Cooking with an Empire's Child - Week 2 The New World

It's time to make the (best) hamburger.

Here are the ingredients you need to make the sauce first. Mix together

1/4 cup salad cream (like Miracle Whip)

1/4 cup mayonnaise

3 tbsp French salad dressing (don't ask why there's a lump in mine. Just don't).

Mix these up nice in a bowl. Then chop 1 dill pickle (gherkin)

until it's really small

Chop up 1 slice fresh onion (keep the rest of the onion for the burgers)

Add it to the bowl with

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp vinegar

1 tsp ketchup

and finally 1/8 tsp salt.

Stir together and microwave on high for 25 seconds. Stir again and put into the fridge till you're ready to eat.

Now get the rest of the bits ready. First I must introduce you to a gadget that I cannot do without.

Is it not a thing of beauty? What is it, you ask?

It is a Tupperware Hamburger Squasher. You take your minced meat, weigh it out carefully to a quarter pound, pop it in the Squasher, and Squash.

This gives you beautifully shaped burgers, even thickness and with nice sharp edges. If you don't have a squasher, the best way to do this is to press your minced beef out on a flat surface to about a half inch thick, then cut out rounds with a glass. Press it down firm so that  it doesn't break up.

You aren't going to add anything to the mince, just sprinkle with salt and pepper after you have formed them. You want to keep that meat nice and pure. That's why it's important to buy good quality minced beef.

Now decide how you are going to cook them. They must either be grilled over a charcoal fire, or char-grilled on a griddle. You have to get that slightly smoky burnt flavour. Get your fire ready now if you need to.

Now slice up the onion as fine as you can.

Pop it in a frying pan with some olive oil on low heat and let it sweat.

Now slice up your dill pickles as fine as you can.

Do the same with the tomatoes.

Wash the lettuce and let it drain and dry.

Put your burgers on the very hot fire or griddle. You want to only turn them once. This is our lovely Weber barbeque. We would not use anything else.

(Yes we actually have two).

Oh yum. There is nothing like meat on the grill. Really. Not even the gooiest chocolatiest creamiest dessert is quite as good.

Back in the kitchen, get your buns toasted. If you don't have a toaster, use the grill.

When the meat is ready you can assemble your masterpiece. Like this.

Mm carbs.

Ooh greens.

Ahh fruit (yes really!)

SAUCE!!

ONIONS and BURGER!!

YES!!

I shared this on