Q: Could you tell me how to cook an awesome burger?
A: Yes, I can. Use less meat than you usually do. Cook over cast iron, instead of on a grill. And smash the meat hard into the pan to create a terrific crust. Serve on potato buns. This recipe, from our NYT Cooking site and app, will not steer you wrong.
Hamburgers
1/2 teaspoon neutral oil, such as canola, or a pat of unsalted butter
2 pounds ground chuck, at least 20 percent fat
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
8 slices cheese (optional)
8 soft hamburger buns, lightly toasted
Lettuce leaves, sliced tomatoes and condiments, as desired.
1. Add oil or butter to a large cast-iron or stainless-steel skillet and place over medium heat. Gently divide ground beef into eight small piles of about 4 ounces each, and even more gently gather them together into orbs that are about 2 inches in height. Do not form patties.
2. Increase heat under skillet to high. Put half the orbs into the skillet with plenty of distance between them and, using a stiff metal spatula, press down on each one to form a burger about 4 inches in diameter and about a 1/2-inch thick. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Cook without moving until patties achieve a deep, burnished crust, a little less than two minutes. Use the spatula to scrape free and carefully turn burgers over. If using cheese, lay slices on meat.
Continue to cook until meat is cooked through, approximately a minute or so longer. Remove burgers from skillet, place on buns and top as desired. Repeat process with remaining burgers. Serving two hamburgers on a single bun is not an outrageous option.
Q: I recently devoured Jacques Pépin’s autobiography, “The Apprentice,” and really was taken with his philosophies about how to live and eat well with friends and family. I love your “Thanksgiving” book for very similar reasons. Can you recommend some other books along this vein?
A: For sure, you should read Gabrielle Hamilton’s “Blood, Bones and Butter,” a book that among much else teaches, in Hamilton’s words, “how to be generous beyond our means, how to change a small corner of the world just by making a little dinner for friends.” (Note well the phrase “beyond our means.”)
Also, my old colleague Amanda Hesser’s “Cook and the Gardener.” You should read M.F.K. Fisher, starting with “Consider the Oyster,” and Laurie Colwin, starting with “Home Cooking.”
And for a change of pace, and an understanding that even amid crime and despair there is beauty and hospitality and excellent food, try Jean-Claude Izzo’s “Marseilles Trilogy.”
Q: I am a 45-year-old paramedic looking at a career change. Culinary school is an option. Any advice at this late age?
A: Have you heard about Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 Hour Rule? It’s from his book, “Outliers,” and says it takes roughly 10,000 hours of practice to achieve mastery in a field. With omelets, hollandaise and foie gras terrines, the number is closer to 12,000 hours. So, bear that in mind.
Think about this as well: Culinary school is expensive, and the classes increasingly are crowded with young Turks who think they’re going to be stars. The chances of that are slim, of course, for them as well as you. So, unless you have a clear plan in mind, like, “I want to work in a hotel-chain food and beverage program for 50 hours a week for the next 20 years,” it might be hard to find work on the other side.
Cook at home, cook for friends and family, have a great time. Cooking’s a joy until it isn’t.
If you don’t want to ride the truck anymore, maybe you should look into management. You’ve put in the hours, after all. Pay your experience forward to those who will take your place on the front lines. Saving lives takes many forms.
Q: As a cook (and a mom of eight), I am planning a new kitchen and have read about chefs here in Denver using Portland cement for their counters. I’d really like to know how they rate.
A: My sister-in-law has excellent cement countertops — shiny and smooth and tough as nails. They’re beautiful. But that’s thanks to the craftsman who made them. (Three cheers!) I’ve also seen cement countertops that look as if someone used cinder blocks as tile. (Raspberries!)
Either way, cement counters are heavy to the point where you might need to reinforce the kitchen floor before installing them. So, proceed with care, meaning: Make sure whoever’s building the things has built them before and can show you impressive results.
And don’t stint on a sealer for the surface, to guard against stains.
