cheese stuffed hamburg steak, in demi-glace on hot iron
Ingredients · tap to check
- 300 g (10 oz) ground beef and ground pork, mixed roughly half and half
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- 4 Tbsp panko breadcrumbs
- 3 Tbsp milk, to soak the panko
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1/2 tsp salt, black pepper, and a pinch of grated nutmeg
- 2 cubes low-moisture mozzarella or cheddar, about 2 cm each
- 1 Tbsp butter, for the onion
- 1 Tbsp neutral oil, for the sear
- 3 Tbsp water or red wine, for the covered stage
- for the demi-glace: 3 Tbsp ketchup
- 3 Tbsp Worcestershire or tonkatsu sauce
- 3 Tbsp red wine or water
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp butter, off the heat
- for the garnish: 1 carrot, cut into batons
- a handful of broccoli florets
- 4 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 3 Tbsp sweetcorn kernels
- butter and a pinch of salt, for the garnish pan
- lemon sparkling water, to serve
The Way
- Rock the knife through the onion until it is finely diced, then cook it in foaming butter over medium-low heat only until it turns soft, translucent and pale gold. Do not take it to dark caramel. Spread it on a plate and let it cool completely - if it goes into the meat warm, the fat melts early and the egg part-cooks in the bowl.
- Soak the panko in the milk for a minute until it swells. Put the beef and pork in a bowl with the cooled onion, the soaked panko, the egg, salt, pepper and nutmeg, and start by squeezing rather than stirring, then knead harder until the mixture goes wet, sticky and springy and holds together as one glossy mass.
- Gather it into a ball and slap it hard from palm to palm about five times, until the surface pulls smooth and tight. This is the step people skip. Air trapped inside expands in the pan and splits the patty open, which is exactly how the cheese escapes.
- Halve the mixture and press each half into a flat disc. Set a cheese cube in the centre of one, cap it with the other, and pinch all the way around the edge until there is no seam and no gap left, then smooth the whole thing back into one oval. A gap here means the cheese welds itself to the pan instead of pooling in the middle.
- Press it into a thick oval about 2.5 cm deep and push a shallow dimple into the centre with two fingers. The centre is thicker than the rim and it swells as it cooks, so the dimple is what keeps the thickness even and stops the middle staying raw.
- Get a pan properly hot with the oil and lay the patty in. Leave it alone for 2 to 3 minutes so a crust forms, then flip it once with a spatula and give the other side 2 to 3 minutes. You want a mottled deep reddish-brown crust, patchy and glossy, not flat grey and not striped - this is a pan sear, not a grill.
- Turn the heat to low, add the water or red wine, put the lid on and leave it 5 to 7 minutes with just a thin ribbon of steam creeping out. Press the centre: if the juice runs clear it is done, if it runs pink put the lid back on. Off the heat, cover it loosely with foil for 2 to 3 minutes so the residual heat finishes the middle.
- Make the demi-glace in the same pan, in the drippings. Add the ketchup, Worcestershire, wine and sugar and reduce it over medium heat until a spoon dragged across the pan leaves a line that holds. It should be deep glossy mahogany, not bright ketchup red. Stir the butter in off the heat for shine.
- Roll the carrot batons in butter until they shine, then warm the broccoli, the tomatoes cut-side down and the corn through in the same pan - garnish should be hot and glossy, never cold beside a hot patty. Slide the patty onto a hot oval cast-iron plate seated in a wooden board, pack the garnish in close around it with no bare gaps, and pour the demi-glace over so it hits the iron and hisses. Cut it crosswise through the centre while it is still steaming.
midnight tip. three things decide this one. the onion has to be completely cool before it meets the meat, or the fat melts in the bowl and the mixture turns greasy instead of springy. the seam has to be pinched all the way round, because a gap means the cheese ends up stuck to the pan and there is nothing left for the cut. and the lid is not optional - the sear only browns the outside, and it is the covered low heat that takes a patty this thick from pink to evenly cooked, which is why you press the centre and look for the juice running clear before it ever reaches the plate.
Questions
can I use just beef?
you can, but it comes out firmer and drier. the pork is there for fat and softness, and a mix somewhere around 60:40 beef to pork with 10 to 20 percent fat is what makes it juicy. all beef works best if you go for a fattier mince rather than lean, and knead it a little less so it does not tighten up.
why did my cheese leak into the pan?
the seam opened. usually it is one of two things: the edge was not pinched shut all the way around, or the air was never knocked out, so a pocket expanded and cracked the patty on the heat. slap the mixture palm to palm until the surface goes smooth, keep the cheese cube well inside the middle rather than near an edge, and do not press the patty down while it sears.
how do I know the middle is cooked without cutting it open?
press the centre with a spatula and watch what comes out. clear juice means it is done, pink or cloudy juice means it needs more time under the lid. a thick stuffed patty like this takes 5 to 7 minutes covered on low after the sear, plus 2 to 3 minutes resting under foil. cutting into it to check is the one thing that costs you the cheese.
can I make it ahead, and how do I reheat it?
shape and stuff the patties up to a day ahead and keep them covered in the fridge, or freeze them raw - that is the better way to buy time. the demi-glace also keeps a few days and reheats fine. a cooked one reheats best covered in a low pan with a splash of water so the cheese softens again, never in a hot dry pan, and never uncovered in the microwave or the outside goes rubbery before the centre warms.
(this one was HAMBURG) — it finds your DMs.
More midnight meals
the prompt format behind them →
@jens_midnightkitchen