Biftek Hache a la Lyonnaise (French hamburgers)

From the kitchen of: SANFORD & JILL SPEAKE (Sycamore Restaurant: Columbia, MO)

Sanford and Jill with their sons in front of Sycamore Restaurant, 800 E. Broadway, Columbia MO.

For 2011 we, the Speake family, did something a bit crazy. We chose 12 countries and cooked only the food(s) from each country for a full month. This was inspired by a bag of masa. I bet many of you have an ingredient in your pantry like this: purchased for a recipe, then stashed and forgotten until it is long past date. We were basically inspired to use an entire bag of masa. So for January, we only cooked Mexican food. We made tortillas almost every night.

July was France. One night we made "Torte of potatoes and pigs feet", from Saveur magazine, November 1998. It was not a hit. Even for my wife Jill and myself, it was over the top rich. To make it up to our sons Jack and Sam (10 and 13 at the time) we returned the next night to a recipe we all loved—"Biftek Hache a la Lyonnaise", or "French hamburgers"—which has become a family favorite. It is the comfort food they wanted for birthday dinners, and it now when they visit home from college, it is what they want us to cook after a meal at Sycamore.

Our recipe is adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. 

BIFTEK HACHE A LA LYONNAISE

Serves 4.
Source: adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking
by Julie Child, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertolle

Ingredients 

• 1 small onion, diced

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 1 lb. ground beef

• A pinch of dried thyme

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/8 teaspoon pepper

• 1 egg

• 1/2 cup flour (for dredging)
  

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil

• 1 Tablespoon butter

• ¼ cup beef broth

• 2/3 cup heavy cream

• Salt and pepper

• A pinch of nutmeg

• A squeeze of lemon

• Optional:  shallots, mushrooms

Instructions:

Sauté a small onion, diced, in 2 tablespoons butter until soft but not browned. Let cool.

In a bowl, mix cooked onion with a pinch of dried thyme, 1 lb. of ground beef, 1 egg, some
salt and pepper, and if you’d like, add more softened butter.

Shape into 4 patties, dredge in flour on a plate, and cook on moderately high heat in olive oil and butter, about a tablespoon of each until medium rare. (2-3 minutes on each side)

Remove patties from pan and keep warm.  Add 1/4 cup beef broth to pan and reduce until syrupy. Add 2/3 cup heavy cream and briefly boil.

Add salt, pepper, a pinch of nutmeg, and a squeeze of lemon.

Optional:  We've added shallots to the pan before adding the broth. We've added
mushrooms, (careful, they release water and sauce can become thin). We've substituted shallots for the initial onion.

Serve with roasted or mashed potatoes, or egg noodles or rice.

You can see more recipes, and lots of photos at www.speakesonemonthatatime.blogspot.com.