a tale of three hamburgers…

 

a couple of hamburgers by james thurber is one of my favourite short stories. have you ever read any thurber viewers or know of his writing? well if you are familiar with the secret life of walter mitty then thurber is responsible for that piece of fiction. it was even made into a movie, breathtaking scenery, iceland is and has been on my bucket list for some time.

i still have the copy of collected short stories where we had to read thurber for an english assignment. i forgot to return it and am kind of glad i did. every now and then i will read a couple of hamburgers again but today i bring you the tale of three hamburgers instead.

growing up in the west we had the fortune of living close to a wonderful fish and chip shop called jacks. it is still there today but the original owners have since long gone. however, my childhood connection has developed into lifelong friendships with two wonderful sisters who grew up there in a lovely, large family of six plus two makes eight.

when we were growing up it was a real treat to go to the fish and chip shop to buy two hamburgers. my dad would send one of us and we would begrudgingly walk the distance. but once there we were greeted by two familiar and friendly faces, husband and wife who worked together as a team. i would put in the order, two hamburgers with the lot and while they made the hamburgers which i knew to be delicious i would check out the pinball machine in the corner. if i was lucky someone would come in and put some money in and bring the jukebox to life. that jukebox remains today in my friends loungeroom as a long-time memory.

so once the hamburgers were done, whoever had been sent would walk home and then the torture began, lol. my dad would sit at the kitchen table and unwrap the white paper, then unwrap the first hamburger. my sister, brother and i would all sit at the kitchen table and watch my dad eat the first one. juicy meat, egg, lettuce, tomato, the aroma of hamburger penetrated our nostrils while we sat there like greedy seagulls waiting for a crumb. he would take his time, savouring every bite and we would sit there waiting to see if we would get an offering. i actually don’t know why my dad did that. i think it was just one of his games that he played to amuse himself. in hindsight considering the size of the hamburgers he was really never going to eat two anyway but as kids that never really occurred to us. then dad would get a knife and cut the burger into quarters and we would get one each and i have to say they were the best fish and chip hamburgers ever. we would devour our quarter while dad ate the last one and then we would be on our merry way. i have to admit i actually bought a hamburger with the lot last week ( minus the pineapple…no apologies there but pineapple does not belong in a hamburger) from my local take away while son number two was gifted a lamb yiros. it was delicious and inspired me to make my own.

hamburger number three. when i was a teenager i would catch the bus every saturday to the croatian nun’s convent in north adelaide. i was invited by a fellow croat from school to partake in embroidery classes (true story). i actually really had no interest in going but my lovie blackmailed me into going by enticing me...  you guessed it, a hamburger from jack’s fish shop on the way home. of course i was a sucker for that lure. and i have to say i did try viewers, i really did, well… for about three hamburgers worth. that was about all i could take. i just wasn’t cut out for it. for a start the nuns wouldn’t speak in english and i felt like a heathen as they were not impressed i didn’t know the lingo of the motherland. shame on me. my sewing skills were pretty rubbish, actually make that crapola and it didn’t help they were looking over my shoulder and hovering around me while the other girls could have embroidered their folk dancing costumes with their eyes closed but alas not me. i had to farewell ena begovich (of course her identity is a secret) much to her disappointment, because i quit and was not coming back. and after my third hamburger as much as i appreciated them, the lure had been exhausted and i failed gaining my certificate in obedient girls’ embroidery stage 1. so i went home, put some band aids on pricked fingers and played football in the streets with my brother instead. somehow, I don’t think the nuns would have approved but hey god's sisters were certainly not going to influece me.

the following recipes are one from me and one from lovie as these were the hamburgers she would make for us when we were growing up. add to that home-made lepinja, lettuce, tomato and mayo and there you have it. two variations of the burger folks, one you can make with turkey or chicken mince and the other with beef.

turkey veggie burgers

ingredients

500gms turkey or chicken mince, i used steggles which is 400gms

1 carrot grated

2 spring onions finely sliced

1 stalk of celery with leaves, if no leaves throw in a handful of parsley, very finely sliced

50 grams of cauliflower grated

2 cloves of garlic crushed

1 teaspoon of vegeta, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of white pepper

1/2 cup of breadcrumbs

1 egg

method

1.sautee all veggies, garlic in some olive oil with 1 teaspoon of vegeta, 1 tspn of salt and ½ tspn of white pepper

2. add to mice, then add ½ cup of bread crumbs, (i used panko crumbs) and one egg, mix throroughly and shape into patties

3. fry in oil until browned nicely on both sides and then turn down heat, put lid on and cook for about 10 mins, then take lid off, cook for another 5 if needed.

Lovie’s hamburgers

Ingredients

500gms of beef mince

I medium onion very finely diced

2 cloves of crushed garlic

½ cup of breadcrumbs

1 egg

1 teaspoon of vegeta, 1 teaspoon of salt, ½ teaspoon of pepper

some fresh parsley finely chopped

method

1. sautee onions and garlic, vegeta, salt and pepper in some olive oil

2. add to mince and mix thoroughly

3. add breadcrumbs and egg, mix thoroughly, shape into patties

4. fry until nicely browned on both sides,  then turn heat down and cook until done