Vote for Sly's Hamburger Sandwich
You might be surprised to find a hamburger sandwich on the menu of a restaurant like Sly's, amid the aged USDA Prime steaks, French and Italian specialties, and so on - rest assured, the hamburger is a most important menu item for us. For starters, Chef James adores hamburgers. We think that Carpinteria deserves a truly great burger. And, when asked, James has been known to say that:
"The hamburger might be one of the most complicated things we make at Sly's. After all, we buy a great USDA Prime steak and age it - but cooking it is a simple matter of seasoning it with salt and pepper and grilling it correctly. The 'simple' hamburger is far more complicated."
To begin with, we buy USDA Graded "Choice" chuck - from the shoulder of top-quality beef. You may have heard of chuck roasts - that's the same cut we're using, for its great flavor and just the right amount of fat. We hand cut it in strips, then carefully grind it - not once, but twice - each and every day. Freshly ground does matter- it makes a big difference. That's why we go to the trouble to grind it ourselves. We then weigh and hand shape the patties - one-half pound each, raw weight.
Of course, it takes more than just great meat to make a great hamburger. The freshly ground meat, as much trouble as it is, is just the beginning. Our experienced cooks know just how to cook it - seasoned with sea salt and freshly ground Malabar pepper. They then cook it on our specially modified char broiler - we've "hot rodded" it a bit, and drilled the jets out so that it gets even hotter - the better to sear the flavor and juices into the burger when it cooks.
We buy a premium hamburger bun from the expert bakers at Santa Barbara's Ethnic Breads. In the business for generations, Ethnic bakes a hamburger bun to our specifications, with a long-rise egg rich bread in the classic "knotted" shape, baked with poppy seeds on top. The buns are sliced in half, brushed with melted butter, and then griddled on a special "vertical contact toaster" to a toasty brown and warmed through.
We offer a choice of cheeses on our burgers at Sly's - and not just any cheeses, either. Sly's offers real Swiss Gruyère, aged sharp Tillamook cheddar from up the coast in Oregon & genuine Roquefort blue cheese imported from France. These quality cheeses are more expensive than the cheaper imitations, but we think they make a difference that you will notice. Oh - you can also get plain old American cheese, if that's what you fancy. We think American is pretty perfect for a hamburger, too. We use a generous portion of whatever cheese you select, after all, it's a half pound burger.
So, we've toasted the bun, grilled the hamburger just the way you like it, and put your favorite cheese on it to melt. What's left? The burger "set" for one. For our burger set at Sly's, we use crisp Iceberg lettuce thinly sliced red onions (we use onions from north of Bakersfield - they tend to be sweeter), and best of all, ripe Farmer's Market tomatoes. Our tomatoes at Sly's come from Beylik Farms in Fillmore. We get them at the Carpinteria Farmer's Market on Thursday, down the street on Linden Avenue. They are always stunningly ripe, and that makes a difference.
Rounding out the plate are Sly's hand-cut French fried potatoes. The French fried potatoes are also made daily, from our carefully aged Idaho Russet potatoes. We use the traditional method, and cook them twice - once at low temperature until they are done, and a second flash-fry at hight temperature to crisp them up to be the perfect accompaniment to your Sly's hamburger sandwich.
If you're still reading this lengthy diatribe, you know that making a burger at Sly's isn't exactly simple; the results, however, are terrific, and worth the trouble. Truth is, we take you hamburger seriously at Sly's. Come on down and try one.
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