It always impresses me that Americans have such high regard for basic, everyday foods, such as roast chicken and the noble hamburger. While we have allowed the burger to be stolen into mediocrity by the fastfood chains, it is still a food Americans respect and enjoy, is still a food they like to play around with.
And it was a recipe from a cult American cook book, Sarah Leah Chases's Nantucket Open House Cookbook, which reminded me of not merely how fine the burger can be, but also of just how suitable it is as a fast dinner on a mid-week night. Some ground beef, a shredded shallot, a splash of wine, and in five minutes you can have something delicious and sustaining, full of flavour. Making a good burger is relatively straightforward. You need decent minced steak, and not just butcher's standard mince, which will be much too fatty. It's not necessary to go the whole hog and get sirloin minced, however, as the recipe suggests. Secondly, don't make them too thin. A good burger needs about 4ozs of mince. This way, the patty will cook better, and allow the meat at the centre to remain rare, should you like it that way. If you are frying the burger in a pan, rather than grilling it under a grill or on a fire, then don't have the heat too high, or you will simply burn the crushed peppercorns. The crushed peppercorns are also important. Ground pepper is too fine and not as aromatic, so if you don't have one of those magic little machines known as Pepperballs (they are available from good cookware shops such as Dublin's Kitchen Complements), then simply crush the peppercorns under the edge of the base of a clean saucepan. To complete the dinner I made some chips - magic chips! - and then threw together a favourite simple salsa which I had once seen Sheila Kelly, of An Bord Bia, demonstrate at a food fair. Sarah Leah Chase makes a leek and tomato sauce for her burgers, and I include the recipe, which I didn't cook simply because I had no leeks to hand. It all took no time whatsoever - Sarah Leah lets the mixture sit for half an hour but this isn't strictly necessary - and the flavours belonged together, as did a bottle of everyday claret.
Grilled Hamburgers au Poivre 2 pounds best-quality ground sirloin 4 shallots, minced 11/2
teaspoons capers, drained and chopped 5 tablespoons red wine 5 teaspoons plus 1 teaspoons grains Dijon mustard 5 teaspoons plus 1 teaspoon coarsely ground peppercorns
Tomato-Leek sauce:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 leeks, rinsed, dried, quartered and minced 5 ripe large plum tomatoes, seeded and diced 3 tablespoons Cognac 21/2
tablespoons minced fresh tarragon 3 tablespoons heavy or whipping cream Salt to taste
Mix the sirloin, shallots, capers, wine and salt together in a large bowl until well combined. Divide the meat mixture into eight equal parts and shape each part into a hamburger patty.
Spread each side of the patties with one teaspoon of the mustard (2 teaspoons to each patty), then press one teaspoon of the ground peppercorns lightly into each side of the patties (again two teaspoons to each hamburger). Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
To prepare the tomato-leek sauce: melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the leeks and cook for five minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and cook for five minutes longer. Stir in the Cognac, tarragon, cream, and salt to taste. Reduce the heat and simmer for five minutes and keep warm until ready to serve.
Grill the hamburgers. Serve on a bed of the tomato-leek sauce or, if preferred, serve with the sauce alongside.
Red Pepper Sauce 1 red pepper, seeded and chopped 2 large tomatoes 1 small onion, chopped Juice of 1/2 lemon 1 green chilli, seeded and chopped 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 tablespoons parsley Salt and black pepper Place all the ingredients in a food processor and switch on to blend evenly, but not too finely.