• 2lbs Premium Burger Blend
• Salt & Pepper
• 8oz Navel Pastrami, thinly sliced
• 4 russet potatoes
• 2 medium onions
• 2-4 tablespoons flour
• 2-3 eggs
• 6oz beef bacon (more if you want to snack on it in the kitchen…)
• additional oil for frying (duck schmaltz, beef bacon fat or vegetable oil) as needed
• 2 tomatoes, sliced
• lettuce, for serving
• mayonnaise, for serving

 

Make the patties

Shape ground beef into 6 or 8 patties. Season with salt & pepper, and set aside.

 

Cook the bacon

Lay bacon in a cold pan, with slices slightly overlapping. Heat over medium heat until fat starts to render and pieces start to curl. Flip every 45-60 seconds, to prevent burning. When most of the fat has rendered and the bacon is dark, transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain and crisp up. Set aside.

Leave fat in the pan, but set pan aside to cool while you make the latkes.

 

Make the latkes

Grate potatoes and onion using the large holes on a hand grater. Squeeze out as much liquid as you can (you may want to squeeze the batter again, just before frying, if the batter sits a while as the juices will continue to accumulate). Add eggs, some of the flour and pastrami and mix to combine. Add additional eggs and or flour until batter is thick, not too wet, and holds together.

Heat pan and add additional oil so you have about 1/4″ oil in the pan. Add latke batter (use about 1/3cup per latke) and fry over medium heat for 7-10 minutes, turning once when golden. Transfer latkes to a cooling rack to drain and cover loosely with foil to stay warm.

 

Cook the burgers

Wipe out most of the fat from the pan and increase heat. Cook burgers until medium rare (or desired doneness), flipping once crust has formed on the first side, about 4 minutes per side.

 

To serve

Assemble burgers with latkes for “buns”, lettuce, tomato, bacon plus mayonnaise as desired.