Burgers

Despite the adverts that bombard us every single day, I still believe that home-cooked burgers are the best tasting and healthiest. I never make burgers with commercial burger mixes or patties. I choose the beef, have it ground and make my own patties. Good-quality lean ground beef is a good second option. Whichever you choose to use, make sure that the beef is finely ground. Meat grinders have different settings–fine, medium, coarse. How the beef is ground depends on how you intend to cook it. Meat for burgers must be finely ground to avoid crumbling during cooking.

What to go with your home-cooked burgers? Your choice. These are the ones my kids enjoy–onion rings, tomato slices, cheese and lettuce. My husband and I add pickles to ours.

There are many ways of cooking burgers–grilled, broiled or skillet-fried. I prefer broiling. It gets rid of all unecessary fat and it’s the least messy way to cook my burgers. What I did was to place the patties on a pizza rack photo herewith a large cake tin underneath to catch the drippings.

Ingredients :

500 g. of lean ground beef (preferably sirloin)
1 tbsp. of finely chopped garlic
1 onion, finely chopped
1^1/2 tsp. of salt
1/2 tsp. of ground black pepper
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp. of fine bread crumbs

Cooking procedure :

Mix all the ingredients together. Using your hands, form into patties about 3/4 of an inch thick. The size (diameter) depends on the size of your burger buns). Don’t make your burgers too thick to avoid having burgers that are nicely browned on the outside but still uncooked at the center.

Broil, grill or skillet-fry. If grilling or frying, turn once during cooking to brown both sides. Brush with a little steak sauce just before the burgers finish cooking. Whichever way you decide to cook your burgers, cook them over very high heat to brown the outside while the inside stays moist and juicy. If grilling, place the grill 6 to 8 inches from the live coals. If broiling, the rack should be just as far from the heat. If frying, set the heat to high. Transfer to a plate as soon as they are cooked and serve immediately.

Serving suggestions:

Prepare a variety of condiments–lettuce, onions, tomatoes, cheese, pickles– and dressings/sauces–mayonnaise, catsup, chili sauce–and serve them together with the burgers. I actually encourage my kids to prepare their own sandwiches so they can decide just how much lettuce or tomatoes or onions they want.