Freshly Blogged: Challenge 10

Click HERE to vote for this recipe.

I just love burgers, but the problem is that I can never decide on the toppings – I always want more than one! That’s why I’ve made three mini burgers with different toppings so you can get a little bite of each. Using the Spur sauce in the patties makes them incredibly moist and tasty… I think this may become my secret ingredient J Served with shoestring fries, this is a great gourmet burger lunch! I always make extra beef patties – I prefer a meaty burger with more beef than bread (there is nothing wrong with using two patties), and they are also great in lunchboxes.

This week we had the following ingredients: Spur Grill Basting Sauce, beef chuck, burger buns, sweet & sour gherkins, onions, tomatoes, iceberg lettuce, potatoes, one dairy product & 3 items from the aisles.  

Burger Bites

Serves 2

Prep time: ½ hour

Cooking Time: ½ hour

You will need

For the patties:

1 heaped Tbls finely chopped white onion

250g Chuck steak, minced (if you don’t have a mincer, ask your butcher to do it for you)

1 egg

½ Tbls coriander, ground

2 Tbls Spur basting sauce

1 tsp salt

Ground black pepper

1 Tbls corn flour

Vegetable oil

For the caramelised onion & gherkin crouton burger:

1 small white onion, sliced

Vegetable oil

1 Tbls brown sugar

Salt

2 mini sweet and sour gherkins

For the buns:

4 soft burger buns

1 Tbls butter

1 Tbls oil

For the beetroot & goats cheese salad burger:

1 thick slice pickled beetroot

1 slab soft goats cheese

Iceberg lettuce

For the tomato, onion & chilli salsa bunny chow burger:

1 ripe tomato

1 Tbls finely chopped white onion

1 tsp chilli flakes

1 Tbls olive oil

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp vinegar

For the shoestring chips:

2 large potatoes, peeled

Vegetable oil for deep frying (about 3 cups)

Salt

How to make it

For the patties:

Pour boiling water over the chopped onion – enough to cover the onion. Let it stand for 2 minutes, drain and rinse with cold water.

Mix all the ingredients together (including the chopped onion).

Wet your hands and scoop out heaped teaspoon fulls of mince, rolling each into a little ball and flattening it slightly to form a mini patty.

Brush each patty on both sides with vegetable oil.

When all the mince has been shaped into patties, cover with cling film and chill in the fridge until needed.

Once ready to use, heat a griddle pan until it starts to smoke (very hot).

Grill each patty for about 2 minutes on each side until griddle marks appear (don’t overcook).

For the caramalised onion & gherkin crouton burger:

Fry the onion and sugar in the oil over a low heat for at least 10 minutes.

Once the onion becomes soft and transparent, turn up the heat and fry for a few minutes until golden brown.

Season with salt.

For the buns:

Using a sharp round cookie cutter, cut out a round from the center of each burger bun (use a round that’s the same size as the patties you’ve made).

On two of the bread rounds, cut off the brown crust of the bread and flatten the bread to compress the bread slightly.

With the remaining two, gently cut a circle in the center of the round, pressing it down to form a bread cup (like a mini bunny chow).

Heat some oil and butter in a frying pan, and gently fry the crouton and bunny chow bread until golden brown and slightly toasted on the outside.

Set aside.

For the beetroot & goats cheese salad burger:

Using a very small round cutter, press out two round disks from the beetroot.

Roll (about a teaspoon per serving, or more if you like) the soft goats cheese into two little balls.

Using the same cookie cutter you used for the bread rounds, cut out two rounds from the lettuce.

For the tomato, onion & chilli salsa bunny chow burger:

Combine all the ingredients and allow to soak for at least 10 minutes at room temperature.

For the shoestring chips:

Cut the peeled potato into very thin strips.

Heat oil in a deep frying pan.

Test one chip, and if it sizzles and floats to the top the oil is ready.

Fry the chips in batches, and drain on paper towels.

You can keep them warm in the oven.

Serving

For the caramalised onion & gherkin crouton burger:

Place a cooked patty on top of the bread crouton and top that with a small scoop of caramelised onion and a gherkin.

For the beetroot & goats cheese salad burger:

Stack two lettuce rounds on top of each other.

Top that with a cooked patty, then the goats cheese ball and then the beetroot round.

For the tomato, onion & chilli salsa bunny chow burger:

Scoop some of the salsa into the bread cup, top that with a cooked patty and garnish with some more salsa.

Serve immediately with a generous helping of shoestring fries.