The Ultimate Burger

This one really ROCKS! I had some ground beef left over from the chili so I figured hamburgers would be fun to make.

The inspiration came from Jamie Oliver (you’ll find a lot of my inspiration comes from Jamie – one of my life goals: meet and cook with Jamie Oliver).

I called in my youngest son and together we ground up some bread to make crumbs, chopped the onions (cried a little), pulled together the cumin, cardamon, cilantro, eggs, salt, pepper and parmesan cheese.

Assembly was a blast. What little boy doesn’t love getting up to their elbows in messy beef mixture. Of course a thorough washing of the hands came shortly after. :)

As an added bonus, I got a hamburger press on boxing day. My little guy loved mashing the burger mixture into beef pucks (his words).

I fried the burgers on my cast-iron skillet. I absolutely love it. There’s something very back-to-basics about cast-iron.

I served the burgers on some weight watchers thin sandwich/burger buns (amazing what the kids hop over when you don’t make a fuss about it yourself), topped with cheddar cheese, a little mayo, ketchup, mustard, relish, dill pickle, red onion, and arugula.

Of course, the test came with the first bite, and what a bite it was. Juicy, and oh so tasty. The kids gave it emphatic thumbs up and told me I could open a restaurant on this one. They even said these burgers should replace our Friday pizza night. Now that’s a compliment!

The great thing is you can make these up ahead of time and freeze the patties. Simply Defrost them in the fridge the night before you plan to prepare them.

Once again, thanks for the great meals Jamie!
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The Ultimate Burger
From: Jamies Dinners by Jamie Oliver, 2004

• 2 1/4lb chuck steak, or good ground steak
• 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
• Olive oil
• a pinch of cumin seeds
• 1 tablespoon corander seeds
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• a handful of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 heaping tablespoon English Mustard (I used dijon and was very happy)
• 1 large free-range egg
• 1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs
• 8 burger buns

If you’re using chuck steak to make your burgers, slice it up and pulse it in a food processor. Transfer the meat to a bowl. In a big frying pan cook the onion in a little olive oil for about 5 minutes until softened but no colored. Add the onion to the meat – it will give sweetness to the burger. Using a pestle and mortar, bash up the cumin and coriander seeds with a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper until fine and add to the meat. Then add the Parmesan, mustard, egg and half the breadcrumbs and mix well. If the mixture is too sticky add a few more breadrumbs.

Fry your burgers in a little oil on a medium to high heat for about 8 to 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the burgers and how you like them, turning occasionally. Serve them on toasted burger buns, with tomato, ketchup, and anything else you like to add.