For years, I have been trying to cook and assemble the perfect burger. I’d experiment with different seasonings in the patty, adding finely diced onion, chilli, herbs and even blue cheese on occasion. The number and combinations of toppings, and sauces, are endless, and everyone has their own favourite. Often, my experiments resulted in interesting and great tasting burgers, sometimes the combinations were not so great. However, the more “creative” I got, the more I felt I was moving away from the basic simplicity and flavour of what a burger should be. I then came across a video of the late (and great) Anthony Bourdain where he shares his views on what makes a great burger (you can watch it here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZwyLVUAS5Y ). My burger recipe below includes a lot of his suggestions (and I include his name in my version, as a small tribute to the great man). I prefer to use cubed beef chuck for the patty, and grind it myself, as I find the meat to fat ratio perfect for a burger. Of course, you are entirely free to include whatever toppings and sauces you wish. Personally, I think the simplicity of the toppings and sauces I use in my version, allow for the full beefy flavour of the patty to really shine through. But ultimately, the choice is yours. Whilst many people label the burger as “junk food”, I prefer the term “fun food”, as one really should enjoy the process of cooking, building and eating this iconic food.
Ingredients
- 720g Beef Chuck, cubed
- 4 large round burger buns. I use sesame seed covered ones but again, this is your choice
- Pickled Gherkins – sliced lengthways or into rounds
- 4 processed cheese slices
- Tomato sauce
- Mayonnaise
- Lettuce
- Olive oil
Method
- Grind the meat using the course grinding wheel. If you don’t have your own meat grinder, simply ask your butcher to do this for you.
- Divide the meat into four 180g portions
- Shape each portion into a burger patty, taking care not to compress the meat too much. The patty should resemble an ice hockey puck.
- Season the patty’s well with good sea salt and cracked black pepper
- Heat a good splash of olive oil in a pan, over a high heat, until just starting to smoke
- Add the burger patty’s making sure not to crowd the pan. You can cook them in two batches if necessary.
- Fry the burger patty’s for approximately 3 minutes on one side, turn over and fry for a further 2 minutes on the other side. This timing will produce a burger which is med-rare to medium. However, you can cook longer if you prefer yours more well-done.
- You are looking for the burger patty to have a nice crust on the outside but take care not to burn.
- Remove burger patties from the pan, lay a slice of processed cheese on each, and set aside, resting whilst you prepare the buns. The cheese will melt from the residual heat
- Cut each bun in half, and lightly toast.
- Put a thin layer of mayonnaise on the base of a bun.
- Add the sliced pickled gherkin
- If you like extra cheese (as I do) you can add another slice on top of the gherkins
- Add a burger patty, topped with some lettuce and tomato sauce.
- Top with the other half of the bun and get stuck in!!!
Nice! and Tasty – Chris
The Magic Roundabout 