The key
to making burgers is being prepared as you need time to chill them, if you
don't, they have the tendency to fall apart on the barbecue which is a very
very sad occurrence, so we made these in the morning, then went to the park
while they "chilled" for a couple of hours. Plus another tip - don't make them too
fat and cook them slowly as you do not want them burnt on the outside and raw
in the middle.
Ingredients for 6 people:
For the burgers:
1kg good quality minced beef
1 onion finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tbsp of chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tsp Dijon Mustard
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 egg yolks (I forgot to add 2 eggs in the picture)!
Salt and pepper for seasoning
Vegetable or sunflower or olive oil for cooking
For the sauces:
Horseradish and Sour Cream Chive Sauce:
100ml sour cream
1 tbsp creamed horseradish
1 tbsp chopped chives
Dijon Mustard Mayonnaise:
100ml shop bought mayonnaise
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper to season
Additional garnish:
3 avocados, sliced
1 big red onion, sliced
6 buns, halved and toasted
6-12 slices of American or Cheddar Cheese (I like two
slices on my burger obviously)!
Place the meat into a large bowl and add the onion,
garlic, parsley, mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Add the egg yolks one by
one.
Then season and mix thoroughly – this is a messy
process so take any rings off and don’t be squeamish. (Pascal actually did the
honours here as I was busy faffing getting ready for the park).
Using wet hands, shape into 6 evenly sized burgers.
You don’t want them too fat in the middle (like some of ours were as you need
them cook all at the same time).
Then leave the burgers in the fridge for a couple of
hours (minimum 1 hour but 2 is best). Here is your time to go to the pub, go to
the park or just chill (like the burgers)!
Once the chilling time is almost up, it’s good to
prepare everything else. You need to chop up the avocado and red onion.
For the horseradish and sour cream chive sauce, add
the ingredients to a bowl and then whisk them all together.
The same goes for the Dijon mustard mayonnaise.
Then it is time to fire up the barbecue, add a brush
of oil and cook these burgers. How long you cook them depends on personal
taste. Arabella and I both like the burgers medium which took about 7/8 minutes
of each side. Pascal likes his rare so his took half the time.
Then add the all important cheese and lightly toast
the bun.
Finally build your burger starting with the
horseradish and sour cream chive sauce on the bottom, then add the
cheeseburger, avocado, chopped onions and smear the Dijon mayonnaise on the top
bun and voila!!
The burger is pretty stacked but you can easily push
down on the bun and press all the ingredients together making it easier to fit
in your mouth. All the flavours together work magnificently and so just go for
it….even if it gets messy!!
A fantastic burger – I would be tempted to add some streaky bacon but then it would be sooooooo tall and this is the type of burger
you want to eat with your hands.
Apparently we are going to have good
weather for the next couple of days….you can guess what I am cooking again!!
