CaraCakes Take on a French Hamburger

I was flipping through my Julia Child cookbook, and found myself reading about how the French make hamburgers.  They seemed pretty different than our burgers on this side of the pond, but no less delicious.  Since I didn't have any ground beef, I opted to try a Biftek Haché à la Lyonnaise (Ground Beef with Onions and Herbs) with ground white turkey rather than beef.  And wow, was it delicious.

Here is the recipe straight from Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking":

Biftek Haché à la Lyonnaise (Ground Beef with Onions and Herbs)

You'll need:

¾ cup finely minced yellow onions
2 tablespoons butter
1 ½ pounds lean ground beef
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon thyme
1 egg
½ cup flour, spread on a plate
1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon oil
½ cup beef stock, canned beef bouillon, dry white wine, dry white vermouth or red wine (I used white wine)
2-3 tablespoons butter, softened

Instructions:

• Cook the onions slowly in the butter for about 10 minutes until very tender but not browned. Place in a mixing bowl. Add the beef, butter, seasonings and egg to the onions in the mixing bowl and mix thoroughly to combine ingredients. Form into patties ¾-inch thick. Cover with waxed paper and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Just before sautéing, roll the patties lightly in the flour. Shake off excess flour. Place butter and oil in a skillet and set over moderately high heat. When you see the butter foam begin to subside, sauté the patties for 2 to 3 minutes or more each side, to desired doneness. Remove patties from skillet to warm plate.
• Pour the fat out of the skillet. Add the liquid and boil it down rapidly, scraping up the coagulated pan juices, until it had reduced almost to a syrup. Off heat, swirl butter by half-tablespoons into the sauce until it is absorbed. Pour the sauce over the hamburgers and serve.
• Makes 6 burgers.

I served this with some fresh spinach that I cooked on medium heat with garlic, a dash of salt and pepper, and a 1/2 tsp of olive oil.  Delicious!

Also, feel free to eat this on a bun.  Kyle loved it that way.  For me, since the weather has been a bit warmer, and this is already a tad on the rich side, I didn't want to weigh myself down with the bread.

**Please note:  your sauce should be the color of caramel if you use white wine.  My sauce began to separate at the time of this picture because I fed my family and waited to take the photo (for those of you that have hungry people demanding immediate nourishment at dinnertime, I'm sure you understand.)

Pancakes!

My little one LOVES pancakes.  She also loves helping me make this delicious, fool-proof pancake mix (Nigella inspired of course) that we always have on hand.  It's a great stand-by for when you're too tired to think of something exciting to make, or when you're trying to get your peanut to eat when they've been on a hunger strike.  Plus, it really does make some of the best darn pancakes you'll ever, ever have.

Pancake Mix

You'll need:

• 4 cups flour
• 3 tablespoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons sugar

Instructions:

Mix all of the above ingredients, and store in a jar or air tight container.

To make the pancakes:

You'll need:

• 1 cup pancake mix
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk (it doesn't matter if it's skim, whole, or low-fat)
• 1 large egg

Instructions:

• In a large bowl, combine and whisk ingredients.
• Heat a skillet to medium heat.
• Spray with cooking spray.
• Using a small ladel, ladel a few sponfuls onto the skillet.  Try to keep the ladeled pancake batter from touching.  (It will taste fine, it just won't be as pretty)
• When you see bubbles forming on the pancake, it's time to flip!
• The pancake will rise a bit from the skillet when it's done.  Keep in mind that it's already mostly cooked when you're flipping it, so you shouldn't need to leave it much longer than a minute. 

Serve and enjoy!

**This recipe is also great if you substitute the vanilla extract with lemon or orange extract, and if you like them, add a few poppy seeds!