This weekend's New York Times Magazine has a piece on James Beard, the "father of American gastronomy." It's a nice story that highlights why Beard was so influential and why he still matters after all these years. But best of all to my eyes was the burger recipe included with the article. I've never seen one that includes heavy cream in the beef mix, and I'm wondering what it will do. Hmm.
James Beard’s Favorite Hamburgers
- makes 4 -
Ingredients
2 pounds ground beef
3 tablespoons finely grated onion
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 hamburger buns, toasted.
Procedure
Spread the beef onto a cutting board; sprinkle with the grated onion. Mix in the cream, salt, and some freshly ground pepper. Form into patties; cook on a hot grill or in a hot cast-iron pan—for medium-rare, about 4 to 5 minutes a side. Bun each patty and serve.
Adam, you've got to try it! I don't know where I saw his recipe, but it rocks! I sometimes add a drop or two of Worchestershire, but the cream just makes it rich and velvety without adding lots of flavor.
I'm of the opinion that the more you add to ground beef beyond salt and pepper (and the more you work the mixture), the more it resembles meatloaf rather than a hamburger. If you're not very careful, you may have that problem with this recipe. That being said -- I can't imagine 1 TB of cream having a huge effect on 2 lbs of ground beef!
@Dominic: Agreed...when I do this occasionally, I lightly toss the ground beef with a fork to loosen it up, add the onion and seasonings and drizzle with actually 3-4 tablespoons of cream, and then hand mix it. If you are gentle, you don't get the meatloaf texture, and I really can tell a texture difference, but still very beefy.
I've made these for a crowd and the crowd keeps coming back. Flavor of the onion is very subtle and the cream seems to just ensure that a medium burger is still moist. This recipe makes a great burger. In no way is this meatloaf.
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6 Comments:
Adam, you've got to try it! I don't know where I saw his recipe, but it rocks! I sometimes add a drop or two of Worchestershire, but the cream just makes it rich and velvety without adding lots of flavor.
Cary at 8:28PM on 03/16/08
I'm of the opinion that the more you add to ground beef beyond salt and pepper (and the more you work the mixture), the more it resembles meatloaf rather than a hamburger. If you're not very careful, you may have that problem with this recipe. That being said -- I can't imagine 1 TB of cream having a huge effect on 2 lbs of ground beef!
Dominic
the zen kitchen
dvchurch at 11:47PM on 03/16/08
@Dominic: Agreed...when I do this occasionally, I lightly toss the ground beef with a fork to loosen it up, add the onion and seasonings and drizzle with actually 3-4 tablespoons of cream, and then hand mix it. If you are gentle, you don't get the meatloaf texture, and I really can tell a texture difference, but still very beefy.
Cary at 9:23AM on 03/17/08
I've made these for a crowd and the crowd keeps coming back. Flavor of the onion is very subtle and the cream seems to just ensure that a medium burger is still moist. This recipe makes a great burger. In no way is this meatloaf.
RobertL at 1:06PM on 03/17/08
I love the use of "bun" as a verb. Vintage Beard.
Barbara Hanson at 10:34AM on 03/18/08
Hah. Actually, BaHa, that was me verbing that noun -- the original piece said "Serve each in a bun," but I can't resist using "bun" as an action word.
Adam Kuban at 1:01PM on 03/18/08