The smart way Americans found to fit a whole meal in between two slices of bread (and eat it all in less than 5 minutes)
Due to the geographic proximity and nature of my business, most of my international travels have been to the USA – sometimes for business, sometimes for pleasure. During these frequent travels I quick realized that an encyclopedia could be written about the American cuisine. After putting some thoughts on what could be my first post about that country, I decided for a typical American burger.
Americans eat an average 3 burgers per week (Italians maybe 3 per year). In other words, approximately 50 billion burgers are sold in the USA every year. They even have a “National Hamburger Day” that is observed each year on May 28th. During the 90’s the traditional beef burger started to share its market with alternative burgers like chicken, turkey, pork, lamb, and, more recently, veggie burgers. What was once a cheap fast-food, simple burgers gradually became an option for gourmet meals when celebrity chefs decided to propose a more elaborated interpretation.
In the southwestern of Canada we have short and warm Summers. We usually barbecue in July and August. Sometimes, according to mood of Mother Nature, the second half of June and/or the first half of September are warm enough to let us use our barbecues. 75% of the barbecues that I am invited to or that I make here at my place are burgers. After a while one end up learning one or two things about home-made burger, and that is the recipe I want to share with you. Hope you enjoy!
A few of my own rules for a great burger:
- Meat: Avoid prepackaged burger. Ask your butcher to freshly ground the beef or, even better, do it yourself in case you have a meat grinder at home. Fat is important, so don’t go leaner than 80%. Don’t compress to much the ground beef when shaping the patties.
- Bun: Try to get fresh and slightly dense to the touch. Toasting the slices for a minute or so on the grill right before assembling the burger enhances the texture.
- Cheese: In Canada and in the USA cheddar cheese is a classic for burgers. I tend to pick local and aged cheddar not produced in large industrial scale. I haven’t noticed any taste difference among the white, yellow and marble when having a few slices of cheddar on burger.
- Vegetables: As fresh and organic as possible. Avoid juicy tomatoes like Roma, a good option is beefsteak tomato. Red onions seems topair very well with burgers. Lettuce has to be crispy. Pickles, mushrooms and olives are also very popular on burgers.
- Assembly: From the bottom slice of bun to top, I usually follow a sequence: bun, thin layer of mayo, lettuce, onion, burger patty/patties, cheese, bacon, tomato, pickles, ketchup, bun. These sequence ensures the ingredients won’t easily slide off the burger.
Ingredients for 4 burgers:
- 4 hamburger buns
- 4 thick-cut slices of bacon
- mayo
- 1 kg (2 lbs) of ground chuck
- 4 thick slices of cheddar
- 4 leaves of lettuce
- 4 thick-cut slices of tomato
- 1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
- salt
- black pepper
Directions:
- in a large bowl gently mix the ground beef with the Worcestershire sauce, salt and black pepper. Shape the 4 patties very gently. Diameter should be a little bigger than the buns. Keep covered in the fridge.
- fry the bacon until slightly crispy. Leave drain on paper towel.
- Heat the grill (high) until 450 F / 230 C
- Low heat to medium, place the patties on the grill, close lid, for about 4 minutes. Flip the patties and wait another 2 minutes. Place a slice of cheddar on each patty. At the same time toast the slices of bun (cut side down) on the grill. Let the patties cook for 1 more minute or until they reach internal temperature of 160 F / 70 C.
- Follow the assembly steps described above.