I recently got this gem of a 1971 cookbook by Dinah Shore, entitled “Someone’s in the Kitchen with Dinah” and, after amusing myself pondering her own (I am certain) amusement with the title, I actually read through it, eager to try one of her recipes. Most of the dishes in this book are either elaborate, for entertaining, or else they call for very large quantities of food, such as whole chickens or large cuts of meat. Since it was just my daughter and I for dinner, I searched for something I could cut in half, and came up with her “Hamburger De Luxe”. I always like to try variations on themes I know well, and I also knew that the little food critic at my table would be happy with hamburgers. Still, I had never used chicken broth in a hamburger before, and as I mixed the ingredients up, it became clear to me that there was just too much liquid, so I added about ¼ cup of breadcrumbs. The burgers held together nicely! The flavor was light and refined, even after I fried the onions to top the burger in bacon fat (since the very lean hamburger I used didn’t leave anything in the pan with which to cook the onions at the end). They ended up a bit “blackened” because I got a phone call while they were on the stove (of course!) but were not overdone inside, and mine tasted nice even minus the onion topping she recommended. My daughter slathered hers with A1 sauce, and pronounced it the BEST ever. Ah, 5 year-olds!
