As American as Apple Pie!
Burgers, baby!
Happy Fourth of July weekend, ladies and gentleman! Hopefully you’ve got better weather where you are than here, in NH, where Christine and I are hunkered down. Lots of wet, cold, rain. Whatever. As Tim O’Brien once wrote: “I love my country, but I don’t love [everything about its weather on every single summer holiday weekend].” Or at least, I think he wrote something like that.
Fourth of July has always been one of my favorite holidays, probably slotting in at number three, behind Thanksgiving and Memorial Day. Love the (typical) weather, the food, the fireworks, the pure unadulterated patriotism that is often so difficult to pull of these days. This weekend, as I’m coming off reading Gods and Generals and starting Killer Angels, I’m thinking a lot about what a remarkable time in history in which we live. What a time to be alive.
Anyway, enough pontificating. We’re all hear to eat. So here we go. Burgers, maybe cooked a little non-traditionally, and probably way to big, but f*ck it, it’s almost Independence Day!
Start with about 2lbs of ground beef (I’m assuming you’re cooking for 4 people here, feel free to increase as needed). Season liberally with salt, pepper — or, ideally, your favorite BBQ rub. Mix well, separate into four roughly equal monster patties, and let sit.
Meanwhile, fire up the grill, to medium-hot. Put right on the grates at least one, and depending on the size of your pans, maybe more, cast-iron pans. While the grill is heating up, let those do likewise. Cover the grill.
After about 10 minutes of pre-heating, slap a knob of butter in each pan and drop in the beef patties. Let them sit and sizzle, untouched. There’s no need to flatten them or flip them yet, just let them baste in their own buttery juices. After about 7 or 8 minutes, you can flip the burgers — but no need to mess around too much. Let them cook for another 5-8 minutes, depending on how rare you like your meat. It’s okay to sacrifice one with a slice down the middle, since someone probably won’t want to eat the whole thing.
So there’s the basic recipe. A few things I’d also recommend:
Drop some nice sharp cheddar on the patties with 4-5 min left after you flip them. The cheese will melt, and any extra will coagulate (gross) in the pan with the drippings, and taste amazing.
Throw your buns on the upper deck of the grill when you drop the cheese on your burgers. That will give them a nice crunch. I’m not going to not tell you to butter them.
I like to top with ketchup, a little hot sauce, and mayo. If I had my druthers, I’d mix those up ahead of time and make a “secret sauce.”
Add Wickles.
That’s all I’ve got for you food-wise. Enjoy the weekend, eat too much, drink a couple Budweiser’s, and don’t shoot off your fingers with fireworks.
As American as… the portrayal of Mexican gangs in movies [GQ]
As American as… improving max strength and bodyweight endurance [Mtn Tactical]
As American as… walking around the world with your dog [Afar]
As American as… eating like medieval Italians [Inverse]
