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I'm happy to see how popular gourmet hamburgers have become. It seems now that every day some new restaurant opens offering creative, high-quality burger sandwiches.

And every time I read or hear about one, I'm reminded of the first time I decided to serve a hamburger on my menu.

Back in the late 1970s, before I opened my first Spago, I was the chef at Ma Maison in Hollywood. Celebrities -- and the reporters who wrote about celebrities -- flocked to eat there. With such a popular restaurant in such a casual town, it was inevitable that, sooner or later, customers would ask me for a hamburger.

I happily agreed. But instead of serving it on a bun with tomato, lettuce, onion, ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise, whenever someone ordered a burger from me I sent out a beautiful sauteed patty of chopped steak on a plate, no bun, with a delicious red wine sauce. (And, in place of the French fries they expected, I'd accompany the burger with sauteed potatoes or maybe a rich potato puree.)

You can imagine how surprised some of my customers were when their waiters placed their burgers in front of them. "Oh, there goes Wolfgang again," I could just hear them say.

But any doubts or disappointments they might have had disappeared after the first bite -- even though they had to use a knife and fork to take it. The top-quality meat was juicy and flavorful, with hints of minced shallot and fresh thyme mixed in, plus a little egg to bind, enrich, and moisten the patties. And the sauce, so smooth, aromatic, and delicious, made them forget all about ketchup and mustard.

Soon, celebrities were specifically requesting my "chopped steak." For maximum juiciness, I served it medium-rare, and I can think of only one customer who got away with requesting it well-done. After all, how could I argue with the legendary Israeli General Moshe Dayan?

However long you cook my chopped steaks, it's important to start with excellent beef. For a special occasion, start with strip steak or tenderloin and ask the butcher to chop it coarsely for you.

These days, health conscious people are buying leaner and leaner beef, with as little as 10 percent fat content. For the juiciest results, I recommend getting ground beef with about 20 percent fat.

But even with the leanest meat you can find, and even if you cook the patties more done than medium-rare, the sauce will help make sure that you never have a dry burger. And don't tell anyone I said this, but the sauce will give you extra-luxurious results even if you decide at the last minute to serve your gourmet burgers on buns!

CHOPPED STEAK WITH CABERNET SAUCE

Serves 6

CHOPPED STEAK

2-1/2 pounds coarsely ground lean beef strip steak or tenderloin

2 shallots, minced

1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 cage-free egg

1 tablespoon safflower oil, canola oil, or other mild-flavored oil

1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley

CABERNET SAUCE

3 shallots, minced

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 cups dry red wine, preferably Cabernet Sauvignon

Pinch chopped fresh thyme leaves

1/2 bay leaf

Freshly ground black pepper

1 cup organic chicken broth or beef broth

Salt

First, prepare the chopped steak mixture. In a mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, shallots, thyme, salt and pepper to taste, and egg. With clean hands or a sturdy spoon, stir until thoroughly mixed. Shape the mixture into 6 equal patties, each about 3/4 inch (18 mm) thick, placing them on a platter or baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.

For the sauce, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a nonreactive saucepan over medium heat. Add all but 1 tablespoon of the minced shallots to the pan, setting the remainder aside. Saute the shallots in the melted butter, stirring frequently, just until they begin to brown.

Add the red wine to the pan and stir and scrape with a wooden spoon to deglaze the pan deposits. Stir in the thyme, bay leaf, and black pepper to taste. Raise the heat and simmer briskly, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Stir in the broth and continue simmering over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thick and syrupy enough to coat the back of a spoon, 10 to 15 minutes more.

Pour the reduced sauce through a fine-meshed strainer into a small saucepan. Cut the remaining butter into small pieces and, over low heat, whisk in the butter a few pieces at a time. Stir in the reserved shallots. Taste and, if necessary, correct the seasonings with salt and pepper. Cover and keep warm.

To cook the chopped steak, heat the 1 tablespoon oil and 1/2 tablespoon butter over medium-high heat in a heavy saute pan large enough to hold all 6 patties without crowding. When the butter begins to color, add the patties and cook until done to your liking, 3 to 4 minutes per side for medium-rare.

Transfer each chopped steak patty to a serving plate and spoon the sauce over and around it. Garnish with parsley and serve immediately.

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Gourmet Hamburger: Chopped Steak With Cabernet Sauce - Wolfgang Puck Recipes

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