Post by gracoman on Aug 4, 2019 11:09:02 GMT -5
This has been on my to-do-list since 2014 when ..."about two thousand newly digitized documents of Ernest Hemingway’s personal papers in Cuba finally wending their way to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. This was the second batch of Hemingway papers to arrive from his home in Cuba, where he lived from 1939 to 1960"...
It was likely developed in Cuba by Ernie and/or his fourth wife Mary but who knows for sure.
I knew about this hamburger almost immediately but it took until now to follow through. What was I waiting for?
The original digitized recipe with footnotes describing other additional ingredients which can also be added or used as substitutes. I left these out so no minced standard ham, chopped tomato, grated cheddar, grated apple, grated carrots, mushrooms or parsley was added.
The burger mixture on its second marination with added beaten egg and wine. Total marination time for both marination's was 30 minutes.
The recipe doesn't mention to not overwork the burger mix when shaping into patties so I will do that here. This mix with wine and egg could easily turn into a meatloaf so don't overwork the mix. I opted to form the one pound of ground meat mixture into four equal sized balls because these are going to be Hemingway Smash Burgers on account of the overworking thing.
Up close and personal
Papa preferred his burgers pan fried but I used a better option along with a better smash burger technique
"The patties should be an inch thick, and soft in texture but not runny." They were exactly that.
Flip em
A beautiful evening was in store for enjoying a Hemingway Wild West Hamburger. Sometimes everything just falls together. I'm stoked.
These burgers are some serious gourmet s**t LOL
No condiments required.
Worth the effort?
Yes, and very little effort was made past tracking down the ingredients.
The Hemingway's would have undoubtedly used what is now referred to as "grass fed" beef for these burgers. Grain fed hadn't happened yet. I don't think.
It was likely developed in Cuba by Ernie and/or his fourth wife Mary but who knows for sure.
I knew about this hamburger almost immediately but it took until now to follow through. What was I waiting for?
The original digitized recipe with footnotes describing other additional ingredients which can also be added or used as substitutes. I left these out so no minced standard ham, chopped tomato, grated cheddar, grated apple, grated carrots, mushrooms or parsley was added.
FROM EXPERIMENTING,
PAPA’S FAVORITE HAMBURGER. There is no reason why a fried hamburger has to turn out gray, greasy, paper-thin and tasteless. You can add all sorts of goodies and flavors to the ground beef — minced mushrooms, cocktail sauce, minced garlic and onion, chopped almonds, a big dollop of piccalilli, or whatever your eye lights on. Papa prefers this combination.
Ingredients —
1 lb. ground lean beef
2 cloves, minced garlic
2 little green onions, finely chopped
1 heaping teaspoon, India relish
2 tablespoons, capers
1 heaping teaspoon, Spice Islands sage
Spice Islands Beau Monde Seasoning — ½ teaspoon
Spice Islands Mei Yen Powder — ½ teaspoon **
1 egg, beaten in a cup with a fork
About one third cup dry red or white wine.
1 tablespoon cooking oil
What to do —
Break up the meat with a fork and scatter the garlic, onion and dry seasonings over it, then mix them into the meat with a fork or your fingers. Let the bowl of meat sit out of the icebox for ten or fifteen minutes while you set the table and make the salad. Add the relish, capers, everything else including wine and let the meat sit, quietly marinating, for another ten minutes if possible. Now make four fat, juicy patties with your hands. The patties should be an inch thick, and soft in texture but not runny. Have the oil in your frying-pan hot but not smoking when you drop in the patties and then turn the heat down and fry the burgers about four minutes. Take the pan off the burner and turn the heat high again. Flip the burgers over, put the pan back on the hot fire, then after one minute, turn the heat down again and cook another three minutes. Both sides of the burgers should be crispy brown and the middle pink and juicy.
** Spice Islands discontinued its production of Mei Yen Powder three years ago. If you don’t have any in your pantry, here’s how to recreate it:
9 parts salt
9 parts sugar
2 parts MSG
If a recipe calls for 1 teaspoon Mei Yen Powder, use 2/3 tsp of the dry recipe (above) mixed with 1/8 tsp of soy sauce.
PAPA’S FAVORITE HAMBURGER. There is no reason why a fried hamburger has to turn out gray, greasy, paper-thin and tasteless. You can add all sorts of goodies and flavors to the ground beef — minced mushrooms, cocktail sauce, minced garlic and onion, chopped almonds, a big dollop of piccalilli, or whatever your eye lights on. Papa prefers this combination.
Ingredients —
1 lb. ground lean beef
2 cloves, minced garlic
2 little green onions, finely chopped
1 heaping teaspoon, India relish
2 tablespoons, capers
1 heaping teaspoon, Spice Islands sage
Spice Islands Beau Monde Seasoning — ½ teaspoon
Spice Islands Mei Yen Powder — ½ teaspoon **
1 egg, beaten in a cup with a fork
About one third cup dry red or white wine.
1 tablespoon cooking oil
What to do —
Break up the meat with a fork and scatter the garlic, onion and dry seasonings over it, then mix them into the meat with a fork or your fingers. Let the bowl of meat sit out of the icebox for ten or fifteen minutes while you set the table and make the salad. Add the relish, capers, everything else including wine and let the meat sit, quietly marinating, for another ten minutes if possible. Now make four fat, juicy patties with your hands. The patties should be an inch thick, and soft in texture but not runny. Have the oil in your frying-pan hot but not smoking when you drop in the patties and then turn the heat down and fry the burgers about four minutes. Take the pan off the burner and turn the heat high again. Flip the burgers over, put the pan back on the hot fire, then after one minute, turn the heat down again and cook another three minutes. Both sides of the burgers should be crispy brown and the middle pink and juicy.
** Spice Islands discontinued its production of Mei Yen Powder three years ago. If you don’t have any in your pantry, here’s how to recreate it:
9 parts salt
9 parts sugar
2 parts MSG
If a recipe calls for 1 teaspoon Mei Yen Powder, use 2/3 tsp of the dry recipe (above) mixed with 1/8 tsp of soy sauce.
The burger mixture on its second marination with added beaten egg and wine. Total marination time for both marination's was 30 minutes.
The recipe doesn't mention to not overwork the burger mix when shaping into patties so I will do that here. This mix with wine and egg could easily turn into a meatloaf so don't overwork the mix. I opted to form the one pound of ground meat mixture into four equal sized balls because these are going to be Hemingway Smash Burgers on account of the overworking thing.
Up close and personal
Papa preferred his burgers pan fried but I used a better option along with a better smash burger technique
"The patties should be an inch thick, and soft in texture but not runny." They were exactly that.
Flip em
A beautiful evening was in store for enjoying a Hemingway Wild West Hamburger. Sometimes everything just falls together. I'm stoked.
These burgers are some serious gourmet s**t LOL
No condiments required.
Worth the effort?
Yes, and very little effort was made past tracking down the ingredients.
The Hemingway's would have undoubtedly used what is now referred to as "grass fed" beef for these burgers. Grain fed hadn't happened yet. I don't think.
