X-Tudo

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide 30 cm skillet or griddle
• •Thin spatula
• •Small bowl for sauce
• •Plate lined with paper towel for bacon

Instructions

1. 1

   Shape the burgers

   Put the ground beef in a bowl and season it with the salt, pepper, and garlic if using. Mix with your fingers just until the seasoning disappears into the meat. Stop there. Overmixing makes a tight, bouncy patty, and a gente wants a burger that eats tender, not one that fights back.

2. 2

   Make two patties

   Divide the meat into 2 equal balls and flatten each into a patty a little wider than the bun, about 1/2 inch thick. Press a shallow dent in the center with your thumb. The dent keeps the patty from puffing into a meatball while it cooks, because heat tightens the meat from the outside in.

3. 3

   Cook the bacon

   Set a wide skillet over medium heat and lay in the bacon. Cook until the fat renders and the strips turn browned and crisp at the edges, 6 to 8 minutes. Move the bacon to a plate. Leave about 1 tablespoon of the fat in the pan, because that flavor already paid rent and we're using it.

4. 4

   Toast the buns

   Put the bun halves cut-side down in the bacon-slick pan for 1 to 2 minutes, until the bread is golden and dry to the touch. Pull them out before they get hard. Toasting gives the sauce somewhere to sit without soaking straight through, which is the difference between messy and collapsed.

5. 5

   Sear the patties

   Raise the heat to medium-high. If the pan looks dry, add the teaspoon of oil. Lay in the patties and leave them alone until the underside is deeply browned, about 3 to 4 minutes. Don't poke, don't press, don't keep checking. Meat browns when it has steady contact with hot metal. Fuss with it and you steal its color.

6. 6

   Melt the cheese

   Flip the patties and cook another 2 to 3 minutes, until the second side browns and the center is cooked to your liking. Lay one slice of cheese on each patty for the last minute. Cover the pan briefly if needed, just until the cheese softens and hugs the meat. Cheese should melt, not become a plastic blanket.

7. 7

   Warm the ham

   Move the patties to a plate. Lay the ham slices in the same pan for 30 seconds per side, just until they loosen and pick up a little shine. This wakes up the ham and keeps the final burger hot in the middle. Cold ham in a hot sandwich is a small betrayal, and we are not doing that.

8. 8

   Fry the eggs

   Lower the heat to medium. Crack the eggs into the pan and cook until the whites are set and the edges are lightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Salt them lightly. Keep the yolk a little soft if you like the sauce it makes, or flip for a firmer egg. The checkpoint is set white, not raw wobble.

9. 9

   Mix the sauce

   Stir the mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard in a small bowl. Taste it. It should be creamy, tangy, and simple. This is the honest shortcut: three things you probably have, mixed by you. Bottled burger sauce is fine in an emergency, but it usually tastes like sugar first and food second.

10. 10

    Stack with order

    Spread sauce on both toasted bun halves. On each bottom bun, stack lettuce, tomato, burger with melted cheese, warm ham, bacon, egg, corn, peas, and batata palha. Put the top bun on and press gently with your palm. The lettuce and tomato go low so they protect the bread, the hot things go in the middle, and the batata palha goes near the top so it stays crisp.

11. 11

    Serve now

    Serve the X-Tudo right away, with extra batata palha on the side if your house understands pleasure. This burger waits badly. The egg keeps cooking, the lettuce wilts, and the potato straws soften. Big sandwiches are like children at bedtime: assemble, commit, and don't negotiate.

Chef Tips

• •Use ground beef with some fat in it, around 80 to 85 percent lean. Very lean meat dries out and then people start blaming the recipe, the pan, the moon, everyone except the meat.
• •Milho and ervilha from a can are allowed here. That's a Tuesday shortcut: drain them well and use them as themselves. What I won't hand you is powdered seasoning pretending to be a refogado.
• •If tomato is out of season and tastes like wet cardboard, skip it or use a few slices of cucumber for crunch. Buy what's good today, not what a list bullied you into buying.
• •Batata palha goes on at the end. Put it under hot fillings and it turns soft before you reach the table. Crisp potato is a timing issue, not a miracle.
• •For a smaller appetite, make one X-Tudo and split it. The name says everything, not that you need to prove anything to a sandwich.

Advance Preparation

• •Shape the patties up to 1 day ahead and keep them covered in the fridge. Let them sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before cooking so they brown more evenly.
• •Wash and shred the lettuce, slice the tomato, drain the corn and peas, and mix the sauce up to 1 day ahead. Keep everything cold and covered.
• •Cook the bacon up to 2 days ahead if you must, then warm it briefly in the skillet before assembling. It won't be quite the same, but a Tuesday is a Tuesday.
• •Do not assemble ahead. The bun softens, the egg sets, and the batata palha loses its point.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 455g)