We had a lovely lunch at our friends Tina and Tony's the other week. That Tina is an excellent cook. I have never not thoroughly enjoyed what she has prepared, even her gammon, egg and chips. (Heaven!) No small wonder as she has run some restaurants in her time and is very good at what she does!
While we were there, we got to talking about food (as we always do) and the subject of her burgers came up. Her grandchildren really love her burgers. I was intrigued and just had to ask how she made them!
Basically, they are just a quality store made beef burger, put together with fried onions, mushrooms, bacon, cheese with a fried egg, some tomatoes, lettuce, etc. all on an open face toasted bun.
On the burger side you slather the bottom toasted bun (And I used Brioche buns) with your favourite burger toppings, be they tomato ketchup, mustard, relish, etc, and then top with fried onions and mushrooms and then your grilled/fried burger which has had a nice slice of cheddar melted on top and then finish it off with a couple of slices of crisp streaky bacon.
On the other side you slather the toasted bun with some mayonnaise (I used garlic mayonnaise) some lettuce leaves, slices tomatoes and a nicely fried egg!
These are knife and fork burgers, meant to be eaten open-faced and a meal in and of themselves. I did make my own beef burgers, using a good minced steak, with just a small amount of fat. You need some of the burgers would be far too dry. I seasoned them with salt, pepper and both onion and garlic powders.
They were absolutely perfect. You don't want them too thick, so really flatten your patties out with a gentle hand. (I do this between the palms of my hands and then chill.) Your burgers will shrink in somewhat, so if you haven't started with too thick a burger then they will end up the right size. I even flatten out store made burgers, for this very reason. I also like to make a bit of a dip in the centre which helps.
We like our streaky bacon dry cured and smoked, and done until just a little bit crisp. I used strong cheddar cheese.
I only ever use free range eggs, RSPCA assured. I think that it is worth the extra money to support an industry that is about animal welfare. Did you know that as much as 50% of egg laying hens in the UK are still kept in cages. Free range does not necessarily mean free range. You can be pretty sure however that if the eggs you buy are RSPCA assureded the hens are either kept in barns with plenty of space, perches and nest boxes or in free range systems where hens also have access to an outside range. This is important to me. I can't do alot, but I can do this. In any case, I now know why Tina's grands really love her burgers! They're fabulously tasty!
*Tina's Burgers*
Makes 4 4 thick slices cheddar cheese
8 slices streaky baconbutter
4 large free range eggsmayonnaise
Note: I baked some vegetable fries to serve with mine and they looked really good. If you have a really hearty appetite these would be a great addition. My husband and I could not eat it all. In fact I could only eat 1/2 my burger. It was really, REALLY good however!
I think these would be great for Father's Day! These would also be really great for breakfast made with sausage patties! Bon Appetit!
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