The Versatile Burger

by Elysian Magazine

Text and Recipes by Laurie Bogart Wiles

 

A TRADITIONAL HAMBURGER is ground beef steak made into a patty and served in a bun. It was variously (a.) Invented in Hamburg, Germany; (b.) in the 19th century; (3.) by and for the working class; (4.) by and for the upper class; and (5.) is an American institution. The hamburger enjoys global popularity—and we’re not talking McDonald’s here. We’re talking about a patty of ground meat and/or various other ingredients that reflect the tastes of the country in which it’s served.

To be real, it didn’t take civilization a couple of millennia to invent the hamburger. Its earliest known precursor was recorded in the Apicius, a collection of Roman cookery recipes compiled in the 1st century AD. A baked beef patty called the isicia omentata, it was made with pine kernels, black and green peppercorns, and white wine.

The recipe for a minced meat burger called “Hamburgh” appeared in 1763 in The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy, by Hannah Glasse. Pljeskavica, a spiced meat patty made of beef, lamb, and pork, is the national dish of Serbia and equally popular with its Balkan neighbors and former Yugoslavian countries.

And while the city of Hamburg, Germany is credited as the birthplace of the hamburger, there it is actually called frikadelle.

The Italian meatball is, in essence, a round hamburger that’s cooked—like almost everything is in Italy—in tomato sauce.
It was in New York City at the famed Delmonico’s Restaurant, that the “hamburg steak” was born. A fried patty of chopped beef, eggs, onions, and seasoning cost 11-cents—a fortune then and twice the price of a steak dinner.

Today, the hamburger has evolved. It is served by food vendors on city street corners to Michelin-star restaurants around the world. Why, the countless variations are worthy of a cookbook in of itself (what a good idea!)

Here are a few of my favorite recipes. Each makes four servings:

Classic Hamburger

Ingredients

  • 1-1/2 lbs. 85/15 ground beef, mixed with
  • A generous pinch of salt and ground black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder

Method

  1. Divide the meat into four round balls and flatten. The flatter you make them, the quicker they will cook in the middle.
  2. Grill, bake, broil, or pan-fry, preferably in a cast-iron pan.

To Serve

Serve it in a hamburger or Kaiser roll (with or without poppyseeds) with a lettuce leaf with a slice of tomato (optional.) Garnish the plate with a dill pickle and serve with catsup, mayonnaise, mustard, steak or barbeque sauce, or whatever condiment you might prefer. You can also add a slice of avocado, pineapple, onion (raw, fried, or sauteed), mushrooms, bread and butter or dill pickle slices, red peppers. Add a slice of just about any cheese you can think and make it a cheeseburger.

Lamb Burger

Spices will perk up the flavor of your lamb burger.

Ingredients

  • Mix well into 1-1/2 lbs. of ground lamb,
  • a ¼ teaspoon each of cumin, ground black pepper, ½ teaspoon of curry or to taste, and a pinch of paprika.

Method

Prepare as above.

To Serve

Serve with mint jelly on a roll garnished with a slice of onion, avocado, and a leaf of lettuce.

Bison Burger

Grass-fed bison is leaner than beef and slightly sweeter. Available in most supermarkets, its delicious flavor need not be enhanced—but if you choose, try seasoning your bison burger with Cowgirl Ride ‘Em Rub, NebraskaBison.com Steak and Burger Seasoning with Sea Salt, or the old classic, Lawry’s Seasoned Salt.

Ingredients

  • Mix well into 1-1/2 lbs. of grass-fed bison
  • Seasoning spices

Method

Prepare as above.

To Serve

Serve on a hamburger bun with a slice of cheese, tomato, a leaf of lettuce and for variety, top with a dollop of creamy horseradish sauce.

