Bitoque

Photo: flickr user Eva Blue

Ingredients

1 English muffin

1 lrg onion

1 pound ground beef see * Note

teaspoon salt

teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper

Freshly-ground nutmeg to taste

Oil for frying

cup chicken broth

1 teaspoon flour

cup sour cream - (to ⅓)

Preparation

* Note: Don't use really fatty hamburger for this. On the other hand, extremely lean hamburger will have a disappointing flavor; 20%%-fat ground beef is best.

Grind the English muffin to crumbs in a food processor. If fresh, dry the crumbs in a microwave oven or by tossing in a skillet.

Meanwhile, puree the onion in the blender. Strain the onion juice through a strainer and discard the solids. Mix the onion juice with the crumbs and squeeze out any excess juice.

Place the crumbs, beef, salt, pepper and a few grindings of nutmeg in a food processor and process until it forms a ball on top of the blade, or knead thoroughly by hand. Form the meat into 4 patties and dust on both sides with flour.

Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until a corner of one of the patties sizzles immediately if dipped into the oil. Fry the patties until browned on both sides, 3 to 4 minutes, and remove to a warm platter.

Pour off the oil. Add the chicken broth and scrape up the browned bits from the skillet. Bring to a simmer. Stir the flour into the sour cream until smooth. Add the sour cream to the skillet and return to a simmer, stirring, 1 minute.

Serve the patties with the sour cream sauce. Accompany with matchstick potatoes and a salad of dandelion greens, and serve fruit for dessert.

This recipe yields 2 to 4 servings.