“This recipe was given me by a famous actor whose forebears came from Sweden: Alfred Lunt. He gave me very specific instructions for this dish, and I follow them faithfully, even to using a two-pronged fork to mix the ingredients. ‘Two prongs,’ he said firmly, ‘never three.’ “
Yield:
Serves 4 to 6Ingredients
1 pound lean ground beef, chuck or round
1/2 cup cream
salt and pepper to taste
4 to 5 pickled beets, finely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon chopped capers
2 medium-sized boiled potatoes, finely chopped
3 to 4 tablespoons butter, as needed
hot water, as needed
1 tablespoon whole capers
Instructions
Using a two-pronged fork, stir the cream vigorously into the meat and add the salt and pepper. Then stir in the beets, onion, chopped capers, and potatoes. Form into ” hamburgers” about an inch thick, and let them sit at room temperature for an hour, “even on a hot summer day,” said Mr. Lunt. Brown the beef cakes in butter over a hot fire, turning only once. They should be crusty outside and pink inside. Remove to a hot platter, add a few spoonfuls of hot water to the butter in the pan, add the whole capers, heat for a few seconds, and pour the sauce over the meat. Mr. Lunt advocated broiled tomatoes and an ice-cold bottle of beer to accompany this.
