Friday 17 January 2014

Beef-tastic Burgers


Friday night - burgers and chips. You can't beat it really, can you? I generally love to add a few little thoughts and anecdotes in my blog posts (you could call it rambling on..!), but sometimes, you just have to get down to business. I feel this is one of those times. This recipe serves 4 burgers (perhaps less people, that's really down to hunger levels).


Ingredients:

  • 400g (ish) of minced beef (approx. 100g or so per burger)
  • 1 small onion, very finely chopped
  • Fresh/dried herbs or some chilli flakes (optional)
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 tbsp. tomato ketchup
  • 1 beaten egg
  • 1 packet of crisps, bashed into tiny pieces (I use cheese and onion flavour)*
Method:
  1. Leave the minced beef out of the fridge for about a half an hour before making the burgers.
  2. Sauté the onion in a little oil on a medium-low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, to allow to soften and sweeten in flavour.
  3. In a large bowl, mix together the beef, egg, herbs/chilli (if using), ketchup, a shake of salt and pepper and the bashed crisps.
  4. Add the cooked onion and begin to bring together the mixture into what looks like a meaty dough. Break it into half and form two patties. Then repeat for the second half of the mixture.
  5. Fry your burgers on a medium heat in the pan for about 15 to 20 minutes, turning at least twice - I like mine quite well cooked.
  6. Serve them up, hot and tasty, as you wish! I always do an "open burger", i.e. I cut open a fresh bap (generally a spelt bap), toast it and just use one half per burger, then I top it with cheese, fresh salad leaves, extra onions, mayo/ketchup sauce...mmm! I serve it along with chunky chips and a quick, fresh salad.
*One little anecdote I cannot not share is how I came to use this ingredient. It may seem a little unusual to use crisps to help bind the burgers but I first heard about it at a demo that Nessa Robins gave at a lovely, small food fair called Totally Tipperary (in Tipperary; who knew!) a few summers back. It really works a treat and is such a great idea. Plus, it always save me buying an oversized bag of breadcrumbs, as I never have a great supply of bread in stock to make my own. I hope you enjoy these burgers as much as I do!

2 comments:

  1. Looks like the perfect friday dinner and coincidently happen to have all the ingredients which never happens :D Its definitely a sign….The crisps intrigue me and cant wait to try it out...

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    Replies
    1. Hi Marie, thank you. Yes, it's such a simple recipe and the crisps are a great addition! Gotta love a good homemade burger! Let me know how you get on. Hope you are still baking away.
      Nollaig :-)

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