PREP AND COOK TIME: 25 MINUTESSERVES: 6
drizzle of olive oil
6 traditional burger buns
3 tablespoons Basic Mayonnaise
6 cos lettuce leaves
3 tablespoons Homemade Tomato Ketchup
3 tablespoons dijon mustard
3 large dill pickles, halved
CARAMELISED ONIONS:
2 tablespoons butter
2 red onions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
BURGER PATTIES:
1kg angus beef mince
1 red onion, finely diced
100g vintage cheddar cheese, finely diced
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
1. To make the caramelised onions, melt the butter on high heat in a saucepan, add the onion and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the white wine vinegar and sugar and cook for a further 2 minutes. Finally, add the balsamic vinegar and cook for a minute or so until the onion becomes jammy. Remove from the heat. Set aside.
2. To make the burger patties, combine the beef, red onion, cheese, egg yolks and mustard in a large bowl and season heavily with salt and pepper. Split the mixture into six even amounts and press into round patties, approximately 1.5cm thick.
3. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan on high heat and fry the burger patties for 2 minutes on each side.
4. Split the burger buns and toast in a chargrill pan.
5. To assemble, layer the burger from the bottom, starting with a generous dollop of mayo and dijon on the base of the burger bun. Then add the lettuce, beef patty, caramelised onion, sliced pickle, ketchup and, finally, the top half of the toasted bun. Finish with a cocktail stick and half a dill pickle skewered on top.
WILL Everyone loves a good burger but I can’t help but think that many of the variations out there these days are straying far and wide from the true traditions of the humble burger. Here, I’m taking things back to basics, calling on my university days when the money had dried up and luxuries such as takeout weren’t an option. What I came to find was that often only the bare essentials are required to make something taste great. And one thing that has always been important for me when making a burger has been to keep the moisture in the meat. A juicy burger is a good burger! I achieve this here by incorporating good-quality cheese in the patty. As the burger cooks, the cheese melts and releases beautiful oil into the meat that adds another layer of flavour. The egg yolk gives it a little richness too and binds it all together. Get involved!