What better way to kick off the weekend than these wickedly tasty Burgers? Friday night is our kick back and relax night where we open a bottle of something nice and chill out after the stresses of school and work all week. To make it ultra relaxing I try to cook something that doesn’t require too much effort on a Friday afternoon and that’s where these burgers come up trumps!
The relish I use here is Ballymaloe but you can use any relish you want. I’m also using Parmesan cheese in this recipe but I have made them with Blue Cheese in the past and they were divine! The toppings you choose can take the burger in any direction, use you imagination here, I always start with lettuce,slices of tomato and red onion and a good quality bun is essential! I find the small buns work best with these otherwise you will end up with a burger swamped by the bun.
Here are some topping ideas….
The Classic: Melted Cheddar, Gherkins, French’s Mustard and Ketchup
The Sizzler: Franks Hot Sauce, Sourcream and Jalapenos (my favourite!)
The Portuguese: Fried Egg, Fried onions and Tabasco (i omit the lettuce etc when doing this)
The Heartstopper: Crisp Bacon, Melted Blue Cheese and Relish
Top tip: To get perfectly melted cheese – when your burger is cooked and still in the frying pan cover it with your favourite cheese then cover the fryig pan with an oven tray ensuring all the frying pan is covered, the heat and the steam will ensure lovely, runny melted cheese……believe me….you’ll thank me!
Ingredients:
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 450g good quailty minced beef
- 50g breadcrumbs
- 15g parmesan, grated
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 tbsp of relish
- Sea salt and black pepper
- Sunflower oil
Directions:
- Place all of your ingredients into a mixing bowl, seasoning well with salt and pepper.
- Mix thoroughly with your hands then divide into four and roll each of the four in the palm of your hands to make a firm smooth ball. Place on a worktop or chopping board and flatten each down into a pattie and rounding it on the outside with your other hand.
- Heat a frying pan over a medium to high heat (I like to let it get really hot so it sears the buger on the outside as soon as it hits the pan), add the oil and straight away put the burgers in the frying pan. Do not touch the burger as if you move it around the pan you will lower the temperature in the pan and then stew the burger. Flip it once and cook it until it is nice charred on the outside and cooked through in the middle
- Serve in a bun with your choice of toppings from above and enjoy!
