Grilled Home-Made Beefburgers

I'm not normally a fan of beefburgers. Even if I did take a notion to eat in a fast food joint, a burger would be the last thing I'd go for. I normally just find them bland and as for the salad they put on top ... 'Hold the raw onions, hold the thick slice of tomato and hold the full lettuce ... thanks'. These burgers, however, I love! They are seasoned, flavoured with spice and have a great texture, plus you know exactly what is going into them. I won't tell you how to dress your burger as everyone has their own likes and dislikes.

Ingredients

10–12 cream crackers

1 large red onion

Olive oil

1kg good quality steak mince

1 large egg

1 teaspoon caraway seeds

1 teaspoon celery salt

1 teaspoon English mustard powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon crushed black pepper

Burger buns and toppings of your choice

Method

• In a clean tea towel bash up the cream crackers with a rolling pin to fine crumbs. This feels good!
• Peel and finely chop the red onion. Slowly cook it in a frying pan for a few minutes with some olive oil. This will give the burgers some sweetness.
• Add the bashed crackers, cooled red onion and mince to a large mixing bowl. Crack an egg in and add the spices and seasoning. With clean hands, get stuck in and combine everything together, scrunching it through your fingers until it is well mixed.
• Make about eight similar-sized burgers by rolling a portion of the mix in your hands firmly, then flattening into a burger shape. Place them on a clean plate and allow to rest in the fridge for about an hour to firm up. This stops them falling apart when cooking. The burgers can be frozen at this point to use for another day.
• Line a grill tray with tinfoil and place the rack back on top, then preheat the grill to medium/high for a few minutes. Cooking time will all depend on the thickness of your burgers, but 4–5 minutes either side works for me. Then, like any meat, rest them for a few minutes, before serving on toasted buns with your choice of dressing.