Hamburger with triple-cooked chips

A great classic with an unusually light side dish for the first BBQ of the season

What's difficult about cooking a hamburger? There's nothing difficult about it, you might say. It's true that this dish, for many years unfairly demoted to junk food, is now highly popular again. Across the whole of Europe there are trendy venues drawing inspiration from the Blend in Paris, the home of gourmet hamburgers, that has just published the faboulous book here below (Colette Edition).

 

I also like to offer hamburgers in my restaurant, both for lunch and dinner, as a fancy alternative to traditional meals. The important thing is top quality ingredients: good bread, good meat, good vegetables. And if there are any sauces, go for fresh ones.

Here is a recipe for a classic cheeseburger with a side dish that will impress you with its lightness.

Ingredients

(for 10 hamburgers)

Lean beef: 1 kg  

Burger buns: 10 

Onions: 2

Fresh cucumber: 1 

Sliced tomatoes: 3 

Iceberg lettuce: some leaves

Cheese: 10 slices of cheddar or provolone cheese to give it an Italian touch

Salt and pepper (to taste)

Sauces (as required)
 
 
To prepare the hamburgers, I prefer starting from thin slices of steak, I choose them carefully and then mince them. I use a pastry cutter to form the hamburgers.

Ideally, they should be either cooked on a barbeque grill or a hot plate. There are two fundamental rules when cooking a hamburger to perfection. First rule: the hamburgers will initially stick to the grill or the hot place. Don't try to take them off because they will fall apart. When they do come off on their own, it's time to turn them: this will take 2/3 minutes. Second rule: resist the temptation to crush the meat with the spatula, as you would lose all the juices from the cooking process!

When the hamburgers come off, turn them carefully and cook them on the other side for about a minute. This is the right time to add a slice of cheese on the side already cooked. During this step, I cover the hamburger with a metal cup. This is a little trick to keep the right moisture levels and ensure the cheese is creamy, without drying it. This can also be easily done with the metal lid for indirect cooking,  that is included in some barbecues, like the ones below from Sunday's range. Also, it's always better to cover the bread to heat it, otherwise it becomes too “toasted” and loses that softness a real American hamburger should have.

When you see that the blood clots together on the meat's surface, the meat is medium rare. You can either take off the hamburgers now, as Americans would do traditionally, or keep on cooking them for another couple of minutes if you prefer them well done.

Take them off the barbecue grill and add salt and pepper. Now prepare the bun by alternating the vegetables (lettuce leaves, slices of tomatoes and cucumber), which must be fresh, with the onion. If using red onions, I'd suggest not cooking them. If instead you prefer white onions, I stew them just with water, without adding oil, until they become transparent. This way, they retain their sweet taste and are easy to digest.

As a side dish, I'd suggest my triple-cooked chips. Light, mouth-watering, irresistible. You can eat as much as you want without feeling guilty.

First of all, I peel the potatoes and then boil the whole potatoes in salted water for about 10 minutes. They are still fairly hard and, after draining them, I cut them into wedges. The second cooking stage is in the oven (once again, you can also use the lid for the indirect cooking mentioned above): I put the wedges in a row on the oven tray with a dash of olive oil and seasoning (salt, rosemary, sage). If using a traditional oven, you just need 20 minutes at 160-180°C.

The final touch: I quickly put them in very hot oil, a constant 180°C. As they are practically already cooked, the potatoes do not absorb the oil, they just form that tasty crunchy layer on the outside!

Finally, one last delicacy. Do you want a light sauce to go with this dish? A couple of days before, make my “Zero-zero” ketchup sauce. A nice blend of flavours, without fat or sugar.

 

Zero-zero ketchup sauce (sugar-free)

Ingredients:

Onions: 6/7

Tomato puree: 1 kg

Vinegar: 1 glass 

Liquid sweetener: 20 drops 

Salt: 2 teaspoons 

Nutmeg: 1 teaspoon 

Ground ginger: 2 teaspoons 

Hot paprika: 1 teaspoon 

Cloves: 4 

Mustard powder: 2 teaspoons   

Thinly slice the onions, preferably medium-sized onions, and add them to the tomato sauce. Cook over moderate heat for about half an hour and then put everything in the blender.
Pour back into the pot and let it cook for 20 minutes, after adding the vinegar and sweetener.

After 20 minutes, add the salt and all the spices: nutmeg, ginger, paprika, cloves and mustard.

Leave to thicken for another 10 minutes.

Leave to cool and put in the fridge in airtight glass jars, preferably sterilized (to sterilize, just leave them in the pot to boil for about 30 minutes).

Let it rest for at least two days before using it, this way the ketchup will have time to incorporate all the flavours.

 
Elena Boscia

First studied Pharmacy for two years which enabled her to acquire the basics of nutrition and food chemistry. Then in Colorno (Parma), at the Academy of Italian cuisine of Gualtiero Marchesi (ALMA), she acquired not only the passion but also the professional skills for cooking and baking, mastering the techniques and acquiring the absolute knowledge of ingredients. Then Switzerland, Rome and the United States. Finally, the birth of a project, "her" project, named "Zero-Zero Hundred-hundred",  completed in collaboration with Chiara Manzi, nutritionist and president of Association for National Safety in Cooking. The result is a program that was so well-liked that it transported her across the ocean to Los Angeles, where she worked as a consultant for a year, to create light menus in the most popular restaurant chains in America.

Elena is just 28 years old and her cooking is traditional and experimental at the same time.

Traditional because it always starts with simple ingredients and cooking process.

Experimental because every recipe has two versions: Hundred-hundred is the traditional one, without particular limitations, dedicated to those who do not have weight issues; Zero-zero is the version with as low a percentage of fat and sugar as possible, inspired by the "Dukan style", for those who struggle with weight but don't want to give up taste and the pleasure of eating in company.

 

Boscia Billi bistrot

In the heart of Padua, in via Boccalerie 5, with a beautiful location in Piazza della Frutta, Elena Boscia and her partner Alessandro Billi have created an intimate and refined environment, where you feel immediately at home. They greet you with a fresh welcome drink, water-based and flavoured with cucumber and lemon and spoil you with a balanced and ever-changing menu, composed of simple but far from trivial dishes.

From breakfast to dinner, Boscia Billi bistro is a place to return to often, even several times a week, without worrying about your wallet or weight. 

 

PHOTOGRAPHS:

Mirko Piccinato, Boscia Billi bistrot, Sunday Grill