Bifteck Hache A La Lyonnaise

(Ground Beef with Onions and Herbs)
&
Bouchees Parmentier Au Fromage
(Potato Cheese Sticks)

In our household, chicken is typically the star in our meals. I love fish, but unfortunately, Josh is not a fan. How can he not be a fan? It is a frustrating fact. And Josh loves beef, but unfortunately for him, I rarely buy or make beef.

So, I decided to treat the hubby to a French beef hamburger. Surprisingly, the recipe makes no mention of a bun... No bun? How is a hamburger a hamburger without a bun? I knew if I put a naked hamburger in front of Josh I would get a disappointed, long drawn out, "Really?" No need to stress, I will just add an American touch to the dish. I bought, cut in half and toasted ciabatta rolls for the hamburgers. If I'm going to eat beef, I'm going to eat it with ingredients I love & ciabatta rolls are fabulous. Will it taste good with this dish? We'll have to wait and see.

Earlier in the day, I sauteed onions in butter slowly for about 10 minutes, not browning the onions. Off the heat, I added the ground beef, egg, thyme and s&p to the onions and formed patties 3/4 of an inch thick. I covered the patties with plastic wrap and stored them in the fridge.

For the side dish I decided to go with the recipe for the potato cheese sticks. The recipe called for a pastry tip, which I didn't have so I just cut a hole in a plastic bag and piped it out (too thick I think). The potatoes cooked in the oven for 15 minutes.

In the meantime, I coated the patties in flour and cooked them in butter. Coating the burgers with flour = genius! When the patties were cooked through (all pink gone... I like my ground beef cooked completely), I placed them on the ciabatta rolls. 

I poured OUT the fat in the skillet and then poured in red wine. I cooked the wine down to a syrup and added butter slowly. When the sauce was complete I spooned the sauce on top of the hamburger.

The meal is complete. Before eating, Josh asked if I was putting anything else on it... like... mustard, ketchup, and pickles. After he took a bite, he didn't get up to add the typical toppings. The beef was incredibly moist and the ciabatta roll had a crunchy bite. The sauce was a smooth beef & red wine cream with a beautiful raspberry color. I loved the addition of the ciabatta roll. I think I definitely improved the dish. Not your typical burger, but thats what I liked about it. The potato cheese sticks had amazing flavor, but since I didn't have the pastry tip, I think the size was off and would have cooked differently. They still tasted very good, but I think they can be better.

Josh thinks people will think the sauce is bloodly burger juice (gross) and not sauce... So, just so you know,  the red liquid you see is red wine sauce! :)

Bifteck Hache A La Lyonnaise (Ground Beef with Onions and Herbs *on a Ciabatta Roll)

Bouchees Parmentier Au Fromage (Potato Cheese Sticks)

The complete meal :)