The first is about eggs.
Did you know that eggs have water in them? Water that can be drained, that is?
One of the Iron Chef's was making a ravioli filling with ricotta and spinach, and he said that you do not want any extra water in the filling. He took out a screen/mesh-type strainer, about 6" across, and when he cracked the egg for the filling, he cracked it into the strainer, which was over a bowl.
He held it above the bowl for maybe 15 seconds, then dumped the egg into the filling bowl, and continued with his recipe. Who knew?
Also, you know the little dried onion bits that you can buy? (They make great dip, are good in ground meat dishes, etc.)
Well, apparently there's a burger place in 4 S. states, including Tn. It's called Krystal Burger, and it has similarities to White Castle...which I'd never heard of until an adult either...wrong location. Anyway, there's an interesting way to make them at home, which I think that I'll tell at the end.
Anyway, they say that the little onions pack a lot of flavor because...
They do not rehydrate them in water, but in warm water with a beef bouillon cube dissolved in it. You could use beef stock I think, if super flavorful, and salty enough. I've never done that!
So, the burger is made thusly:
Grind one lb. of meat in your food processor with some salt and 1/2 C. of water until it's almost pasty, but not quite. That only works with beef, btw. I can't do it with buffalo.
Anyway, they do various things to shape them. For our purposes, though, just get them into thin, 3" square patties. Freeze for 1/2 hour, they say.
Meanwhile, assemble everything.
You want a frying pan, non-stick is best, slices of pickle, mustard, and "buns."
For buns, since these are slider sized, you want dinner rolls. Soft, pillowy, dinner rolls.
To cook:
Put the fully soaked onions in the pan. Lay 4 patties on the onions - the patties should still be partly frozen. Season, I suppose, they didn't say that I recall.
On top of each patty, put the bottle of the rolls on the patty.
On top of the bottom of the rolls which are on the patties, lay the tops. Apparently, the rolls steam as the meat cooks.
When the meat's cooked, assemble the burger with mustard and pickle slices. They actually use hamburger chips, but any pickle that you prefer, sliced.
That's the original, I gather. But, of course, there's nothing to stop you from adding lettuce, tomato, or anything else that you like!
They say that bouillon soaked dried onions add a meaty flavor to many things that you might cook!
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