7th
Burgers, Yam ‘fries’, salad
Preheat your oven to 375ºF. Peel two yams (sweet potatoes may have been a better choice), and cut into fry-shaped batons. Pour a little olive oil (less than you think you need) onto two baking sheets, then scatter yam pieces on sheets, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and swirl around in the oil. This is one where tossing the yam pieces in olive oil in a bowl before adding to the baking sheet may be worth the extra dish to wash. Whatever. Get those in the oven.
Wash some green lettuce, four radishes, and a carrot, and leave the lettuce wrapped in towels to dry while you make burgers.
Put a heavy stainless steel skillet over high heat. No oil. Let it get hot. Take 1 lb of ground chuck and divide it in half, then divide one of the halves into half itself. One of those quarters is the baby’s burger (it’ll be 4 oz.). Smush the two other balls of ground meat back together and then divide into equal portions to make two 6 oz. burgers for the grown-ups. Use your thumb to make a small well in the center of each burger. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of salt over all three burgers, then turn over and sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of salt over the other sides (that’s 1 teaspoon of salt total for all three burgers). When your skillet is good and hot, turn on the exhaust fan and add your burgers. Let them cook for two minutes, then turn ‘em. After two further minutes, transfer the skillet to the oven. (Has it been ten minutes since you put in the yam fries? Stir those, turning as many over as you have patience to do.) After four minutes, take the burgers out of the oven, get them out of the pan, and use an instant-read thermometer to make sure they’re at least 130ºF. Turn the heat up in the oven to attempt to crisp up the yam fries.
Tear up your lettuce and put it into a salad bowl. Slice the radishes, ribbon the carrot, add them both to the salad. Make a basic vinaigrette and toss.
I don’t need to tell you how you like your burger.
