Homemade Burgers
Ok this is a worldwide known dish that we rarely do at home given the many excellent options that are on offer in every city. Even in COVID times, we decided to help out some of our local burger places with home-delivery, so it is really no real difficulty in getting an amazing burger in Europe. There are even many rankings comparing the best burgers around the world, from fast-food joints to very gourmet restaurants….and a ton of them are in European capitals.
But hey! from time to time we do buy some high quality ingredients to do our own burger at home, and the kids actually enjoy it as they can add their own preferred spices and sauces. The key for us is really finding some good ingredients… fresh buns, bio ground-meat, fresh veggies…. and there very simply we are all set for a treat!
So here we go:
Ingredients (for 2 adults and 3 kids):
400 gr bio ground meat
Fresh buns
cheese (cheddar, bleu, etc..)
fresh tomatoes and salad (Roman or Rucola)
Onions and Pickled cucumber
Sauces: Mayonnaise, Ketchup, Mustard, Worcestershire or BBQ
Preparation:
1- In a bowl, prepare and season the meat with a pinch of salt and pepper. You can also cut an onion in small cubes and add it to the meat (keep in mind that some kids will not like the onion in the meat, so you can also skip it if needed).
2- then on the back of a plate put a handful of the meat shaped as a ball. Press it with another plate until it has a thickness of 1-2 cm.
3- To cook the meat, start by adding to a hot cast-iron skillet a tsp. of butter and place the meat patties for 2-3 min each side. While cooking the second side, add a tsp of Worcestershire sauce to the patties and the cheese so that it starts to melt.
4- Toast and cut the buns. To the bottom bun, add some fresh onion rings, the beef patty, salad, tomato and cucumber. You can season with other sauces directly to the top bun and you are ready.
5- As side dish I do recommend the oven-roasted vegetables or the typical French fries.
Enjoy !
Alternative: One ingredient that really makes a difference is the caramelised onions. Their preparation is somewhat long and it is very easy to fail, but they are really worthy! Here below you have a very good recipe from Simply Recipes ⬇︎
Onions Caramélisées
By Elise Bauer of Simply Recipes
Some ideas for interesting combinations:
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Beef patty, double Cheddar, double Bacon, Fried egg, Onions, BBQ-Sauce, Romana salad, Tomate, Cucumber & Jalapeños.
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Parmigiano, Parma ham, Rucola & Balsamico
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two beef patties, American cheese, bacon, fried onion, ketchup, mustard and pickles
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Creamy, funky blue cheese pairs beautifully with beef, bacon, lettuce and caramelized onions.
