BURGERS
Ingredients:
- 500 g ground beef
- 125 g chopped bacon
- 4 slices of bread soaked in milk and squeezed
- 6 buns cut in two
- salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg
- olive oil
Preparation:
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and divide into 5 equal parts. Flatten them with your hands to a diameter of about 10 cm and a thickness of 2. Grill them at low heat and turn over when the bottom is golden brown. Lastly, put them in the buns, and bon apétit!
Some history:
Hamburgers may be bought pre-shaped (fresh or frozen) or they can be prepared by your local butcher with meat of your choosing, ground fresh; they can also be made at home, with pre-ground meat, or you can grind your own with a knife or a grinder (avoid using food processors that mince the meat too finely, causing it to lose consistency and producing a tough dry hamburger). Shape the hamburger with your hands or a specific kitchen tool; shape it to the optimal size of 1.5 cm, which will prevent it from becoming too dry after cooking.
The classic hamburger is made exclusively out of meat, but it can be flavoured with other ingredients as desired (such as onion, mustard or other spices; or putting a slice of cheese cut to the same diameter in the middle of the patty).
The name of this sandwich comes from Hamburg, the famous city in Germany, which in centuries past traded intensively with the Baltic provinces of Russia, where raw ground meat (the famous steak tartare) was a favourite dish. The Americans were the first to put this meat into a bun and create what is now considered throughout the world as America’s most famous specialty.
La "plancha":
La ‘plancha’, which is Spanish in origin, crossed the border into our country and is now very popular. This large-sized steel grill, which was originally used over a campfire by nineteenth-century pilgrims, has been perfected over time and become an everyday object, just like a barbeque. And it is not an exaggeration to say that this cooking method has conquered the country in a short time…
At first it was widely used in the tapas bars to prepare the famous cocktail-hour appetizers; now the plancha is used to cook entire meals. A complete kitchen utensil, it can cook both meat and seafood perfectly, as well as crustaceans and shellfish, vegetables or fruit.
Food cooked on the plancha has excellent nutritional qualities: cooking time is very short, it requires little or no fat, and unlike cooking over the direct flame of a barbeque, the food does not char.
This type of instant cuisine, which is very natural, preserves the taste and composition of fresh foods to a remarkable degree: it is cooked at the last minute, just before serving.
It is extremely simple to use and requires a limited range of kitchen tools: just brushes and spatulas to turn the foods over.
Always start by preheating the plancha to a high temperature for a few minutes. Arrange the foods on the hot surface and then adjust the flame to maintain the desired temperature.
The plancha must be thoroughly cleaned after each session. However the maintenance method depends on the material it is made of. We therefore advise reading the instructions carefully.
