Terrine chef creates beautiful burgers for Memorial Day barbecue feasts

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Memorial day is second to the Fourth of July as the most popular day for a cookout, and many Southern Californians are getting their grill on.

Surprisingly, Terrine, a French bistro, offers great barbecue ideas that are beyond standard.

Chef Kris Morningstar whipped up three fabulous ideas for the big feast, and you won't find mustard and ketchup in these recipes.

Morningstar created a tuna burger, a lamb burger and a beautiful bombshell of a beef burger -- all culinary works of art.

He likes to vary the type of roll, and toasting with butter or oil is a must.

For the non-meat eaters at your party, a tuna burger with nicoise black olive aioli, red onion, tomato and capers can certainly satisfy the palate.

For his lamb burger, he brings a bit of Moroccan flair with spicy harissa sauce, feta cheese and red onion, along with fresh sliced cucumber.

But the piece de resistance is his truffle burger. Sottocenere al Tartufo cheese and truffle aioli take a traditional tried-and-true burger straight to France.

Morningstar likes to put truffle butter in the middle of the burger to ensure it stays nice and juicy.

He also oven-roasted tomatoes with thyme, makes his shallots crispy and throws dried porcini mushrooms in a clean coffee grinder and sprinkles that powder on top the burger, topping it all off with mache lettuce.

Want to try the tonight? Here is Morningstar's suggestions:

***All burger patties are 7-8 oz.

Truffle beef burger

Ground beef

Truffle aioli (in a food processor, blend 2 egg yolks, 2 cloves garlic (micro planed) plus juice of 2 lemons with 14-18 oz canola or neutral oil; add 2 tsp truffle oil)

Porcini powder (purchase dried porcini mushrooms, grind in a spice grinder to add a depth of flavor)

Crispy onions

Sottocenere al Tartufo (or another cow's milk truffle cheese)

Oven-dried tomatoes (remove skin, quarter, place in 250 degree oven for 49-60 minutes with olive oil, salt, and thyme)

Mache

Toasted Ciabatta bread

***TIP: Put truffle butter in the center of your patty so that your burger is juicy no matter how much you cook it.

Yellowfin tuna burger

Ground yellowfin tuna

Sliced tomatoes

Capers

Nioise olive aioli (in a food processor, blend 2 egg yolks, 2 cloves garlic (micro planed) plus juice of 2 lemons with 14-18 oz canola or neutral oil; add 1/3 cup whole olives, chopped)

Chopped hard boiled egg

Bun of choice

***TIP: We're using sushi-grade tuna, so sear both sides and leave the center raw.

Lamb burger

Ground lamb

Harissa (if homemade is not possible, you can find it at specialty food stores)

Top with thinly sliced red onion

Thinly sliced cucumber

Bun of choice

Feta cheese (sliced)

For more ideas, you can find Morningstar on Esquire's show Knife-Fight.