When I was a kid, a man named Joe Bury bought an abandoned Gas Station up on the
highway, converted the repair bay area into a living space, and the "office" area into a
burger joint. The inverted "U"- shaped counter only had 14 stools, and the cooking area
was right there along the back wall.
The man never had any hired help; He was in there from 11:00 A.M. to 11:00 P.M. seven
days a week.
He offered just three things on his menu; His idea of a burger, deep-fried
potato nuggets (something like Tater Tots), and cold sodas. The only toppers offered
were grated Parmesan cheese, chopped onion, pickled hot pepper rings, and ketchup for
the nuggets.
.............That tiny place was rarely without patrons. Truckers would get off the new
Interstate and park on the shoulder for Joe's burgers.
(That interstate was probably the reason the station was abandoned......)
I ate about a thousand of those burgers before moving away........
As soon as I had my own kitchen and started serious cooking, I worked to duplicate the
Joe Bury experience.........here's the result.
LT
2 lb. ground Italian sausage (mild)
2 lb. ground beef
1 lg. can tomato juice (46 oz.)
1 qt. tomatoes (crushed)
2 cans (6 oz. each) tomato paste
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. sweet basil
2 cloves minced garlic
Parmesan cheese
Mix ground Italian sausage and ground beef together. Make into patties and brown both
sides in a cast-iron skillet.
Place the burgers into large baking pan.
In a large sauce-pot, Mix tomato juice, tomatoes, paste, salt,
pepper, sweet basil and garlic together. Pour over the burgers.
Bake at 300 degrees for about 40 minutes or until patties are cooked through.
Serve on lightly toasted soft Kaiser rolls. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and add pepper
rings, if you like.
Serve with tater tots-or hash Browns
