Hamburgers

Hamburgers – great on picnics, fun at home too.

I well remember the days here in Israel when we didn’t have hamburger buns – and then the days when they appeared only occasionally in the shops. Nowadays they are sold in all supermarkets, although sometimes on Fridays, probably due to the huge abundance of halla on the shelves, there is no space for hamburger rolls..

This brings back fond memories of the many family picnics that we made, often together with Saba and Savta who would come and join us at the Jerusalem Forest or Hirbet Saadim. Among other things, I was always in charge of preparing the hamburgers. In those days, I would still have to scout around, sometimes for days, to find enough hamburger buns for all the family. A hamburger without a bun, ketchup, sliced onions, tomatoes, etc. was simply “not a hamburger”.

We would grill the hamburgers, happily start to slice open the hamurger buns, and without fail, Saba and Savta would take out half a halla that they brought from Tel Aviv, slice it and say that THIS is the only way to eat a hamburger… ! We had so many laughs about this “Polish” custom, picnic after picnic.*
Oh, how we all miss those picnics with Saba and Savta.

Today I had an urge for hamburgers. My arm happens to be in a full-arm royal blue designer cast after shattering my elbow and breaking the bone leading from the hand to the elbow, in a fall on the ice in Amsterdam last week. I was thinking how to approach the task – since the arm that is broken, is the “right” hand – that is, the left hand – and I am a leftie…….I came up with the idea of using a “ring” for forming the hamburger patties – used usually for baking. I rummaged through the kitchen drawers till I found the appropriate size. I just put the ring on the baking tin and spooned the meat mixture into the ring, patting it down. Then I gently pulled off the “ring”. All the hamburgers came out evenly formed, all the same size. Nicer than when I do them with two unbroken hands.

*The thought just went through my mind that with the passage of many years, now WE are the Saba and Savta – and I have no doubt that our kids and grandkids now have their own smiles and laughs about us “oldies”. I sure hope so!

Enjoy the hamburgers – and just remember NEVER to make them with extra-lean meat.

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Ingredients:

• chopped beef – with some fat in it – do not use extra lean meat for hamburgers unless you prefer your hamburgers to be dry and stiff like cardboard… )
• finely chopped onion
• salt
• pepper
• garlic powder
• some cold seltzer – or cold water
• if meat is too dry, add a little bit of canola or corn oil to mixture.
• For serving:
• thinly sliced tomato
• thinly sliced onion (red onion or white onion)
• ketchup
• mustard if you like

Preparation:

1. Mix all ingredients in large bowl
2. Form mixture into hamburger patties. Can do that by hand or by using an appropriately sized ring, so that they all come out the same size.
3. Cook either on barbecue or under the oven grill, or fry in nonstick frying pan. Turn over in middle so that both sides are cooked.
4. Serve on hamburger buns with thinly sliced tomato, thinly sliced red onion, ketchup, and whatever else you like (mustard, etc).

Tip: I read somewhere that in order to keep the shape and size of the hamburger while cooking, it helps to form the patties and freeze them before cooking. I have never tried this because my freezer is always too full and messy and i cant find the space to shove in a baking tin with hamburgers…..but the idea does sound logical.