images and title treatments were used with permission. All opinions are wholly our own. View our Disclosure Policy for more info.