Cuban Hamburgers Fritas Recipes

THE CUBAN FRITA BURGER: FRITA CUBANA

Steps:

• To make the sauce, mix all of the ingredients together in a small saucepan: ketchup (1 cup), water (1/4 cup), vinegar (1 tablespoon), sweet paprika (1 1/2 teaspoons), cumin (1 teaspoon), salt (1 teaspoon), oregano (1/2 teaspoon) and sriracha (1/2 teaspoon). Cook at a gentle simmer, partially covered, for 5 minutes. Sauce can be made a day ahead and refrigerated until ready to use.
• Peel the potatoes and shred them on a box grater or in your food processor with the coarse shredding blade. Swish them in a bowl of cold water, pour out cloudy water, and repeat until the water is clear. Just before frying, drain them in a colander and dry them well by squeezing them between several clean absorbent dish towels. The dryer the better for getting them crisp and brown. Pour oil into a heavy, non-stick skillet over medium-high heat and fry the potatoes, in small batches, until they're golden brown. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and sprinkle with salt.
• Make the meat mixture in a large bowl or in a food processor. Combine ground meats with 1 cup of the onions and the garlic (2 tablespoons). Mix by hand or pulse a few times in the food processor, to combine. Add ketchup ( 3 tablespoons), cumin (1 teaspoon), paprika (2 teaspoons), smoked paprika (2 teaspoons) and 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt. Mix by hand or pulse just until combine. Form the meat into 8 thin patties.
• Cook patties in batches, on a preheated flat griddle or in a frying pan coated with a little vegetable oil, over medium heat, for 2-4 minutes per side or until they're cooked to your liking. (I suggest medium rare to medium). Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
• To assemble the fritas, spread some special sauce over the bottom half of a bun. Place a patty on top, add more sauce, some finely chopped raw onion and a big pile of shoestring fried potatoes. Spread a little sauce on the inside of the top bun and place it on top. Repeat with remaining burgers. Serve immediately.

CUBAN FRITAS WITH MATCHSTICK POTATOES

Steps:

• Combine the ground beef and chorizo in a bowl and sprinkle with the smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. In another bowl, combine the evaporated milk, panko and egg, and then add to the meat mixture. Combine well with your hands and form into 4 patties. Set aside.
• In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, lime juice, orange juice and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
• In a small saucepan, combine the guava paste with 3 tablespoons water. Cook down over low heat until reduced slightly. Add the cider vinegar; cook 2 minutes more.
• In a medium saute pan over medium-low heat, cook the onions in the butter, stirring occasionally, until caramelized, about 45 minutes. Add the onions and ketchup to the guava mixture. Season with salt and pepper.
• Preheat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Cook the patties until crispy on both sides but soft in the middle, turning once, 4 minutes per side. Grill the cut sides of the buns until grill-marked, about 1 minute.
• Grate the potatoes on the large holes of a box grater or in a food processor fitted with the shredding disk. Heat 1 inch of olive oil in a deep skillet and fry the grated potatoes until crispy, 4 to 5 minutes. Toss with smoked paprika and salt.
• Spread the bottom halves of the buns with a little of the "mojo mayonnaise," top with the patties and then cover with the bun tops. Add the crispy fries on the side and top with the guava ketchup.

CUBAN FRITA RECIPE

Steps:

• 1 We start by mixing the butter and the paprika in a bowl big enough until they get a reddish color (if the butter already has paprika included this step will not be necessary)
• 2 Then we add the ground beef and the salt; mix so that they integrate very well.
• 3 We wrap the dough in plastic wrap and take it to the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to better settle the flavor.
• 4 Meanwhile, we chop the onion into very small cubes and cut the potatoes into small and thin julienne strips. Set aside.
• 5 Now it is time to prepare the hamburgers, after two hours we use the dough we had put into the refrigerator, to form several meat balls using our hands.
• 6 Crush the balls to form a medallion and fry in a pan with a little hot oil. Take them off of the stove and set aside.
• 7 Once we have finished this, we soak the potato strings in enough water to remove the starch, drain the excess water and fry them in vegetable oil.
• 8 We add salt to the potato strings, when they are ready, we take them off of the stove and drain them on paper towels or kitchen paper.
• 9 We place the hamburger and the potatoes inside the bread along with the onion and the tomato sauce, getting the frita ready now to be enjoyed.

MINI CUBAN BURGERS (FRITAS)

Steps:

• Place the bread crumbs in a large bowl. Cover with milk and soak for 2 minutes. Add the onion, the beaten egg, ground beef, lime juice, ketchup, garlic powder, salt, and paprika and work the ingredients together with your hands or a wooden spoon just until combined. Form the mixture into 12 small 1-inch thick patties and refrigerate them for at least 45 minutes or up to 8 hours.
• Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add about 1/2 of the burgers and brown them on each side, flipping with spatula, 5 to 7 minutes. Set the fritas on the rolls and cook the remaining burgers. Serve with generous amounts of ketchup.

FRITA CUBANA

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients and form into patties. Cook on the grill or in a frying pan. Serve on a traditional American hamburger bun.
• Makes four quarter pounders or six to eight standard patties.

FRITA CUBANA-(CUBAN HAMBURGERS)-NUWAVE/FLAVORWAVE

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients and form into patties. Cook on the 1 inch rack on HI for 5 -8 minuted depending on how cooked you like it.
• Serve on a traditional American hamburger bun.
• Makes four quarter pounders or six to eight standard patties.

ABUELO'S FRITAS (A.K.A CUBAN HAMBURGERS)

Steps:

• 1. Using a food processor, mix the red pepper. On a flat surface, using your hands, combine your red pepper mixture well into the ground beef. Using the food processor, mix the remaining onion, garlic, and green pepper. On a flat surface, using your hands, combine your onion, garlic, and green pepper mixture well into the ground beef. Add paprika until you achieve a reddish golden color. The color may be more golden. Add about a cup of flour to the ground beef, combining well. Open a hole within the ground beef mixture and fill with corn oil. Continue alternating between gradual addition of flour and corn oil until the ground beef mixture forms a solid dough, that when mixed does not stick to your hands.
• 2. Now, take your mixture and form round balls. You may make them to your desired size. Take your balls and flatten them into patties. You can make them as thick or thin as you like. Be sure not to make them too thin.
• 3. Spray a frying pan evenly all over with cooking spray. Turn on your stove to a moderate/high setting (about 7 or 8 on electric stove). Now you are ready to fry your fritas. You should make sure to turn them more or less constantly. Keep them cooking until they get a brownish color and a grilled well look.
• 4. Place each frita in a hamburger bun. If desired, the buns may be toasted first. Any toppings may be used for the fritas. Some suggestions are potato sticks, chopped onions, lettuce, tomato, or anything else you would normally put on a hamburger. Refrigerate unused portions storing on wax paper in a closed container. Separate each layer of fritas with a sheet of wax paper to prevent from sticking.