Editor's note: Happy 4th of July weekend! How 'bout a burger from the ever-widening seat of American government? If you're in the nation's capital for the holiday, use this as a guide for checking out Ben's Chili Bowl —The Mgmt.
It is 10:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning and the jukebox at Ben's Chili Bowl is cranking out "Super Freak" on 11. The long counter that flanks the entire side of the main room is jam-packed with diners tucking in to stacks of fluffy pancakes, heaping bowls of chili, Ben's famous half smoke sausages and of course chiliburgers. They are all in tune with the music, rocking or bobbing or swiveling on their stools in time to the beat as they feast on the generous portions before them. The open kitchen on the other side of the counter also seems to be in time with the beat as an enormous cadre of cooks and waitresses turn out a dizzying number of plates to a packed dining room to the funky verbal gyrations of Rick James.
The site Yumsugar ran seven great burger tips that one of its bloggers picked up from Bobby Flay at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, Colorado, a while ago. It's good advice here on the Fourth if you haven't yet started your fire. My favorite:
When forming the patty, make an indent with your thumb in the middle. This will ensure that the meat plumps nicely. Flatten the patty before placing on the grill. Never press down on the patty or flatten it while cooking. This will release the precious juices that are essential to a burger's flavor.
What's going on with the indentation suggestion is that the center of a burger usually swells when it cooks, leading to football-shaped patties. Indenting it ensures that even when it does puff up, even thickness is maintained.
You know the 1UP mushroom you get in Mario games? The one that gives you an extra life? Someone went and made a burger inspired by it. Here's the recipe and instructions from Instructables. Very cool, even for a veggie burger. Yippee!
Editor's note: We couldn't think of a better burger to report on this Thursday, a day before the 4th of July, than the one at All American Drive-In in Massapequa, New York. Hum a Sousa march to yourself while you read Nick Solares's review. --The Mgmt.
All American Drive-In
4286 Merrick Road, Massapequa NY 11758 (map); allamericanhamburger.us The Short Order: All American's flavor will be familiar to anyone who has eaten under the Golden Arches, but it's the freshness of the product that sets it apart. Though the Double Double (two patties, two slices of cheese) provides the perfect beef-to-bun ratio, the cheeseburger is a study in simplicity, with a soft, fresh pillowy bun that leaves a dusting of flour on fingers. If getting a quarter-pounder, be sure to get cheese on it Want Fries with That? Yes. They're crisp and golden and actually taste of potatoes ($1.15). The onion ringsare skippable Price: Hamburger, $1.05; cheeseburger, $1.25; QP, $2.15; QPC, $2.55; Double Header, $2; Double Double, $2.40
Despite the fact that All American Drive-In has but one location, the burgers they serve will be instantly familiar to millions, perhaps even billions of people.
You see the three burgers on offer at this timeless little drive-in in exotic Massapequa, New York, are virtually identical to McDonald's early menu. Before Big Macs and breakfast burritos, before other chains started offering to do things your way, All American was churning out burgers "their way"--pickles, ketchup, finely diced onions--at a dizzying rate to the swarms of hungry suburbanites that flock here.
You want choice? OK, you can order your burgers with or without cheese.
I often wonder if one can be nostalgic for an era that one never lived in. Is there such a word in the English language? I certainly get the feeling of nostalgia when I dine at All American. The diminutive portion sizes, the immediacy of service, the taste of the food itself all evoke in me a bygone era, unfettered by the notions of super-sizing and conversely by any need to pay lip service to a balanced diet. There is nothing remotely green on any of the burgers here, the closest vegetable aside from the onion would be, using the Ronald Reagan nutritional standard, the ketchup that is de riguer.
As much as we’d like to, there are times during the day when can’t actually eat something delicious. At those moments, then, we have to resort to the next best thing—looking at delicious food.
Photograzing is a place to share your best food photography, discover new food blogs, and find tasty inspiration. Whether it’s ideas for tonight’s dinner, some eye candy to help you procrastinate, or just a lively connection to the community of food-lovers on the web, we hope you’ll find this new food photography site a staple of your online diet.
Processed cheese melts beautifully on this cheeseburger from In-N-Out.
On the 4th of July, we Americans don't merely celebrate our country's independence from the British Empire—we also pay our humble respects to that most American of comfort foods: the cheeseburger. But what types of cheeses work best? As I see it there are three variables to consider: meltability, tanginess, and the funk factor. Some choose to optimize for one of these variables, but there may be a perfect cheese to satisfy all three.
