Bbq Recipe 2 : hamburger.

Round two of bbq series is here, with a recipe for one of my favourite things in the whole world - the hamburger. There isn’t much i can write that hasn’t already been written about hamburgers, except perhaps that i would lose an eye and an ear as opposed to never eat another hamburger in my life. unless someone else has written that, then perhaps i’ll write that i’d take my own life and that of my best friend rather than never gobble down another morsel of greasy patty…which is 100% not true, but i feel i’d have to write something to trump the last one, and offering a body part would almost be plagarism. they’re just words anyway…

Yeah. You’ll need -

minced beef

salt

pepper

processes cheese slice

bun

Now i don’t believe a hamburger should be embellished in any other way. You are more than welcome to fill your hamburgers with spices, herbs, garlic, breadcrumbs or eggs, but i like a burger to taste like well seasoned meat. Others worry it won’t stay together, but it will if you keep it at the right temperature. The only thing i do do differently is place the cheese inside the burger, as if it was an infamous and elusive treasure waiting to be discovered by a gallant and handsome explorer named daniel, but it is mostly because i am single and people don’t phone me enough. I’ve heard this is called a ‘juicy lucy’ in some quarters, but i just call it ‘hamburger with some cheese inside’. You can feel free to change up the cheese depending on your preferences, and so many cheeses work so well in this, but for some reason, the gooey yellow fat of the processed cheese works best on my palate/love handles.

To compile the hamburger, take a good handful of meat seasoned with salt and pepper and split this in two. Form into half inch burgers about the size of your palm. Take your cheese and place in the middle of these two burgers, then crimp the edges down. The key to keeping your burgers from falling apart is keeping them in the fridge before you cook them. It’s quite simple really.

Throw the little fellows on the bbq when you’re ready, or like i have here, cook in a hot frying pan, until you’ve got a pretty brown crust on the outside and some medium pink meat on the inside. The added bonus of the pan is that you can fry a split bun in the meat juices, which is the cooking equivalent of buying your burger a gift or beating your waistline to death with a blunt weapon made of fat.

Top it with whatever you like or some gherkins and caramelized onion.

picture coutesy of http://findmatthewcoleman.tumblr.com/

Bbq Season : Lamb Kebabs.

It’s bbq season, or at least it was last weekend when i made this. Over the next few weeks i’ll try and cover as much as i can before the tiny window of opportunity closes once more. I like bbq a lot because i like to get drunk and cook, and it never seems quite as appropriate when i’m alone in a kitchen at three o’clock on a wednesday afternoon.

This is a pretty good recipe to pull out if you’re getting tired of the 3 for 2 deals, the 20 burgers for a high five deals, or the quails legs dipped in food colouring offers in your local supermarket. It requires a modicum of effort and is guaranteed to make people rethink bringing a bag of dog cocks from Iceland to your table. Here’s what you need…

a good helping of minced lamb, lets say 500g.

1 tbsp each of cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fennel seeds and ras-al-hanout.

salt and pepper

olive oil

coriander stalks

Just like the previous lamb recipe, you need to toast your seeds for the spice mix, so get to it. Once cooled, add them to a mortar with the ras-al-hanout and salt and pepper and give it a pounding. Add this spice mix to the meat and mix well, add your chopped coriander stalks and form into sausage shapes. To finish your prep, coat them with a little olive oil once they’re formed so they don’t stick together between the time you make them and the time they go on the grill.

I serve these in turkish flatbread or pitta with tzatziki. the recipe for which is as follows…

a cucumber

few tablespoons worth of yoghurt

a twist of lemon juice

tablespoon of good e.v olive oil

chopped coriander and mint

salt and pepper

Split the cucumber in half horizontally and then take one piece, take a peeler to the skin and split it vertically. Spoon out the seeds and mince with a knife or grate it. Put it in a sieve over a bowl and throw some salt over it to extract the water. Let it sit for 20 minutes or so, then wash the salt off and squeeze out as much of the juice as possible.

Combine this processed cucumber with the rest of the ingredients and season to taste.

Now go and get drunk.

picture coutesy of http://findmatthewcoleman.tumblr.com/