Burgers Diane and Homemade Wedges

Since I’ve started this culinary quest, certain meals have just been ruined for me forever.  Well, they aren’t exactly meals so much as cardboard-packaged frozen food items I used to pick up in the freezer section because I didn’t know how to do much more than boil water and run the microwave at its most basic level.

Nevertheless…  Jose Ole, White Castle, CPK,  Lean Cuisine and the entire Hot Pocket clan… we had some good times together, didn’t we?  And if I had known it was all going to come to such an abrupt end, I would have savored our time together more.  Remember as we waited anxiously to see if Ross and Rachel would ever get together?  And how you were always there to nurse me through the weeks when 21 Jump Street was about the Vietnamese guy and not Johnny Depp?  You stood by me during the Z. Cavarrici phase, the colored hair mousse months, and the George Michael dangling cross earring, and this is the thanks you get… total abandonment!

I rarely even stop in the freezer aisles anymore, which can make things tough when it’s late at night and the hunger hits.  No fast fixes in my kitchen anymore.  In fact, MG and I didn’t sit down to this meal until after 10 in the evening because it took close to an hour to make it from chopping and combining to searing and simmering, but my god it IS true that good things come to those who wait.  These are not just burgers, these are events.  Soaked in thick creamy sauce and accompanied by homemade fries right out of the oven.  Eating it later only meant going to bed sooner with partying tummies and satisfied grins on our faces.

Recipe and more pics after the jump.

Burgers Diane from Posie’s Place

• 1 pound ground beef, turkey or lamb
• 1/2 tablespoon cornstartch
• 1/2 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup beef stock
• 2 tablespoons ground peppercorn
• 1/4 teaspoon Soy Sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup minced shallots
• 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Madeira or Port (I used Port)

Combine the conrstarch, mustard and stock inn a small bwol and place to one side.

Form the lamb into patties about one-inch thick and set aside .  place the peppercorns onto a shallow plate and crush.  Then mix it with the soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil.  Press both sides of the burgers into the peppercorn mixture until they are evenly coated and all the peppercorn is used.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a frying pan over a high heat and sear the burgers on each side for 1-2 minutes.  Remove from the pan and set aside.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the shallots and parsley, stirring well.  Add the cornstarch mixture, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice and Port.  Stir for one minute.

Pour the sauce int another frying pan and add the burgers.  Reduce heat to low, spooning and simmering the sauce over the burgers for another 7-9 minnutes.  Watch them carefully and filp if necessary to keep from burning.
Serve on sesame seed buns along with homemade potato wedges, which can be found here.

Tags: burgers, dijon, onion, peppercorn, port