Pork Burger with Onions and Fries

Burgers and fries were on our menu recently. But instead of beef, Barry used ground pork (from Zey’s Market of course), seasoned and fried it along with sliced onions. He even make homemade fries (twice fried so they were nice and crisp)!

Pork Burgers with Onions

Onions

   1 onion, sliced thin

   About 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil

   Kosher salt

Burgers

   1 lb. lean ground pork

   1 teaspoon dried sage

   1 teaspoon dried oregano

   ½ teaspoon dried basil

   1 teaspoon Kosher salt

   1 teaspoon pepper

   1 tablespoon olive oil

Whole wheat bread or buns

Onions 

1. Heat the olive oil in a large fry pan over medium high heat.

2. Add the onions and quickly cook, moving them around the pan with a wooden spoon or spatula. It should take no more than 10 minutes at the most for the onions to get nicely browned. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Pork Burgers

3. Combine above ingredients and form into patties. (Save any unused pork for another use or form into patties and freeze.)

4. Add patties to hot skillet. Barry just added them to the skillet with partially cooked onions, turning the heat up so the pan was hot when the patties were added (they should sizzle as they hit the skillet.)

5. Press burger as it cooks to slightly flatten.

6. When nicely browned and caramelized on side, flip patties and repeat procedure on other side.

Bread or Buns

7. Remove onions and burgers from skillet, add bread or buns and lightly fry on both sides.

Twice-Fried French Fries

2 russet potatoes (about 2 pounds)

About 1 quart frying oil

1 to 2 teaspoons Kosher salt

About 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Peel potatoes and cut into thin strips.

2. Fill a large bowl with water and soak potatoes, submerged, for at least 30 minutes up to 24 hours. This will help remove the excess starch from the potatoes and keep them from oxidizing.

3. Add frying oil to a heavy pot; heat to 325°.

4. Remove potatoes from the water, and pat dry to remove ALL excess water.

5. Add a couple of handfuls of potatoes to hot oil. There should be at least 1-inch of oil above the potatoes. Par cook until potatoes are light brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove potatoes, gently shaking off excess oil and let drain on rack. Repeat until all of the potatoes are par cooked..

6. Raise heat of oil to 350°.

7. Cook potatoes again, a couple of handfuls at a time, until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Remove from oil, shake off excess oil, and season lightly with salt and pepper.

8. Repeat if not all potatoes are cooked.