When Americans first started cooking hamburger meat, they frequently served it with a mess of sautéed onions. This recipe from caterer Carlyn Berghoff and chef David Norman takes the old approach a beautiful, beery step further. With it, the imaginative cooks offer a toast to a Chicago institution, The Berghoff, founded by Carlyn's great-grandfather in 1898. Still in the family, the restaurant remains true to its roots, serving robust food with authentic hand-brewed beer. Thanks to Marcel Desaulniers for allowing us to borrow the burger, featured originally in his wonderful The Burger Meisters (Simon & Schuster, 1993).
SERVES 4
MUSHROOM-BEER KETCHUP
| 1 | tablespoon unsalted butter |
| 1 | small onion, chopped |
| ¼ | pound button mushrooms, stems trimmed, sliced |
| 6 | tablespoons hot beer |
| ⅓ | cup Quintessential Ketchup ([>]) or other ketchup |
| 1 | tablespoon white vinegar |
| ¼ | teaspoon sugar |
| ¼ | teaspoon salt |
BEER-BRAISED ONIONS
| 1 | tablespoon unsalted butter |
| 1 | large onion, sliced thin |
| 1 | cup beer |
| 1 | teaspoon sugar |
| ½ | teaspoon salt |
| 1½ | pounds freshly ground chuck (see box, [>]) |
| 2 | tablespoons beer |
| ½ | teaspoon Tabasco sauce or other hot pepper sauce |
| ¼ | teaspoon Worcestershire sauce |
| Salt and fresh-ground black pepper | |
| 4 | hamburger buns, preferably bakery-made |
| 4 | ½-ounce slices brick cheese or other pungent cheese such as sharp or extra-sharp Wisconsin cheddar, at room temperature |
At least 24 hours before you plan to grill the burgers, prepare the ketchup, first melting the butter in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and mushrooms and sauté until just tender, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the beer, ketchup, vinegar, sugar, and salt. Use a hand-held immersion blender to purée the mixture, or spoon it into a blender or food processor and purée. Return the ketchup to the saucepan (if needed), return the heat to medium, and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the ketchup until slightly thickened, about 12 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool. Spoon the ketchup into a nonreactive container and refrigerate for at least 1 day. (The ketchup can be made to this point several days ahead.)
Prepare the onions, first melting the butter in a large, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and sauté, stirring frequently, until the onions are very tender, about 5 to 6 minutes. Add ¾ cup of the beer, the sugar, and the salt. Cook until all of the beer has been absorbed by the onions and they begin to brown lightly, about 16 to 18 minutes. Add the remaining ¼ cup of beer and bring to a simmer. Keep the onions warm.
Fire up the grill for a two-level fire capable of cooking first on high heat (1 to 2 seconds with the hand test) and then on medium heat (4 to 5 seconds with the hand test).
In a large bowl, gently but thoroughly combine the ground chuck, beer, Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and salt and pepper to taste. Gently form the mixture into four patties about ½ to ¾ inch thick. The patties should hold together firmly, but don't compact them or handle them any longer than necessary.
Grill the burgers uncovered over high heat for 1 minute per side. Move the burgers to medium heat and cook for 4 to 5 minutes per side for medium doneness, until crusty and richly brown with a bare hint of pink at the center. Toast the buns at the same time at the edge of the grill. If grilling covered, sear both sides of the meat on high heat uncovered for 1 minute; finish the cooking with the cover on over medium heat for 7 to 9 minutes, turning once midway.
Serve the burgers hot on the toasted buns, topped with some of the beer-braised onions and the cheese, with the mushroom-beer ketchup on the side.
Everyone knows that burgers contain more saturated fat than the food police allow. That fact combined with the national love of the sandwich gave rise in the 1970s to the health-food burger, a fad that refuses to fade. You can find tofu and veggie burgers anywhere in the country and, in exotic corners like Hawaii, even such quixotic concoctions as a mashed taro burger. What you may not know is that hamburger meat was actually one of the original health foods.
America's favorite European chef at the mid-twentieth century, Louis P. De Gouy, told an interesting story about the invention of the hamburger. In his magnum opus, The Gold Cook Book (Chilton Books, 1947), he put the origin of the idea back to 780 A.D., when he says "Italian physicians prescribed chopped beef fried with onions to cure colds and coughs."
A nineteenth-century physician, Dr. James Henry Salisbury, carried the claims further and left us the enduring legacy of the Salisbury steak, an American staple for generations. He recommended everyone eat ground beef three times a day to prevent and treat colitis, anemia, asthma, rheumatism, tuberculosis, and other ills. Salisbury even thought the diet would relieve hardening of the arteries, a notion we love to mention to doctors.