Hamburger Steak Recipe. Do I dare touch on the History of the Hamburger and the Hamburger Steak?
Hamburger Steak, in the context of this recipe, refers to a meat patty made and formed from ground/minced beef or mixed ground beef/pork.
There are several theories about where the word Hamburger originated, and the most likely ones are that it is indeed the city of Hamburg in northern Germany that is the namesake of the Hamburger.
Traditionally, in Hamburg (and other parts of Germany), a spiced and fried ground meat patty served with (but not necessarily on) a roll and mustard is a popular snack. Immigrants from Germany are believed to have brought the Hamburger to the USA.
Another theory says that high-quality beef was pressed into patty form in Hamburg and then shipped on ice via the city’s large port to the USA.
Yet another theory claims that the meat was preserved with salt and used as rations for the poor on their long journey to the USA.
The patty being placed between a roll with veggies and sauces is clearly an American invention, yet the Hamburger Steak, the predecessor of today’s Hamburger, indeed originated in Hamburg.
The word Hamburger Steak appeared on the menu of the New York Restaurant Delmonico’s in 1834 and was later found in US cookbooks for the first time as early as 1842.
This Hamburger Steak Recipe is best combined with a warm mashed potato. For the Hamburger Steak in this dish, ground beef and pork spiced using a variety of condiments are used.
And yes, a person from Hamburg is indeed called a Hamburger (but only if the person was born there).
Here is my variation of the Hamburger Steak Recipe:
Seriously Amazing Hamburger Steak Recipe
Ingredients
- 70 grams bread crumbs or 2.4-ounce
- 100 milliliter milk or 1/2 cup
- 125 grams breakfast bacon or 4.5-ounce, finely chopped/minced
- 3 medium shallots very finely chopped or grated
- 2 medium garlic cloves
- 25 grams butter or 1 tablespoon
- 300 grams ground or minced beef or 10.6-ounce
- 200 grams ground or minced pork or 7-ounce
- 1 medium whole egg
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 3-4 tablespoons dried mixed mushrooms or dried porcini / penny bun mushrooms
- 2 twigs fresh thyme
- 1 pinch salt to taste
- 1 pinch pepper to taste
- 50 grams clarified butter or 3 ½ tablespoons
Instructions
- Place 3-4 tablespoons of dried mixed mushrooms or dried porcini or penny bun mushrooms into a bowl and cover with boiling water. Let soak for 1 hour.
- Place 70 grams (2.4-ounce) of bread crumbs into a large mixing bowl, add 100 milliliter (1/2 cup) of milk, blend well and let soak for 10 minutes. If the mixture is too dry add additional milk. The dough should be soft and malleable.
- Finely chop 7 mince 125 grams (4.5-ounce) breakfast bacon, peel and finely chop or grate 3 shallots. Press 2 garlic cloves through a garlic press. Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a frying pan, add bacon and fry for 2 minutes, add garlic and shallots and glaze for another 1 minutes. Remove from the frying pan and let cool.
- Drain water from mushrooms and squeeze out excess water. Finely chop mushrooms until you almost have a paste-like consistency.
- Add 1 egg, 2 tablespoons of Dijon Mustard and mushrooms, 300 grams (10.6-ounce) ground or minced beef and 200 grams (7-ounce) ground or minced pork to the soaked bread crumbs.
- Season very very well with freshly ground salt and pepper. Mix all ingredients until you have an even meat dough.
- Preheat the oven to 140°C or 280°F.
- Form meat into 8 evenly sized round patties.
- Melt 50 grams (3 ½ tablespoons) Clarified Butter in a frying pan, add 2 twigs of fresh thyme to fat and fry meat patties 3 minutes on each side on medium heat. Pay attention to turning them regularly so they don’t become too dark.
- Remove from the pan, place on a plate and put into the pre-heated oven for 15 -20 minutes.
- Plate 2 hamburger steaks and serve with warm mashed potato.
