D'you want fries with that? A random recipe for a tasty burger

 

 

I am not a big film fan to be honest; I'd rather do the ironing. But, some things stick in my mind and Jules' "Ummmmmm, this is a tasty burger..." exclamation from Pulp Fiction is one of those sticky kinda things which sprang to my mind when eating this particular burger, 'cos a tasty burger is certainly what it was. I don't often make my own, for as a family we don't really do the burger thing (and we should - Lola and Finn loved the little 'bespoke burgers' I made for them) but a homemade burger is something to savour and far, far superior than anything you are going to get from (insert any fast food chain name here) or indeed your nearest stable, if some supermarket 'ecomomy' brands are anything to go by.

 

 

 

Anyway, I wouldn't have been thinking about burgers in any shape or form if it hadn't been for the latest random recipe challenge hosted by Dom at Belleau Kitchen which was to randomly select a recipe from those cuttings and notes, etc. that you take from magazines, or the back of packets or pick up on the way out of the supermarket and file in a Rennie Mackintosh styled biscuit tin, if you're me.

 

 

 

Now, I have two books of cuttings and what not, plus the aforementioned biscuit tin, and as my books are A4 and contain numerous recipes on each page (one summer several years ago I spent a week folding cuttings and sticking them on to the pages of these spiral bound books which such attention to folding that an origami master would be proud of the end result) and so I decided that the biscuit tin was the place to get a single recipe that was truly random.

 

 

 

And, I closed my eyes and picked out this one - a recipe card from 'Booths' (a north west supermarket in case you aren't familiar with their brilliance) for homemade burgers. Fabulous. I even had all the ingredients. So, I set to work, and what you have below is the result of my endeavours:

 

Homemade Burgers with Bacon and Cheese, adapted from the Booths Supermarket Recipe

 

Serves Lola, Finn, Mum and Dad

 

My adaptations in red

 

Ingredients

 

454g lean mince

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2tbsp olive oil

1tbsp parsley, chopped

1 egg, beaten

25g ready made breadcrumbs (I had panko breadcrumbs left from another recipe. I used them).

¼tsp cayenne pepper

½ tsp thyme, chopped

4 rashers of streaky bacon (I used back bacon)

1 beef tomato, sliced (Didn't use - replaced it with a dollop of tomato and chilli chutney or tomato ketchup for Lola and Finn)

50g cheese (I used cheese slices for Lola and Finn. I treated myself to a bit of Gruyere)

3 or 4 burger buns

Our additions: some thinly sliced onion and for me, a bit of watercress.

 

Instructions:

 

 

 

In a frying pan, gently cook the onion in the olive oil until soft but not coloured, add the garlic and transfer to a mixing bowl and leave to cool.

 

 

 

Once cooled, add the mince, parsley, thyme, cayenne pepper, breadcrumbs, the beaten egg and season generously with salt and milled pepper and really mix all the ingredients well.

 

Then, divide the mixture into three balls or four smaller balls if you want smaller burgers, ( I did. I made little burgers for Lola and Finn and made little buns to put them on. Cute!) then pat to form a burger shape and refrigerate for 30 minutes to help hold the shape when cooking.

 

 

 

Cook the burger on your BBQ or grill for about 10 minutes turning every so often. (I just put mine in the frying pan. I was going to get the griddle pan out but, I'll be honest, I couldn't be bothered with it).

 

Place the bacon on the BBQ or grill and cook until crisp and place onto the burger.

Finally, divide your choice of cheese between the burgers and serve on toasted burger buns, once the cheese has melted slightly, with sliced tomato (or relish) and fresh salad

 

 

 

Add chips! Or fries! And enjoy!