Poultry Burger

Ingredients

  • 1-1/2 lbs. of ground turkey or chicken.
  • A small onion.
  • Canola Oil
  • 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
  • Ketchup
  • 1/2 cup of Panko bread crumbs softened with milk
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • A pinch of black pepper

Method

  • Sauté in canola oil and set aside to cool.
  • Mix together the Worcestershire sauce, Soy sauce, ketchup,  Panko bread crumbs. the egg, salt, and pepper
  • Fold the onion and mixture into the ground meat. Raw ground turkey and chicken especially have a softer consistency than hamburger.
  • You can cook as you would a hamburger, but I find pan-frying in a well-greased pan works best. Use a splash-guard on your pan, especially if you are using olive oil or bacon fat which splatters at high heat. If using butter, watch the heat and keep it relatively low or the butter will turn brown.

Serve on a hamburger bun with a slice of cheese, tomato, a leaf of lettuce and for variety, top with a dollop of creamy horseradish sauce.

Veggie Burgers

Ingredients

  • 2 carrots
  • 1 beetroot
  • 1 medium peeled and chopped potato
    ¼ cup steamed green peas
  • ¼ cup steamed sweet corn
    1 chopped medium-sized onion
  • 2 chopped green chilies (optional)
  • 1-inch of raw ginger, grated
  • 1 teaspoon cumin powder
    1 teaspoon, red chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • A dash of salt and seasoning to taste
  • OPTIONAL: You can also add ½ cup of cannellini beans, a ½ cup of chopped cashews, and a ½ cup of sliced mushrooms.

Method

  1. In a food processor, coarsely grind all ingredients together in the food processor until they have the consistency of ground beef.
  2. In a frying pan, add enough sunflower oil to coat the pan about a quarter-inch. Bring the oil up to heat. To test, flick a drop of water into the pan. If it sizzles, it’s the right temperature. If the oil is bubbling, it’s too high.
  3. Meantime, on a dinner-size plate mix two tablespoons of corn flour with plain, seasoned, or Panko bread crumbs.’
  4. Form the mixture into four patties. One at a time, coat each patty in the dry mixture on both sides.
  5. Gently place in the frying pan. Don’t be too anxious to turn over the patty. If you do, it may fall apart. On the other hand, be sure not to overcook.

To Serve

Serve on a roll with mayonnaise, a slice of onion, and lettuce.

Fish Burgers

Ingredients

  • 1-1/2 lbs. Salmon, tuna, cod, swordfish, crab, lobster, or shrimp.
  • ¾ cup Mayonnaise
  • 6 teaspoons Lemon juice
  • 4 teaspoons Chopped capers
  • 1 clove Finely chopped garlic or prepared garlic to taste.
  • 2 Scallions, chopped
  • 1/3 cup Panko breadcrumbs
  • 2 Large eggs
  • Handful Chopped fresh Italian parsley

Method

  1. Chop the fish with a chef’s or santoku knife or use a food processor to achieve a coarse consistency, like ground beef.
  2. Fold in the fish with a spatula till thoroughly blended. Prepare as you would Poultry Burgers.

To Serve

Serve on a brioche or hamburger bun with tomato and lettuce, topped with a dollop of tartar sauce or mayonnaise.

Bean Burger

Ingredients

  • 2 cans Cannellini beans, drained
  • 1 can Butter beans, drained
  • 1 can Red kidney beans, drained
  • 1 cup Seasoned breadcrumbs
  • 4 Finely chopped spring onions
  • To taste Coriander, parsley, basil, thyme, oregano, marjoram, garlic, chili flakes—whatever spices, or combination thereof, that suits you.
  • 1 Egg
  • Pinch of salt and pepper

Method

  1. Although you may mix the beans in a food processor, overmixing will produce the consistency of peanut butter. So, it’s best to mash them by hand with a potato masher.
  2. Form into patties and prepare as you would a veggie burger.

To Serve

Beans are bland so serve bean burgers on a flavorful roll, like an onion roll or make two small burgers per serving and slice a sweet Hawaiian roll in half.  Be inventive and choose a Thai or Japanese sauce to take the place of catsup.

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