01 June 2012

BurgerWeek Day 7: Homemade

We concluded BurgerWeek by cooking at home. The prep is very simple: high quality, grass-fed, dry-aged, freshly minced beef from the butcher (Ginger Pig is my local), with a minimum of handling. I split the meat into portions, shape roughly into spheres, handling as little as possible. I use my largest cast-iron pan over highest heat on the largest burner. Bit of butter in the pan after it's hot, just before the burgers go in.

Shape them in the pan thusly: drop the meatballs into the pan and let them sizzle for a couple seconds. With spatula, squash halfway down, then flip, then squash to final thickness. That is the last time they will be squashed -- gentle handling from there on out. That's it. (This method is inspired by the technique we used when I did a stint as a cook at a diner/burger joint long ago. Those were thinner, shaped with spatulas that were more like scrapers -- sharp wide blades that were very short. The result would be a thinnish pattie that was thickest in the middle but tapered to a thin crispy lattice at the edges. Not everyone's cup of tea but really tasty if you like the diner style, and they stacked well for double cheeseburgers.)

Tonight ours were 200g each. Salt after they go in the pan, then salt again after flipping. Have the broiler fired up. When the patties are just about done, move them onto a baking sheet, cover with cheese, and pop under the broiler until melted.

We went with cheddar, our usual cheese.  No brioche rolls, though, good buns are hard to find. We had to settle for floury baps, which were ok. Buttered and toasted them under the broiler. Also cooked a heap of grilled onions. Assembled burger from bottom to top: toasted bottom bun, bit of ketchup, shredded iceberg lettuce, burger with melted cheese, fried onions, toasted top bun. Straightforward and really tasty. Quality beef is the key. It should not require a huge amount of extra flavor added in or around it, just a couple complimentary ingredients and that's it.

I wasn't about to make chips, so we rounded out the plate with some decent crisps and called it a meal.



So that's it. A relaxing and tasty end to an epic week.
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4 comments:

  1. Rick3 June 2012 at 03:50

    The Schoop's experience wasn't in vain, was it?

    Good buns are hard to find. I'm convinced that New York's daily supply of brioche buns is tightly controlled by a cabal of chefs whose ruthlessness rivals that of the Hunt Brothers.

    Grilled onions don't do it for me. I prefer the crunch and bite of thinly-sliced raw onion.

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  2. pyker3 June 2012 at 11:02

    Schoops also taught me how to tolerate grease burns. Most of the cooking was simply quick, but it was decent food. Fresh beef, not pre-formed or frozen. The chili we made from scratch. Likewise sausage gravy for biscuits & gravy.

    The only brioche buns I could find were like half-size hot dog buns. No idea what anyone would use those for. I considered making some myself, but our good mixer never left the US and I don't have much patience for baking even at the best of times.

    You may be onto something with your conspiracy theory. Given the number of restaurants using brioche buns you'd expect them to be sold to the public, but I've yet to see any.

    [btw, most surprising thing, today, about the Hunt Brothers' silver shenanigans? That the SEC actually investigating them.]

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  3. zim5 June 2012 at 07:18

    what's the reasoning for handling the meat as little as possible?

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  4. pyker5 June 2012 at 10:44

    More handling makes it more dense and chewy.

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