Boutique Burger 2007

This is another recipe from the ill fated blog started last year...

Right!! I thought I’d start things off with a recipe my chef brother Dan and I came up with in the summer of 2007. Infact this recipe has now become the reason for this blog (aforementioned ill fated one) altogether.

About two years ago I was talking online to a friend (Cheers Chris! www.chrishambly.com) about the recipe in question and he asked for it to add to his blog. I’d forgotten all about it until he contacted me the other day after, I presume, had done some research into hits and Google rankings. It transpired that my “Best Burger Recipe” from his site is infact ranked sixth (correct at time of publishing NB: been knocked down to 9th as of 3/03/2010!) out of 13.4 million entries. Cool huh!?

Anyway, here's the recipe (slightly tweaked by myself since the original) so let the burger rock begin!

Jim

Best Burger Recipe 2007 (Revised october 2009)

Ingredients -
• 1 large Spanish onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 large red pepper
• 1 red chilli
• Half a bunch of celery
• 2 medium carrots
• 1kg good quality steak mince
• 1egg
• 1 cup of Colman’s 'ok' sauce (Can be hard to find, try the world food aisle of a large supermarket. If you’re unsuccessful use HP sauce. ’Ok’ sauce really is the nuts though, try it in a streaky bacon sarnie!)
• Dried Paprika
• Dried Thyme
• Salt and pepper

To make -
1. Peel, tail and top the carrots, de-base and de-string the celery of any fibrous strands, de-seed the red pepper and chilli, peel and tail the garlic. (Wow that’s a painful sentence to read!)
2. Roughly cut all the vegetables into a similar size and put into a roasting tray (also add the garlic). Drizzle olive oil over the vegetables and get your hands dirty making sure everything has a good coating. Cook in a preheated oven at 180°c for 15-20 minutes or until all vegetables are slightly browned and tender.
3. Once you’re their blend all the vegetables together with a food processor or stick blender.
4. Drain the blended mix in a fine sieve; the mix needs to be as dry as possible so use a wooden spoon to push as much liquid from the mixture. Set aside the vegetable solids to cool completely.
5. In a mixing bowl add the mince and separate by hand so there are no large clumps. Add the egg (beaten) and the ok sauce as well as a good hit of salt, pepper, paprika and thyme. Throw your vegetable mix in and get your hands dirty mixing thoroughly. If you’re a hard nut and have very good quality steak mince from a butcher you trust, taste the mixture for seasoning and tweak to your taste. This “shouldn’t” kill you, saying that I’m no doctor. Do you trust me? If you don’t, fry a small amount first then check the seasoning.
6. Roughly fashion your patties (or meatballs if that tickles your fancy gland) by hand into the size you desire. This recipe makes quite a bit of mix so freezing excess is fine. If you are doing this make sure you cling wrap them individually.
7. When cooking; I seal the burgers in a very hot non-stick pan with a little olive. When they’re nicely browned I finish them in a very hot oven until firm. If using decent steak mince bypass the oven and serve them still twitching. Try serving these in granary baps topped with melted gorgonzola and red onion jam, sexy.