Over 100 Years of the Hamburger Sandwich

 

New Haven, CT, is the home to Yale University, Peabody Museum of Natural History, and more importantly, Louis' Lunch.

Since 1895, Louis' Lunch has been making the Hamburger Sandwich. This historic sandwich consists of a medallion of prime meat, cooked to medium rare perfection, sandwiched between two pieces of white bread, toasted in toasters also original to the kitchen. Though simple in construction, it was one of the best “fast food” burgers I had tasted. The flavor was fresh and reminiscent of burgers that came off the backyard BBQ, cooked with love by my father, the man who taught me what medium rare really means.

You, of course, can customize your burger. They are willing to cook it a little longer and add onions, cheese and/or tomatoes, but one thing they will not do for you…add ketchup! Louis’ Lunch has been a no ketchup zone for over 100 years and they are very proud of it!

The original hamburger sandwich – burger and cheese only (pictured)

The rest of the menu is just as simple and straight forward as the burgers. You can add a soda, water, or one of the local brew flavors from Foxan Soda. There are bags of potato chips to accompany your burger or a Styrofoam cup full of amazing housemade potato salad.

Potatoes, hard boiled eggs, a touch of mayonnaise, chives and the perfect amount of salt

Their menu lists desserts, but, honestly, after the burger and the potato salad, there wasn’t room for me for their tempting treats (a list of which includes homemade pie). This is rare, so next time…I promise!

Louis’ Lunch is open Tuesday through Saturday. Get there anytime between 11:00 am and 3:45 pm Tuesday and Wednesday, and feel free to be a bit lazier Thursday through Saturday since they are open noon – 2:00 am.

Louis’ Lunch
261-263 Crown Street
New Haven, CT 06511-6611
(203) 562-5507
www.louislunch.com

My New Toy - A Cuisinart Food Processor

One of the gifts we received for our wedding was the Custom 14 Cuisinart food processor. SOOOO Pretty!  It has a 14 cup capacity in a stainless steel robe.  Oh...the places we will go!

http://www.cuisinart.com/products/food_processors/dfp-14bcn.html

And this is what I made with her...

CORNISH PASTIES

When my husband and I were on our Honeymoon, we fell in love with savory pies.  Cornish Pasties is one of the most common of the savory pies.  Their history is connected with the mine workers in Cornwall.  Their wives would make them hand held pastries with meat, onions, and a root vegetable (potatoes, carrots, and/or parsnips usually).  They had a thick crust/rim so that they could hold them with their dusty hands and not touch the part that they planned on eating.

The pastry is a very simple butter and flour crust and my new food processor was the perfect tool to try them with.

My new toy in her new home

There are a lot of recipes for this savory pastry dough, but the ingredients are all the same - flour, butter, salt and ice water.

2 perfect balls of buttery dough, ready for a chill in the fridge

The filling recipes range from ground lamb to cubed meat with the veg and starch.  I went with finely chopped chuck steak, carrots, onion and potatoes.  Best mix, I think!

Next time - an egg or milk wash

Flaky and Tasty!

I downloaded the free Christmas excerpt for the Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook.  The first recipe was for Cornish Pasties.  I can't wait to try the recipes I've found in 3 other cookbooks I own: How to be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson, The Tea & Sympathy Cookbook, and the William Sonoma London cookbook.

An American Classic - The Hamburger!

There is something very American about a hamburger. I might be an anglophile, but I will never give up the want or need for a thick, juice patty of ground beef...usually slathered with cheese, pickles, mustard and ketchup for me.

On a recent business trip to Ohio, I came across a Johnny Rockets in the Columbus airport. I ordered, sat and enjoyed. As I took one juice bite after the next, I took in my surroundings. For those that have not been to a Johnny Rockets before, they are a homage to "the Good Ol' Days" - the 1950's soda shops. There are Coca-Cola ads with kids enjoying a tall drink, pictures of candy apple red hot rods scattered all over the walls and a wonderful mix of Doo Wap and Jukebox music filling the air.


What do you think of when you think of a big juicy burger? Do you imagine a soda jerk bringing you a hamburger, milkshake and fries? How about the joy you felt when you were 5 and got a happy meal from McDonald's when you achieved a goal? What about summer barbeques with fresh corn, burgers on the grill and chips on the table?

The Hamburger is mixed to a lot of very American memories and emotions. But...how did it all start? Well, what could be more American that at a County Fair? According to Wikipedia, there are a couple of legends. One is that residents of Hamburg, New York, which was named after Hamburg, Germany, attribute the hamburger to Ohioans Frank and Charles Menches. According to legend, the Menches brothers were vendors at the 1885 Erie County Fair (then called the Buffalo Fair) when they ran out of sausage for sandwiches and used beef instead, naming the result after the location of the fair.

Another also includes a Fair. The Seymour Community Historical Society of Seymour, Wisconsin, credits Charlie Nagreen. Now known as "Hamburger Charlie", Nagreen was fifteen when he reportedly made sandwiches out of meatballs he was selling at the 1885 Outagamie County Fair (now the Seymour Fair), so that customers could eat while walking. The Historical Society explains that Nagreen named the hamburger after the Hamburg steak with which local German immigrants were familiar.

One more fun fact before we go...For us in NYC - in 1921, due to widely prevalent anti-German sentiment in the U.S. during World War I, an alternative name for hamburgers (remember Hamburg, Germany?) was salisbury steak. Following the war, hamburgers became unpopular until the White Castle restaurant chain marketed and sold large numbers of small 2.5-inch square hamburgers, known as slyders. They started to punch five holes in each patty, which help them cook evenly and eliminates the need to flip the burger. White Castle was the first to sell their hamburgers in grocery stores and vending machines.

However you enjoy your burger...I hope you take as much joy as I did with my BBQ Burger on a cool Tuesday afternoon at the airport in Columbus, OH!

Thank you Wikipedia for your info - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburger