THE NANCY BURGER

THE NANCY BURGER

In case you hadn’t guessed by now, I have a ‘fondness’ for burgers. Not McDonald’s burgers or In-N-Out Burgers, but real burgers. Burgers you get at Prime Burger across the street from St. Patrick’s cathedral in New York … or at The Village Idiot (see my “It Takes A Village…” blog) on Melrose in Los Angeles… or those you barbeque at home from ground meat you get at your local supermarket.

And then there’s the Nancy Silverton perfect burger you make at home from the perfect blend of chuck and sirloin... http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-encore070408,0,2060283.story

As you may recall, when Richard and I ventured ‘over the hill’ and ‘into the city’ the other day questing for bangers at the Huntington Meats market, we also bought a pound of Nancy’s ground beef made especially for her and the market’s customers. So the night after our bangers and mash orgy, Richard made us the Nancy Silverton burgers.

For our ‘sides,’ he made some cole slaw, and since we still had about 9-1/2 pounds of that 10 pound bag of potatoes Richard found for 99 cents, he made some French fries in our little deep fryer, while he caramelized some onions.

Our cheese topping of choice was cheddar and, as Nancy instructed, he crumbled it before he placed it atop of the grilling burgers.

Was the burger good?  Oh, my… it was.  Just as advertised... perfect.

And we didn’t have to leave the house to have it. So, if you’re craving for a real burger in your own home, grill yourself The Nancy Silverton ground beef blend perfect burger. Your taste buds will thank you.

QUESTING FOR BANGERS

QUESTING FOR BANGERS

(an ode to Sandy)

On Monday I saw my friend Sandy’s food blog about a bangers and mash dinner: http://msbutterton.wordpress.com/
and my taste buds started imagining the flavors. I knew I had to have that dinner that night, so when Richard left for his morning coffee fix, he promised he’d become my Lone Banger Ranger (couldn’t resist) and go questing for some bangers.

A few hours later he returned with a 10 pound bag of potatoes on sale at Ralph’s supermarket for 99 cents (he’s part Irish and still hasn’t gotten over the potato famine), but not a banger in sight.

Since my craving hadn’t subsided, I decided to join him on his quest and check out How’s, a fairly new upscale market in the neighborhood. I’d never been before and it’s pretty cool. It even has a wine tasting room, but no bangers. Yes they could order us some for tomorrow, but that was the best they could do. That didn’t work for me. No way. So, we decided to go ‘over the hill’ and into ‘the city’ to the Farmer’s Market. There we would find fresh made bangers at Huntington Meats, Sandy’s favorite meat market. And boy, did we. Gorgeous looking meats. Gorgeous looking bangers. We had them wrap up four. Two for that night’s dinner and two for the freezer. Of course, while we were there we had to buy world reknowned chef, Nancy Silverton’s burger blend of ground beef that Huntington Meats makes up especially for her and its customers, but that’s for my next blog.

While we were there, Richard and I decided to explore the Farmer’s Market. We hadn’t been there in ages and we just drove all the way ‘over the hill’ after all, so might as well make a fun afternoon of it. Not a good idea, because before we finished we ended up in the Monsieur Marcel Gourmet Market buying an assortment of delicious, fabulous, amazing – and expensive - cheeses to have before our bangers and mash dinner. We got a wedge of Tomme de Savoie (a sort of edgy muenster in taste and texture), a wedge of Brillat Savarin (a quadruple creamy brie-like cheese) and a slice of Bucheron (a very ripe goat-type cheese)… This put a big dent in our stream-lined budget of 2 buck for 2 bangers and a half a cent worth of potatoes for dinner. But even with these cheese tastes dinner wasn’t going to be more than $12 for the two of us.

Back home we sipped some wine as we devoured the cheese spread on slices of baguette that I freed from the freezer… and then sat down to eat our bangers and mash by candlelight. It was everything I thought it would be. The bangers were perfect (cooked just as Sandy instructed) and when I took that first bite, the skin popped and the juices filled my mouth. I was in banger ecstasy! Then a taste of the smooth mashed potato smothered in her onion gravy to die for...

then a fork full of peas (Sandy’s recommended vegetable)... then back to the banger. Food Nirvana!  Really. Who says the English can’t cook?! ;o)

For Sandy’s story and her recipe for bangers and onion gravy, I hope y’all visit her site. You won’t be sorry. And, while you're there, check out her other recipes. Though be careful, you too may find yourself a banger ranger or on some other craving quest.

Check out The Huntington Meats (they ship)

http://www.huntingmeats.com/

jim-dan@huntingtonmeats.com

Update: March, 2013

Since Sandy's blog has been shut down - here is her recipe for bangers and gravy I was able to find:

Bangers and Gravy

2-4 Banger Sausages
Olive oil for sauteing
1 cup white onions, chopped
Sherry to deglaze
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 cup low salt Chicken broth (or Chicken stock)
1/2 cup whole milk
Wondra flour for thickening

Heat a large skillet. When hot, add the Olive oil and swirl in the pan. Add the bangers and cook through, on all sides until done – about 10-15 minutes. Remove them from the pan to a plate and place a loose, aluminum foil tent over them. With the pan still hot, add the onions and cook them until browned, occasionally deglazing with a little sherry. When the onions are almost done, add the garlic and continue to cook for 1 minute. Add the Chicken broth (or stock) milk and combine well. Sprinkle in small amounts of Wondra flour, until the gravy thickens. If it gets too thick, thin it out with more milk, or chicken stock.