dinner party: smash burgers, caramel cone ice box cake & fries

Because why does a fast-casual smash burger with fries and a shake cost $30

Look, I mean no offense to Shake Shack or Five Guys or Whatever-Other-Burger. If anything, I mean more offense to restaurants who are charging $30+ dollars for a wagyu burger that, as

jeremy scheck

pointed out this week, is antithetical to the point of marbled meat in the first place. Actually one of my fondest memories as a kid was going to Washington Capitals (hockey, fyi) games in downtown DC. My family would always pregame by getting Shake Shack. My order was a single shack burger with fries and a black & white shake. My brother would always get a hot dog (he was a hot dog kid, oof). One time, unfortunately, I brought the shake back into my dad’s car and he went over a speed bump and the shake exploded onto me. That may have been the last time we got Shake Shack together now that I think about it.

All the fondest memories of a smash burger and yet I have never bothered to make one at home. We’ve always been more of a traditional, hockey-puck-esque burger family. Most of the time served too rare for my liking. I think my gripe with smash burgers at home is that you can’t grill them; you need a flat top. And I am not about to start searing smash burgers in my poorly-ventilated apartment kitchen. Last week I had the revelation that I could use my HexClad pizza steel as a flat top , set it on the grill at high heat, and sear patties without a problem. So that was the plan.

Since I no longer have a job, I also made the fries and buns from scratch. And to round out the meal, a cucumber-dill salad with pickled red onions and a killer caramel cone icebox cake. Fun fact, my favorite ice cream flavor is Ben & Jerry’s Americone Dream. And while I was running over the Williamsburg Bridge (where most good ideas come from) I thought of the idea to try to turn it into an icebox cake. Icebox cakes are essentially 90% whipped cream and like 10% thin wafer cookies you buy from the grocery store. So an ideal dessert you could say. By layering Trader Joes butter waffle cookies, drizzles of homemade caramel sauce and chocolate magic shell, and plenty of just-sweet-enough whipped cream, you get a no-bake dessert with nearly no hassle.

For the fries I followed a mix between Recipe Tin Eats’ and Bright Moment Co’s respective recipes. They turned out amazing but were SO time-consuming. Honestly I don’t think it was worth it. They were great up until 1 hour post-frying, but by the time we were eating, the fries turned stale and lack-luster.

The joy of smash burgers is that they only take a few minutes to grill. I had pre-heated my pizza steel for 10 minutes on medium-high. So once the patties were on, they were nearly coming off. My friends were caught off-guard with how fast the meal moved at that point. There was no dinner, and then there was. We had a special guest, too. A golden doodle named Sochi that my friends were dog-sitting. He got a fry or two.

For the joy of American food,

Ryan

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the recipes

caramel cone icebox cake

ingredients

• 2 cups heavy cream

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar, or to your taste

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• pinch of kosher salt

• 1/2 cup homemade or store-bought caramel sauce

• 1/2 cup melted dark chocolate

• 1 package Trader Joe’s Butter Waffle Cookies (you could also use stroopwaffles, actual waffle ice cream cones, etc. anything flat and waffly should do)

instructions

1. Line a loaf pan with plastic wrap. Nestling it into the corners and leaving plenty of overhang. Try to get it as smooth and flush as possible.

2. In a large bowl, add the heavy cream, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt. With a hand mixer, mix on low to start. Then increase speed to medium-high and whisk until you get stiff peaks.

3. To the loaf pan, drizzle in some of the chocolate sort of like Jackson Pollock would. Try not to get it globby. You want thin streaks. Get that all over the bottom and sides. Then repeat with some of the caramel.

4. Add a 3/4 cup of the whipped cream to the bottom of the pan (an ice cream scooper works great). Using a spoon or spatula, spread the whipped cream into the bottom of the pan. Then layer over 3-4 of the waffle cookies, breaking them as necessary to get about 90% coverage. Spread 1/2 cup of the whipped cream over the cookies. Then drizzle over some of the caramel and chocolate sauces (it doesn’t matter how much you do, measure with your heart). Continue stacking cookies, whipped cream, and sauces until you exhaust the whipped cream. Fold the plastic wrap overhangs over the top of the cake and press down slightly to create a flat top.

5. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours to soften the cookies. Then flip the cake out onto a serving plate, slice, and serve.

smash burgers with special sauce

ingredients

• 16 oz. 80-20 ground beef

• 1/2 cup mayo

• 1/2 cup ketchup

• 1/4 cup dijon mustard

• kosher salt

• ground black pepper

• 4 potato buns

• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature

• non-stick spray

• 4 slices American or cheddar cheese

• tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, caramelized onions, etc.

instructions

1. Preheat your grill to medium-high heat. Place a griddle, large stainless-steel pan, or HexClad pizza steel (if you’re me) onto the grill and let preheat for 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, divide your ground beef into 4 equal portions. Cup into a loose ball. Do not pack it tightly. Set on a plate.

3. Mix the mayo, ketchup, and dijon mustard together to make your burger sauce. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Butter both sides of your potato buns.

5. Lightly spray your pan with non-stick spray. Place your potato buns on the grill cut-side down to begin toasting.

6. Take one patty an place on your pan. Cover with a small piece of parchment and using a small saucepan, press down firmly onto the patty until it’s about 1/4” thick. Peel off parchment and heavily season with salt and pepper. Repeat with remaining 3 patties.

7. Check your buns. Remove if toasted.

8. Once the patties begin to bead with juices on top, after about 1-2 minutes, use a fish or large spatula, scrape the patty underneath, and give a confident flip. Immediately place a piece of cheese on top. Repeat with remaining burgers. Then transfer burgers to your buns. Serve with whatever toppings you wish and the burger sauce.