Simple Burger, Mashed Potatoes & Gravy
Ridiculously simple and easy last night, especially if you have some pre-baked spuds: 400F for an hour in the oven, let them sit out on the counter for days, use as needed.
Burgers made thick, then onto a broiling sheet in the oven. I like 200F for an hour. In the meantime, a quart of beef stock reduced to about 2/3 cup, thickened at the end with a potato starch slurry in a few oz of cold stock (1-2 tsp potato starch, depending on the thickness you like). Season with salt & pepper.
Scoop out your baked potato or two, mash it with a pat or two of butter, season, and cover the pan on low, just warming it up.
At the end, sear your burger in a pan. I prefer ghee for this but had none on hand, so used half coconut oil and butter. As it’s searing, spoon hot oil over the burger.
I went for the thicker sauce this time, so it’s gravy-ish. Pics can be clicked for the hi-res versions.
That’s for Beatrice
Slightly bigger portion pour moi!
The essential medium rare
This is what doing them in the oven at low heat does for you. It’s cooked. Internal temperature was about 135, right where it should be. I like chargrilled burgers as much as the next guy, but for that application, hottest grill you can arrange and thinner patties. Cook to medium so all the fat melts.
I’m having an easy time getting my dishes to taste just as well with out much in the way of added fat as I used to do. It’s simply not necessary. Other than the fat in the meat itself, there’s no more than about a teaspoon of butter in the taters. Zero fat in the gravy. It’s the pure reduction that gives it the intense flavor, not adding a bunch of fat. One could argue that I seared the burgers in fat, so there’s that. On balance, what little remains on the surface is offset by the fat lost while cooking it.
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How’s the weight loss going, Richard?
After reading Anthony Colpo’s book I finally recognized that calories do matter and I’m now as thin as I’ve ever wanted to be. Thanks for the recommendation on your site. Here’s my lates before and after (From 320LBS to 188LBS)
Wow Carlos. That’s WONDERFUL!
As for me, I proved that the potato deal works, so that’s an ace in the hole so to speak for any time I get stuck. Having proved that, I prefer to eat more flexibly, not least of which is that I’m the cook and I don’t want Beatrice to leave me for a better cook. :)
So I synthesize it all, so it’s a combo of more carbs, less fat, less calories—and I’ve re-employed the sort of IF I like best: full 24-30 hours.
So fat is coming off slow and steady. I could have continued the exclusive potato deal, but I’ll get there anyway. I’ll blog about it in the near future, 4-6 weeks I would guess.
Richard: Was that lean meat you used, or regular?
And well done Carlos!
Just regular. 80/20. Trader Joe’s
O.M.G. that looks yummy.
this looks delicious! Thanks for sharing. Curious about the ‘calories do matter’ hypothesis mentioned above by Carlos and what’s your take on it. I always tell to the people interested in Paleo that they don’t.. recognizing they do to an extend but focusing on calorie counting seems to always get me in the wrong direction and losing more muscle than fat.
Hi Iva
Long history. I’m an LC fan, but I eventually realized that LC is most likely a good satiation mechanism that reduces calories.
One of many posts on the topic:
freetheanimal.com/2012/02/synthesis-low-carb-and-food-rewardpalatability-and-why-calories-count.html
Thanks Richard! I read the article (it’s a great article!) and it does match my experience. Sadly! I wish LC and unlimited fat could take us all the way to 15% body fat (for women), but it sounds like i’ts going to take a bit more than that.
Just curious then what you think about the insulin vs. glucagon theories? (high carb -> high insulin -> low glucagon-> inability to burn own fat)? How much do you think having your hormones (insulin & glucagon) in check matters vs. the calories consumed and the satiety (leptin and peptide YY) effect?
I wish the science had some quantifiers for how effective one thing is vs another, to help us understand what matters more, and how much each of the mechanism contributes to the results if.. that makes sense. Calorie total vs. having insulin in check vs. keeping your cortisol low vs. building extra muscle mass to increase metabolism.
Iva
“Just curious then what you think about the insulin vs. glucagon theories? (high carb -> high insulin -> low glucagon-> inability to burn own fat)? How much do you think having your hormones (insulin & glucagon) in check matters vs. the calories consumed and the satiety (leptin and peptide YY) effect? ”
In the words of many characters in various Ayn Rand novels: ” but I don’t think about it.”
Just eat real food, see how it goes, don’t obsess, and get happier over time.
Oh Richard your gravy and “reductions” look amazing!!! I love basically any meat with a “mashed potato” but I so need to make some for my husband who is a pickier eater. I guess I need to dig through your older post to find my way!