suppertime! » beef burgers

Burgers on chollah bread

headchef — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 20:16:57 +0000

Praise be to @ginandting for alerting me to the savoury possibilities of chollah bread. I couldn’t find chollah buns locally, but Waitrose in Beckenham sell delicious big chollah loaves. Chollah is a sweet, soft bread, almost like brioche but a bit finer and firmer.

Tonight we used thickly-sliced chollah for our burgers – home-made, of course, topped with melted cheese, home-made dill pickles, secret sauce*, lettuce, tomato and a sliver of onion. By popular consent – the best burgers I’ve made yet.

@ginandting also tells me, chollah bread is amazing for a bacon sandwich. Not exactly kosher, but it’s got to be tried.

Only one problem – which IPA to wash them down with..?

We also tried making Byron-style courgette fries to this recipe from Domestic Sluttery. They were ok, but not as nice as Byron’s. I think they must use a herb or spice I haven’t yet identified.

*secret sauce is a mixture of mayonnaise, Heinz tomato ketchup and French’s American Mustard. It’s the business on burgers. But don’t tell anyone – IT’S A SECRET.

Best burgers yet

headchef — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 19:49:09 +0000

I’ve never made it to the Meatwagon, and I’m highly unlikely to make it to the Meateasy either – so inspired by this blog post, I thought I’d have a crack at making my own gourmet burger. And you can too.

Serves 4.

500g best quality minced beef
salt & pepper
4 good quality buns – I used Sainsbury’s Pain Rustique rolls.
2 large green chillis
butter
Heinz tomato ketchup
French’s mild American mustard
cheese – I used Gruyère
shredded lettuce
some dill pickles – preferably home-made.
chips, if you like

Finely chop the deseeded green chillis, and fry in butter. Set aside.

To make the burgers, simply combine the minced beef with salt and freshly ground pepper. Shape into patties. Fry on the hot, flat frying pan you cooked the chillis on. Try to ensure there’s some pinkness left inside. Melt the cheese on the burger as it cooks.

Split the buns and lightly toast on a hot griddle. Butter the halves with ketchup and mustard, add the burger, the cooked green chillis, lettuce and dill pickle.

This was better than BK. It was better than GBK. It was better than my Buzz Burger. I have no idea if it was better than Meateasy, but it was the best beef burger I have ever had, bar none. It’s a revelation that a burger made with 100% beef can taste so good – all down to the alchemy of the ketchup, American mustard and those fried chillis.

(C doesn’t eat meat, so I made her these veggie burgers instead).

Buzz Burgers

headchef — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 22:15:27 +0000

…to obesity and beyond!

No, this isn’t a rant about Macdonalds – this is my recipe for home-made beef burgers.

I’ve made burgers before, but they’ve always been a mess. Mother-in-law gave us a burger press from Lakeland – a useful gadget, and the firmer, better-shaped burgers were a hit with the children at Henry’s birthday party.

Ingredients – makes about 9 burgers

2 x 400g packs of organic minced beef
1 egg
handful of breadcrumbs (I whizz slightly stale bread up in the magimix and freeze it)
1 large very finely chopped onion
2 or 3 finely chopped garlic cloves
large teaspoon of mustard (I used French wholegrain)
small sprinkling of fine mixed herbs (I used dried French ones from a stall in Borough Market)
few dashes of Tabasco sauce
burger buns
lashings of Heinz Tomato Ketchup (if you can find it, the organic variety tastes sweeter)

Put the mince in a bowl and break it up with a fork – you could use your hands but with small children clutching at your apron strings, I get a bit paranoid about handling raw meat. Also, if you use a fork, your children can help.

Crack in the egg (2 if 1 isn’t enough), add 2 or more slugs of Tabasco sauce and the mustard. Sprinkle the herbs in. Stir in the onion and garlic. Then gradually add breadcrumbs until the mixture is nice and thick. Scoop into your burger press, press out the patties, cook, enjoy!