A Perfect American Meal – by Daniel Bellino Zwicke

“BEST DAMN CHEESEBURGER iN NEW YORK”

The PERFECT AMERICAN DINNER

The perfect American dinner. What is it you ask? Well I don’t know. All I know is what I made for dinner tonight could be in the running. For 1, it’s oh so very American. What is it you say? OK, I’ll tell you. It’s a Cheeseburger and some tasty Cremesicle Ice Cream. “What’s so Special about that, ” you say. Well for one, I make one of the Best Damn Cheeseburgers you’ll ever eat. “It’s Damn Good.” So damn good ! Better than good. It’s delicious. I know how to make a burger. And some Creamsicle Ice Creme? I haven’t had it for years. Love it. Since childhood, way back in the 60s. “If You Know – You Know.”

Anyway. I was at the cafe working on stuff (writing), and what for dinner I thought. I finished the Chili that I make my Tacos with last night, so what for tonight. “A Burger I think” ? And when I say burger, it’s always a cheeseburger. “For sure.” So I made my way to the supermarket to get some good ground beef. And when I say good, I mean good. Get the best you can. I walked in the store, and got a flyer (sale items). I browed it over. “Ah. Turkey Hill Ice Cream is on sale. I’ll get some of that.” I don’t throw my money away, and always buy ice cream when it’s on sale. Today is the day. I went over to the meat counter and looked over the meat. OK, Ground Angus Beef Chuck (80/20) for $7.99 a pound. I got one. A pound. All set. Now over to the ice cream. Looked over what they had, and when I saw the turkey Hill “Orange Cream Swirl” I went nuts. “Yeah.” It instantly made me happy. I thought of my childhood and how much I loved this wonderful combo of lush Vanilla Ic Cream & Orange Sherbet. What a combination. “So good” !!! I had to get some. And so I did. I also got a new jar of dill pickle chips, and some New York State Cheddar to top my burger. I was all set.

I paid for the stuff and made my way home. I sliced the cheese first and set it aside. I got the BBQ Sauce, Mustard, Burger Bun, and salt and black pepper at the ready. Set my small frying pan on the stove, shaped my burger, and put a little olive oil in the pan. Threw the burger in and toasted my bun (Haha!). I seasoned the burger with salt & pepper as it was cooking. After a couple of minutes, I flipped the burger over. I seasoned the other side, and let the burger continue cooking. After a couple minutes, it was done.

I placed the Cheddar Cheese on the bottom bun and set the burger on top. Then I put a bit of Dijon Mustard on top of the burger, and on top of the mustard I put some BBQ Sauce. Put on 3 dill pickle chips, and topped it with the top bun, and I was ready to go. Ready to eat one of the best burgers in town. I kid you not. “If I must say so myself, I make one of the Best Damn Burgers in Town!” That’s a fact. I bit in. “Yumm. So good.” I told you. I ate the burger (cheeseburger) as slowly as I could. Didn’t want to rush a good thing. Well I finished it. I enjoyed it, and I didn’t get ripped off, paying maybe $24 for a burger, plus tip and tax, and you probably have a drink, so by the time you’re done, you might have spent $60 or more for a burger and one drink. “Not me!” My burgers are better than practically and place in New York, so why throw my money away.

Now, on to dessert. Yes my Orange & Vanilla Creamsicle. “OMG?” The temperature and texture were just right, being outside of the freezer for about 40 minutes. I got my bowl and tablespoon and I dug in. Again, “Oh My God” ? So Good !!! Just like when I was a child in the 60s. I could not have asked for more.

And so, one of the Best Damn Dinners in all of New York City. Maybe not? I know many might not agree. But then, on the other hand, there’s probably million people or more, just in New York City who would agree. And that’s good enough for me.

Basta !

Daniel Bellino Zwicke

Autor Daniel Bellino Zwicke

New York

GOOD HUMOR’S “CREAMSICLE”

VANILLA ICE CREAM with ORANGE SHERBET

“So DAMN GOOD” !!!

“This is WHAT I HAD TONIGHT”

TURKEY HILL “ORANGE CREAM SWIRL”

LOVE IT !!!!

It was just $4.99

The BADASS COOKBOOK

FAVORITE AMERICAN FOODS

And SECRET RECIPES

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Bellino Makes New Yorks Best Burger – Cheeseburger Burgers NYC

MINETTA TAVERN

Good Burgers, but Far From The Best

New York’s Best Burger? Who makes it? Or who makes, plural, New York’s Best Burgers. Well first off, Minetta Tavern does not make the Best Burger in New York. Far from it. And of the Burgers at Minetta Tavern, forget the highly overrated Black Label Burger, the Minetta Burger has it beat, though there are better Burgers in New York. For, one, the Burger I make at my house in Greenwich Village, just two blocks away from Minetta Tavern is far superior, a buch tastier burger than you’ll get at Minetta Tavern., but there’s one thing we have in common when making New York’s best burger. And the Burger I make in my house is way Better than the Burgers at Minetta Tavern.

