Homemade Gourmet Burgers

Autumn is here but there is always time for one last barbeque – unless you live in Britain. Homemade burgers are cheap, easy and fun to make.

Ingredients

400gms minced beef.
2 cups wholemeal breadcrumbs. Homemade are best as they don’t have as many preservatives.
2-3 walnuts cracked, toasted and finely chopped. Roasted chestnuts are a great alternative.
1 egg.
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped.
1 large red onion, very finely chopped.
2 tblsp freshly chopped thyme. Oregano or basil also works very well.
Good grind of salt and pepper (½ tsp-1tsp of each).
½ tsp Cayenne pepper.

This is one of my easiest recipes. Put all of the ingredients into a large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly by hand ensuring and even distribution of all the ingredients. If you find the mix is too dry add a few teaspoons of red wine, stout, ale or just plain water.

Put the wet ingredients in a bowl for mixing

Add the dry ingredients

Once mixed make fist or apple sized balls of mixture and shape them into a burger patties. I find gently flattening the ball of mixture on a piece of grease proof paper works well as you can turn it and shape it into a circle much easier. They should be about 2cm thick when finished.

Mix ingredients by hand

Shape the mixture into patties.

Stack the burgers with grease proof paper or baking parchment in between each burger. This will make the cooking part a lot easier. Cover and store in the fridge for a few hours to allow the flavours of the herbs to mix. Remove from the fridge about 20 minutes before cooking to bring them up to room temperature.

Remove the parchment and place the burgers on an oiled hotplate or in a sauté pan. Cook each side for about 3-4 minutes, thicker burgers longer.

Serve the burgers with baby spinach leaves, sliced fried onion, mozzarella cheese and sliced Roma tomatoes in fresh rustic style grilled buns with relish, tomato sauce or mayonnaise. As all too often the results got eaten before photos were taken. I will focus on images rather than appetite next time!

Tags: burgers

About the Author

Gareth Englishman in Sydney loves a whisky, pies and all things savoury. Digital Marketer by day, cook the rest of the time. Amateur writer, photographer & aspiring anthropologists.