Hamburgers
The only thing more All-American than
July Fourth is the cookout that honors it. It is the power of democracy in action that friends, neighbors, co-workers, citizens
gather together within communities but beyond boundaries for our
holiday dedicated to national pride. The July 4 cookout happens in
backyards and on front stoops, as block parties and town square
parades, on beach surf with bonfires and in high rise balconies with
catering. July Fourth is garish and loud, boozy or sobering depending
upon the celebration, and for many it is a working day.
John and I have passed July Fourth
grilling in Astoria Park and dancing at The Abbey. We have spent it
with family in the Poconos and with friends in Greenwich Village. One
memorable holiday, early in our relationship, a friend of John's
cadged us an invitation to a swanky party at a prestigious Manhattan
address, in a penthouse so moneyed that there was a Warhol on the
walls. I still recall sinking into a conversation pit plush with brown velvet, twiddling a heavy-bottomed glass of expensive Scotch,
thinking that this was this citizen's everyday world: servants
passing trays of hors d'oeuvres amidst a bird's eye view of the
fireworks over the river and the yachts moored below.
Well to do to workaday, one thing you
can count on is that, whatever else the grill master is expertly
turning on the grate from smoky bratwurst to beer can chicken, there
are hamburgers. If ever there was an All-American food, it is the
hamburger. We think of a hamburger as chopped beef formed into a
patty and served on a bun, which from the drive-through to the bar
kitchen is correct, but hamburg steak started out not as a sandwich
but as a plated meal. Steak cooked “Hamburg style” meant chopped
steak, loosely formed into a patty or just as likely jumbled, named
for the German port where sailors and soldiers discovered the food
and developed an appetite, and a nostalgia, for it. In the late
1800s, at America's two key ports of call – New York City and SanFrancisco – Hamburg stalls appeared on the piers to welcome
shore-leavers. That's not to say that “Hamburg style” was solely
a phenomenon of the boardwalk. America had a large population of German immigrants and military and merchant veterans, many of whom
brought the chopped meat style of cooking into kitchens throughout
the country.
From farm kitchens to lunch counters,
hamburgs evolved as an economical way to serve workers at lunchtime.
From there the hamburger migrated to its rightful place as the
firmament of the diner menu, and onto the individual roadside stands
that dotted American highways, mostly anonymously and with local
color, until Ray Kroc created the McDonald's system in San
Bernardino, California. It's connection to the working class, to the
ease of travel within the continental US, all informed the
hamburger's ascent as a food so connected with American life that its
only competition in that area is Thanksgiving turkey. Our appetite
for hamburgers has made them so pervasive to our culture that it
qualifies as a national conversation. In that conversation, we are
speaking the very language of democracy, for while a more
All-American meal does not exist, it's origin is as a food of the
proletariat.
In our urban home, our favorite
hamburger remains the Route 66 green chile cheeseburger – click
here for the story and recipe for this true American original. We eat
hamburgers weekly, and have developed a few ways to serve them. Here
are three: a backyard cookout bacon-cheeseburger, a highfalutin bleu cheeseburger from the bistro, and a British pub burger topped with curry cream. French fries are always the right accompaniment for a
hamburger, but sometimes we deviate to potato gratin. A cool starter
or side offsets the strong flavors of burger night – try
cucumber-radish escabeche, a relish tray with chow-chow and aioli, or
a chopped green salad with Ranch dressing. Pour cold beer or a bold red such as Syrah, with Italian sodas and limeade for the
teetotalers. Provide chocolate malt ice cream or cherry pie for
anyone who has room for dessert, and celebrate the humility and
goodness of a national pride that for many is hurting, by serving a
meal that is humble, diverse, celebratory, and unifying.
Hamburgers
Grind and quality. Whether you're in
the supermarket or a specialty shop, obtain the best ground beef you
can by asking the butcher to grind it fresh from prime beef. Avoid
frozen patties or logs of processed beef in the meat case; in both
cases, they can contain an additive tellingly known as pink slime,
even if labeled 100% pure beef.
Beef/fat ratio. The best ratio for
hamburgers is 85-15 beef to fat. Any lower percentage of fat will
make burgers dry in a way you can only compensate by reintroducing
the fat; any higher percentage of fat will make burgers greasy and
unmanageable while cooking.