So what’s the difference you ask? And you want to know what it is I have in common with the Burgers at Minetta Tavern? The thing I have in common with Minetta Tavern when making my Burger that is without question one of the Best in New York, and for a whole lot less money (about $3.10). Yes, thing that Minetta Tavern has in common with me, in our Burger making, is that we both buy our meat from pat LaFrieda, it’s just that I use the better blend than Minetta Tavern. The Black Label Burger Blend by Pat LaFrieda is made with Dry Aged Beef, which though people would want you to think otherwise, dry aged beef is one of the worst things you can use to make a burger. Dry Aged Beef is old meat, and is actually meat that is deteriorating. It’s much better to use fresh beef when making a burger, and that’s all their is to it, and Minetta Tavern uses Dry Aged Beef for its Black Label Burger. Not good.

I have in the past year used numerous sources to buy ground beef for my burgers. I buy meat from one of the best Butcher Shops in New York, which is Florence Prime Meat Market on Jones Street in Greenwich Village. I’ve been buying Sausages, and Steaks from this great old Italian Butcher, which to me is the best butcher shop in all of New York. I mostly bought steaks here, and it’s relatively recently that I started buying ground beef to make burgers with. I was there buying myself a Newport Steak (Specialty of The House) one day, when I watched an elderly neighborhood lady getting individual Hamburger Patties made for her. I started chatting with here about the burgers, and she said she loved them, so I said I’d get some of them, my next time at the butcher shop, and so I did a couple weeks later. I’ve tried both the chuck and the sirloin ground beef from the market. They both made fine burgers.

Trader Joe’s recently opened in my neighborhood, and I’ve tried a couple different types of their ground beef (80/20 and 85/15 ratios), and they both made pretty good burgers.

Today, I wanted to get a couple burger patties from Florence Prime Meats, but they were closed when I got there, so I made my way over to Grestide’s. I went to the meat counter and spotted Pat LaFrieda’s Burger Blend made with Beef Brisket, Chuck, and Beef Short Ribs. There were 4 Patties in the package, for $8.99, at $2.25 a Burger, it’s more than I normally spend, but if I can get a better burger it will be well worth it. I’m still trying to get a Burger to taste as good as the ones I made from the meat that my cousin Joe gave me, that was a package of 4 Black Angus Burger Patties from Wayside Market in Southhold, New York, on the North Fork of Long Island. The Burgers I made with that meat, may very well be the Best Burgers I’ve ever had in my life. “I kid you not,” and I have witnesses to back me up on this. Anyway, I wanted to see if this Burger Blend from pat LaFrieda could come close, or dear I say, be better than those Burgers made with the Black Angus Patties from Wayside Market.

So I bought the burger blend and headed on home. I got my stuff ready. I sliced some New York Cheddar Cheese, and sliced some onions. I toasted and buttered an English Muffin, heat my pan, poured in a bit of oil, and threw my burgers in to cook. As the burgers were cooking, I put a little dijon Mustard on one side of the Muffin. I seasoned the burger with salt, and flipped it over to the other side. Then I seasoned the top side with salt and black pepper. The Burgers cooked another 4 minutes, and then I turned the heat off and let the burger rest for 3 minutes before putting it on top of cheese on on side of the muffin. A put a little nob of butter on top of the burger, then a little Ketchup before topping the Burger with the other half of the bun. I put it on the plate and brought it to the table. I grabbed the burger, bit into it, and from the very first bite, I htought “Wow,” it was a dam good burger, and better than any of the meat I’d bought in the past year, including Florence Prime Meat. Wow, this was impressive, and the Pat LaFrieda meat was well worth the bit more than I paid for it, and a real bargain when you consider that a McDonald’s McDouble cost about $2.69, and a superior burger like this, with more meat, cost just about .35 Cents more than the inferior McDonald’s Cheeseburger. Dam!

Yes, I loved the burger. This Burger that I just made at my house was without question better than almost any burger I’ve had in New York. my Cheeseburger was better than The Black Label Burger at Minetta Tavern, or the Minetta Burger, it’s better than the Shake Shack Burger which I normally love but wasn’t that happy with their burgers the last two times I was at Shake Shack (Mine is Better). My Burger tasted better than the JG Melon Cheeseburger (I Love), but not better than the Burger I had at Charle’s Prime, which was the only Burger I’ve had in New York City that was better than the Burger I made at home.: But as good as this burger I made at home with the Pat LaFrieda Burger Blend, “it was Dam Good, but not as Good as the Burger that I made at home with the burrgers from that box of 4 Black Angus Patties from Wayside Market of Southhold, NY.