Sounds like something that got shoved under the car seat and forgotten, but it isn’t. I’m talking about hamburgers like my grandma Ruby used to make them. Best. Hamburgers. Ever.

I’ve been spearmentin, and I’ve just about nailed it.

You put the burger in a medium-hot pan, sprinkle it with salt, pepper, and onion powder, and cook it until it’s got dark brown bits on the bottom. Flip it, turn down the heat to medium-low, put cheese on it. put the bottom of the bun upside-down on top of the burger and the top bun right-side-up on top of that. Like so:

Cover the pan and cook until the cheese is melted and the bottom of the burger is brown with dark crunchy bits. Ideally, the burger should be thin enough and give off enough grease that the edges of the bun get fried to a golden crisp. I haven’t mastered that part yet.

Take the burger out and put dill pickles all over the top.

On the side, I had roasted potato wedges (cut a potato into wedges, toss them with olive oil and seasoned salt, and roast at 450F for about 20 minutes).

Granburgers. Almost there. Naturally, if you want this to be kosher, you can leave off the cheese or use vegan cheese.

A WRITING PROMPT FROM ME TO YOU: What’s a dish you’ve recreated (or nearly recreated) from someone no longer around to make the dish?

MA