GOOD FOOD : Cookout Classics for the Fourth

Among traditionalists, choosing a menu for Independence Day presents the greatest quandary of the year. The Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving feasts might be beef, bird, ham, lamb or fish, but they all boil down in the end to a formal dinner featuring a big lump of protein and an assortment of accompaniments.

For the Fourth, on the other hand, you have to decide between white tablecloth and cookout.

The old-fashioned seasonal celebration favored by the Founding Fathers, most of whom had English roots and all of whom lived on the East Coast, included poached salmon with egg sauce, new potatoes and peas. The weight of modern numbers, however, is on the side of hot dogs and hamburgers.

Most culinary authorities agree that hamburgers come to us by way of Russian steak tartare , filtered through the German city of Hamburg. Common sense suggests the idea of mincing or grinding tough meat into chewability is probably both universal and far older than the idea of the nation-state.

Be that as it may, the word was in use here as early as the mid-19th Century, and the hamburger as we know it, cradled in a soft, round bun, was on the scene well before World War I. The first hamburger chain, White Castle, started in Wichita, Kan., in 1921. Many would argue that it has been downhill from there, that a thin patty of greasy beef surrounded by salty-sweet condiments on balloon bread has become the very symbol of everything wrong with American food. But there is the homemade burger, and it’s alive and well, especially on the Fourth.

Neoclassic Burgers are so named because it’s too much of a mouthful to say “Slightly messed with in the interests of lower fat and cholesterol but not so much that they taste healthy instead of like hamburgers.” This treatment gives juiciness to super-lean beef that would otherwise be dry, and it bulks quarter-pound burgers into the sort of big, plump patties that distinguish homemade from fast food. And the mushrooms and onions on which it’s based don’t get in the way of the flavor of the meat.

NEOCLASSIC BURGERS

1 tablespoon olive oil

8 ounces mushrooms, coarsely chopped

1/3 cup coarsely chopped onion

1 egg white

1 tablespoon tomato paste

Scant 1/2 teaspoon salt

Several dashes Worcestershire sauce

1 pound very lean ground beef

Flour

Heat wide, heavy skillet over medium-high heat until very hot. Add olive oil (it should start to smoke almost as soon as it hits pan) then quickly add mushrooms before oil has chance to burn. Increase heat to high and fry mushrooms, stirring frequently with metal spatula until lightly browned and they have given off most but not all of their liquid. Scrape into bowl and cool.

Mince onion very fine in blender or food-process onion very fine. Add mushrooms, egg white, tomato paste, salt and Worcestershire. Grind or process until slightly grainy and applesauce-like. Transfer to mixing bowl and combine with beef, using fingertips and working lightly to avoid crushing and compacting meat.

Form mixture into 4 patties and lightly flour before grilling, broiling, or sauteing in light film of olive oil. Cook as usual, but slightly shorter time. Lightened burgers cook more quickly than those made of solid meat. Makes 4 good-size burgers.

Note: Recipe may be doubled, but mushrooms must be fried in 2 batches or they won’t lose moisture and brown quickly enough.

Best Burger Beef from the aesthetic point of view is about 15% fat--anything leaner is dry. But if you do want ultra-lean, best way to get it is to buy round steak or round roast, trim off all visible fat and grind meat yourself.

Crunchy and tangy, delicious with hamburgers, hot dogs, fried chicken or just about anything else that needs a lift, this relish is also very attractive, striped and mottled rose and raspberry pink.

EASY ALL-PURPOSE SWEET-AND-SOUR ONION RELISH

3 large red onions, about 2 to 2 1/4 pounds, sliced approximately 1/8-inch thick

2 tablespoons coarse salt

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon Port

Combine onions and salt in large, non-reactive bowl. Carefully separate onions into rings. Let stand, stirring occasionally, 30 to 45 minutes, or until rings have collapsed into tender semi-translucence.

Fill bowl with cold water, swish onions to rinse thoroughly, then lift into strainer and drain well, pressing to get all liquid out. Place onions in wide, shallow, non-reactive bowl and combine with vinegar and wine. Stir well and allow to marinate at least 15 minutes before serving. Will keep well up to 3 or 4 days. Store tightly covered in glass jar in refrigerator. Makes about 3 cups, 6 to 8 servings.