Ultimate Fully Loaded Burgers!

Recently I made plans to meet a friend for dinner, unfortunately neither of us had much money. I hate eating out or searching for restaurants when I have got no money. The food always sounds great but any enjoyment is hampered by knowing that you can only afford half the things on the menu. After being underwhelmed by everything in my price bracket I thought why not just bring the pub to mine. I provided the food and she provided alcohol in various shapes and sizes. ( I apologise for the quality of the photos- many beverages had already been tested at this point!)

For ultimate pub-grub I decided to make us burgers. Everywhere seems to have their own view on what makes the best burger and I thought I would add my voice to the mix. I go simple normally with burgers, I stick to original beef but with all the trimmings. In my opinion both cheese and bacon are essential as is a good base of salad. All in all, I can confirm this recipe is the quick and easy way to make the perfect Friday night-in burgers that will rival any pub’s.

Burger with Sweet Potato Fries (serves 2)

• 125g of Beef mince (about half a small packet)
• An onion
• ground cumin
• ground coriander
• mustard powder
• Ketchup
• Cheese
• 4 strips of Bacon
• 2 rolls
• Lettuce
• Gherkins
• 1 beef tomato
• 2 sweet Potatoes

How to Make it…

• Start with the fries as they take the longest to cook. Cut the sweet potato into long, thin oblong shapes. Pop them in a pan of boiling water for 5 minutes to soften them up then drain and transfer them to an oven tray. Drizzle with oil and generous pinches of salt and pepper. Put in the oven at 180 degrees.
• Now for the burgers. Dice a bit less than half of the onion and add to a frying pan with olive oil. Put the mince along with a tea spoon of cumin, a pinch of coriander and mustard powder and salt and pepper. Add a squeeze of ketchup and the onions once they are softened. I don’t add any binding ingredients, I find the ketchup is enough to hold them together but if you are having a real nightmare then use a handful of breadcrumbs and an egg yolk, this should sort you out.
• Now slice the rest of the onion and put in a pan with a knob of butter, a tablespoon full of water and two teaspoons of brown sugar. leave on a medium heat.
• Form the burgers into two patties, try and make them fairly flat, I always fail on this, meaning it is impossible to get your chops around. Put them in a warm frying pan on a medium heat.
• Check on your fries and give them a shake up.
• Now turn your attention to your toppings, give your onions a quick stir and turn on the grill. Put your bacon under the grill until crispy on each side.
• If the burgers are now fully browned on one side carefully flip them.
• Once the burgers are almost cooked put a couple of thin slices of cheese. Take your bacon out from under the grill, it should be done by now anyway, and put the frying pan in, leaving the handle pointing out so that it doesn’t melt!
• Slice your buns in half and put them in the oven for two minutes while you finish everything else off.
• The cheese won’t take long to melt so work quickly and assemble all your burger accompaniments. For each burger you need, a couple of pieces of lettuce, a large slice of tomato and a thinly sliced gherkin.
• Now take out your buns, your burgers and your fries and assemble. But the salad on the bottom, then the burger and top with the crispy bacon and caramelised onions.
• squeeze on the sauce of your choice and serve with the fries. YUM! (and way better than the pub!)

Cost rating* I used 1/4 of a pack of mince costing £4, an onion costing 21p, 1/2 a packet of bacon costing £2.80, 1/10 f a block of cheese costing £3, 2 rolls costing 40p, 1/2 a pack of lettuce costing 80p, 1/10 of a jar of gherkins costing £1, 1/2 a beef tomato costing 80p, 2 sweet potatoes costing 25p, 1/20 of a bottle of ketchup costing £2. Total cost:£5.10, cost per head £2.55.

(the spices not included cost £1 each for the cumin and coriander and £1.37 for the mustard powder- if you don’t have any of the don’t stress the burger will still taste great)

Washing up rating * I used: a pan, a colander, a knife, a chopping board, an oven tray, a wooden spoon, a teaspoon, a mixing bowl, a frying pan, a spatula, the grill pan, tongs, plates and knives and forks.