Meltability
If you're going to go for cheeses that melt perfectly, processed cheese is the way to go. Whether it's Velveeta or Kraft American Singles, processed cheeses make up for their bland flavor with undeniably superior meltability. (They contain added emulsifiers which help prevent the separation of water, fats, and proteins when heat is applied.) Processed cheeses are also the way to go if you want to really showcase the flavor of the meat—the cheese will add a nice texture to the sandwich without interfering taste-wise. However, there are other meltable cheeses that potentially have much more flavor: Gruyère, Comté, Brie, Taleggio, Fontina, and many more.
Editor's note: As we rocket toward the Fourth of July, what better way to celebrate what's essentially America's national dish than with a visit to where it all supposedly began—Louis' Lunch in New Haven, Connecticut. Leave it to Nick "Beef Aficionado" Solares to cover the joint the way it needs to be covered. —The Mgmt.
Louis' Lunch
261-263 Crown Street, New Haven CT 06510 (map); 203-562-5507; louislunch.com Short Order: One of the nation's most important hamburger institutions, Louis' Lunch lays claim to having invented the dish we love so much. Cooked in a unique vertical broiler, the lean mix of beef is flavorful if not particularly juicy. In fact, the burger here is known more for its isn'ts than anything else. It isn't served on a bun but on slices of Pepperidge Farm white bread. It isn't served with condiments. It isn't going to bend to newfangled burgerworld whims. It is, however, a unique contribution to America's national cuisine Want Fries with That? Fries? There are no fries here, fool. You can get chips, though. Other items on offer are homemade pies, potato salad, and soup. Drink a Foxon Park soda with it; the root beer is amazing Price: $4.50
Louis' Lunch in New Haven, Connecticut, has been making its hamburger sandwich since 1900, making it the longest continuously operating hamburger restaurant in America and claimant to be the creator of the venerable sandwich.
And while the world has largely adopted the plain white bun as the bread of choice for a burger, Louis' Lunch continues to serve them in its own distinct manner, vertically broiled, served on white bread, and sliced in half with the only permissible additions being onion, tomato and a cheese spread. The spread is necessary because the unique vertical broilers that Louis' Lunch uses would not be able to accommodate regular cheese.
Don't even think about putting ketchup on a burger at Louis'; there is a sign admonishing against even asking for it, because as Jeff Lassen, fourth-generation owner, says, "We want you to taste the meat."
Let's examine the recipe and its origins. The claim regarding the creation of the first burger is that one day in 1900, founder Louis Lassen had some leftover meat that he had ground up when a customer in a hurry rushed up to what was then a tiny lunch wagon and demanded something quick and delicious. According to legend, Louis formed the ground beef into a patty, cooked it, sandwiched it between two slices of bread, and sent the customer on his way.
So sayeth the James Beard Foundation. In a white paper (download PDF from JBF here), the culinary society tried to take the measure of U.S. food culture and determine whether, in this nation that's often called a melting pot, we had a distinctly American cuisine. Of the 248 people surveyed, 90.8 percent believed we did have one. According to those surveyed, the top five foods that make up this crazy quilt of Amerifood are:
Hamburgers and cheeseburgers
Barbecue
Fried chicken
Mac and cheese
Apple pie
So I think it's time to adjust a phrase: "As American as baseball and burgers" will now replace "... baseball and apple pie." Chew on that as you down some burgers this Fourth of July weekend.
And stay tuned, folks, because we're about to drop a beautiful analysis of one of the most important burgers in the nation—certainly one that has woven its way into American foodlore.
For $1, you could own a burger joint like this. This one's in Dayton, Ohio, but there's an old White Tower for sale in Toledo.
There's a White Tower in Toledo, Ohio, for sale for $1, but the catch is that you have to move it. The YWCA next door wants to expand and is looking for a way to get rid of this location of the onetime White Castle competitor.
If there are no takers, the building might be torn down in fall. Come on! Some history-minded burger lover out there oughtta get on this. Could you imagine grabbing a cool little building like this to open a slider joint? And it's like $0.00016 a square foot (600 square feet total). [Tip o' the hat to T.J.]
The site Yumsugar ran seven great burger tips 
