Tuesday, December 22, 2009

The Trifecta: A Giveaway, My House Band, and Hamburgers

When I introduced the Avett Brothers as my house band, I promised recipes coupled with their music. Today I begin to make good on that promise. I'll ramble a bit and the journey will be rough because I lack focus this time of year, so be patient. Just click below and listen to a little music while I wander. As you know, music is the perfect rambling companion.



Salina, I'm as nowhere as I can be
Could you add some somewhere to me
Ahh Kansas, I'm kneeling, Ah Kansas, please

"Salina" by
The Avett Brothers

On my favorite Avett Brothers' album Emotionalism, there's a song titled "Salina." The song is about how geographic locales evoke different emotions. If you're a regular reader of The Greasy Skillet, you know that I'm partial to this idea, and you also know from my post about Fred Eaglesmith's song "Kansas" the Great Plains spurs a lot of soul searching. However, I don't want to talk about that. Instead, we'll talk about something trivial, and then we'll conclude with some trivia and a giveaway.


I want to talk hamburgers, specifically the little sliders they serve at The Cozy Inn in Salina. Hamburger aficionados from all over America travel to Salina to dine at The Cozy Inn. Their burgers are little bombs of freshly ground beef, grilled onions, and salt & pepper. Don't ask for cheese because there is none. It's a small place with just a few stools at a counter. Most patrons order a sack of burgers to go. However, if you do this be prepared to smell like onions and grease the rest of the day. The smell saturates everything, your pores, the interior of your car, and possibly your DNA. They don't make my favorite burger, but if you find yourself traveling I-70 and passing through Salina, it's worth picking up a sack of these sliders.

If you can't make your way to Salina, you'll be able to replicate the burger at home by using the following recipe:


Onion-Entangled Griddle Burgers

Ingredients:
  • 1 pound ground chuck
  • 2 onions, shaved
  • salt and pepper
  • 6 buns
  • preferred condiments

Preparation:

  1. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Divide meat into six equal loose portions. Gather a handful of meat and plop into the pan. Repeat, working in batches as needed. The burgers should be free-from lumps.

  2. With a spatula, push the burgers into a round. After 1 minute, pile on all the onions, add salt and pepper, and then smash the onions into the meat. Cook another minute and then flip. Smash the burgers again.

  3. Drain the grease that collects. Sprinkle more salt & pepper and cook until you smell the onions starting caramelize.

  4. Serve on a bun with preferred condiments.

Now for the trivia question:

What Alfred Hitchcock movie has a character who is from Salina, Kansas?

Post your answer as comment. On December 29th at noon, I'll post the comments and draw a winner from all the correct answers. Keep in mind that I'll only accept one answer from each person, so make your first answer good.

The winner will receive a copy of Kansas Curiousities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff by Pam Grout.


Tramping a perpetual journey,
muddy




3 comments:

WilleWorks.com said...

The character from Salina was the lead woman in Vertigo...I don't remember her name.

Amanda said...

Can't believe I've never been to Cozy Inn even though Josh grew up just northwest of McPherson. . . we keep saying we're going to go, but never seem to find the time to do it when we're out that way. Heading to Marquette, then Pratt tomorrow, assuming that this blizzard of the century doesn't hit. Happy Holidays!

Jenni said...

I have no idea about the movie, but I'm lovin' the Avett Brothers. I've turned on the player on their website almost every day in the last few weeks and just let it play while I'm working in the kitchen. The Musical Monday post that never got posted? That was all Avett Brothers and is still waiting to be posted. I even ventured over to the fan board and had a look around, but I didn't agree with the griping about some of the songs on the new album. Thanks for recommending them here.

I'm going to guess Vertigo for the movie because a)it's one of the few Alfred Hitchcock movies I've seen, b)Jimmy Stewart is in it and I love Jimmy Stewart, and c)seems logical someone from Kansas would be afraid of heights.

Now could you hazard a guess as to why Slight Figure of Speech sounds so familiar. No, it isn't because I've listened to it every day for the last few weeks. There is some element in there (guitar part, I think) that reminds me of some other song, some other band. It's driving me nuts.