Color, texture, and appearance. Good
hamburger is pinkish-red with ivory marbling, just moist enough for
packing. The grind should be medium to medium-coarse. Avoid hamburger
that has an off smell, displays bone chips, or is bleeding red,
brown, or clear liquid.
Portion. Home cooks often default to ½
pound beef per burger, but both for portion control and being manageable while cooking, smaller portions of beef per burger are
best. Plan for 1/3 pound hamburger at the 85-15 ratio per serving. A
food scale is invaluable in the kitchen; weigh each serving on a
piece of wax paper.
Packing. For the best cooking and
eating, a hamburger should be packed just so that it stays together;
overpacking the beef creates a dense burger that cooks unevenly and
toughens. Once you have weighed each portion, use clean hands to form
it loosely into a round about the size of a tennis ball. Place the
round of beef on the piece of wax paper, and use your palm to press
the round into a circle about ½ inch thick. Press the sides of the
circle together so that there are no large fissures or loose pieces.
Test the patty to ensure that it keeps its shape by jiggling the wax
paper back and forth: if the hamburger keeps its shape on the paper,
it will while cooking, whereas if fissure appear, the patty needs to
be packed a little tighter.
Resting. Sprinkle the patties with
seasoning if any. Cover the patties with a piece of wax paper and let
the patties rest for five minutes before cooking.
Cooking. Note: these instructions are for
pan-frying but can be adapted for grilling. Heat a heavy saute pan
until hot. Sprinkle the hot cooking surface with a 2 count of extra
virgin olive oil. Being careful to avoid splatters, use a spatula to
safely slide each patty onto the cooking surface. Cook until the
patty releases from the cooking surface, approximately 3 minutes. Use
the spatula to carefully turn the burger. Cook until the patty
releases from the cooking surface. Continue turning and cooking at
about about 3 minute intervals until the burgers feel done when
lightly tapped with the edge of the spatula. Resist the urge to tamp
the burgers with the flat of the spatula while they are cooking –
that releases the juices.
Serving. Slide each burger onto a
hamburger bun or roll that has been split and grilled very briefly on
the grate in the oven. Top as below and serve.
Bacon Cheeseburger. Sprinkle the
patties with freshly ground black pepper before resting them as
above. Cut one slice thick-cut bacon per burger into two by folding
the bacon in half and cutting across the center of the fold. Cook the
bacon in the pan until it is well done but not extra crispy. Use
tongs to safely transfer the bacon to a plate. Cook the burgers as
above in the bacon fat. Top each burger with two slices sharp cheddar
during the last round of cooking before done. Serve bacon
cheeseburgers on hamburger buns or seeded rolls with whiskey-peppercorn sauce, pickles, lettuce and tomato, and sliced red onion.
Bistro Burger with Blue Cheese and
Grilled Shallots. Peel two large shallots and cut into slivers. About
halfway through the cooking process, sprinkle the cut shallot around
the hamburgers as they cook in the pan. Sprinkle the shallots with
Worcestershire sauce. As the shallots cook with the burgers, move the
shallots around in the pan to allow them to cook evenly; transfer to
a bowl once the shallots are soft and fragrant. Top each burger with
a handful of blue cheese (Maytag, Stilton, and Roquefort work well)
during the last round of cooking before done. Serve blue
cheeseburgers on seeded or onion rolls with Dijon mustard or aioli
and grilled onions. If you wish, top each burger with a handful of
arugula salad.
English Pub Burger with Curried Cream.
Before adding the oil to the hot saute pan as above, measure 3
tablespoons English or Madras curry powder into the skillet. Jiggle
the pan just until the curry releases its fragrance, less than 1
minute. Safely transfer the warmed curry to a mixing bowl; it is okay
if some remains in the pan; just safely swirl the olive oil to mix it
with the curry. Measure ¼ cup sour cream and ½ teaspoon white
vinegar into the bowl containing the curry; use a mini silicon
spatula to combine well. Cover and refrigerate. Top each burger with
two slices English white cheddar during the last round of cooking
before done. Serve English pub burgers on onion or hard rolls, with
watercress and scallions if you wish, passing the curried cream at
the table.
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