Making burgers is a really lovely thing to do. Yes you can buy really excellent quality burgers in supermarkets these days but I really cant think of anything better than the sound and smell of homemade burgers on a barbecue in summer, or even in a frying pan.
You can put absolutely everything in a burger. You can use different meats, herbs, spices, binding agents and flavours.
Basic burgers are simple to make and really delicious. To make 4 good sized burgers, you'll need:
400g lean beef steak mince
1 small red onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
To start off you'll need to very finely chop the onion and garlic, either by hand or in a food processor (I have a Kenwood mini chopper which makes light work of chopping and keeps your eyes tear free).
Heat the oil in a frying pan and slightly sweat the chopped onion and garlic until nice and soft - do not colour it. Leave it to cool down.
In a mixing bowl lightly beat the egg and add the salt, pepper and parsley. Adddin the minced beef and the soft onion and garlic. Mix well together - I use my hands as I find it therapeutic but if you prefer you can use a spoon. Split this mixture into four equal patties. Cover and chill until needed.
To cook the burgers, you can grill, fry or barbecue them. To fry or barbecue, heat your pan or griddle to a medium heat. Put the burgers onto the heat and cook for 8-9 minutes on each side until cooked through.
Serve with bread rolls, salad and relish.
You can use all kinds of meats for burgers - lamb, pork, turkey or chicken all work well although turkey and chicken need more moisture to hold them together, such as breadcrumbs soaked in milk.
I like to add more flavours and ingredients to some burgers. I like to add two table spoons of chunky apple sauce to pork burgers as well as shopped sage.
Fennel seeds are lovely with pork, although personally I would prefer the seeds to be ground to powder.
Lamb is famously associated with mint and rosemary and these would be lovely but I like to be a bit different and add some lemon zest and oregano to the meat.
You can encase a baby mozzarella ball into your burger for some oozy cheesy-ness in your burgers (I know my bestie, Alex loves everything mozzarella touches so that's one for her) and you can add grated cheeses to any burger mix. My family are massive fans of the Mexican spicy cheese so I crumble a bit into my burger mix which spices the meat from within.
Burger accessories as I call them are limitless. You've got the classics of salad and chips with ketchup and but you can make all kinds of burger sauces using a mayo or yogurt base and any number of spices, herbs and other sauces. I like a mixture of garlic mayonnaise, ketchup and whole grain mustard spread over a warm burger bap (or cob as my friends from Leicester say).
So that's my quick blog on burgers. Essentially, anything goes. Now why did I not just say that in the beginning rather than ramble on for months?
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