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!