So why bother to cook anymore? One can easily stop by any
supermarket and pick up salads, sandwiches, main dishes and
desserts to feed yourself or a hungry family. Going out to eat for
some families is becoming a necessity rather than a pleasurable
night out. Fast foods are everywhere. Take-out food is a booming
business.
So why bother to cook anymore? One can easily stop by any supermarket and pick up salads, sandwiches, main dishes and desserts to feed yourself or a hungry family.
Going out to eat for some families is becoming a necessity rather than a pleasurable night out. Fast foods are everywhere. Take-out food is a booming business.
I think I have an answer to the question. I will give you the answer in a moment, but first a little background. I teach cooking classes on a regular basis and this past Wednesday night our subject was hamburgers and french fries.
The theme for this class was not a big crowd-getter as only a handful of folks showed up. I thought it would be a packed audience since in my research for the most often requested dinner in the United States, hamburgers and french fries topped the list. I forgot to reason why people would want to learn how to make something that is so easily obtained and satisfying just the way it is. But if only you could have tasted those burgers we made in that cooking class.
And that is the answer as to why one would even want to learn how to cook. It is the reward for the cook to hear exclamations of pleasure and gratitude from diners. In the audience front row center sat two teenage boys. They both were enthralled with the class, asking lots of questions.
Learning to cook is of great interest to both of them. When it came time to taste our homemade hamburgers and french fries, one of the boys bit into his burger and simply said “Wow!”
No other explanation is needed. Cooking at home is simply a matter of freshness, of taste, of choices of quality ingredients and the joy of hearing pleasurable sounds coming from the people eating your creations.
And how did hamburgers and french fries become so popular and so American? They are German and French, even though they have become their own words not needing to be capitalized as a proper noun.
It was the Germans who brought hamburgers to the St. Louis World’s Fair of 1904. The people in the port city of Hamburg in northern Germany in the 1800s had developed a taste for the shaved raw beef of Scandinavia cuisine. It appears that early German immigrants in South St. Louis introduced scraped or ground broiled beef patties in buns at the fair and the rest is history.
As for french fried potatoes, it was the favorite way to make puffy potato slices in all of France even in the 1800s. Americans traveling abroad loved the crispy brown shoe string potatoes and the process of French frying became popular. It was a natural pairing of the two easily eaten finger foods that made the dynamic duo so popular with the first fast food drive-ins of the 1950’s.
Here are the recipes for absolutely the best homemade hamburgers and french fries ever. Follow the instructions exactly. (Do not smash the hamburger patties with a spatula, for instance.)
Go to the Farmers Market in downtown Morgan Hill Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. or downtown Hollister Wednesday afternoon to purchase red ripe tomatoes, crispy lettuce, farm fresh onions. It is so important to begin with the best and freshest ingredients.
Prepare these for a Saturday or Sunday treat when you have time to enjoy the experience. And make sure you have some good old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll music.
HAMBURGERS
2-4 servings per pound of ground beef
1 pound ground beef (20% fat)
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
freshly ground pepper, you choose how much
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil hamburger buns or rolls (get these at the Farmers Market)
1-2 tablespoons mayonnaise sliced red ripe tomatoes (also Farmers Market) sliced onion rings (Farmers Market!) crisp lettuce leaves (ditto!) catsup
In a bowl using a fork, toss the meat with the salt and pepper but do not handle too much. Shape into patties about 1/2 inch thick, handling as little as possible as you do not want to compact the meat too much. If you want to have the center really rare, tuck a few slivers of ice into the center. For those wanting the meat well done, do not do that.
Add oil to the griddle or heavy bottomed large saute pan and heat just until the oil appears to be hot, but not smoking. Add the burgers and cook about 4 minutes per side. Do not smash with a spatula …. just cook 4 minutes on the first side, turn them over, and then cook until done to your liking. Turn only once.
In meantime, prepare the rolls by very lightly spreading the cut sides with mayonnaise. When the burgers are done, place the buns on the grill or in the pan and toast slightly.
Arrange lettuce on bottom half, add hamburger, top with sliced tomato, onion ring and catsup and then finally the top part of the bun. Enjoy!
FRENCH FRIES
3-4 russet potatoes (baking potatoes)
vegetable oil
sea salt
You must have a deep fry thermometer to do these properly. In a heavy
bottomed sauce pan with tall sides, or an electric deep fryer, pour in enough vegetable oil to fill the pan a little less than half full. Do not go over the halfway mark with the oil. Heat vegetable oil to 300 degrees.
While oil is heating, peel and cut potatoes into strips, using a
french fry cutter or a sharp chefs knife. Wipe the potato slices with paper towels to get them very dry.
Check the oil temperature. Using a frying basket or a strainer, carefully lower the potato slices about 1 cup at a time into the oil and cook about 2 minutes. After the 2 minutes, remove the partially cooked potatoes and drain on paper towel lined baking sheet.
Let cool at least 5 minutes, but this stage can be done 1-2 hours in advance if necessary. Now heat the oil to 365 degrees, not any hotter. Place potatoes in frying basket or skimmer. Fry in batches about 3 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp. Drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with sea salt. Serve at once.
Dorothy McNett is the owner of Dorothy McNett’s Place, 800 San Benito St., Phone: 637-6444 or fax 637-5274. Her column runs Fridays in The Times. Visit the store’s Web site at happycookers.com
