If I am making a burger, a meat loaf or patties, a plate of meatballs or lambkofta, I like to start from scratch. Easy though it is to buy the meat ready minced, I prefer to chooseawhole piece and prepare it myself. Not that there is anything wrong with the mince you will get from a decent butcher, it's just that Ilike to know the whole story.
The point of making your own mince is not only knowing exactly what it is made from, but taking the chance to make it as coarse or as fineas you wish. I prefer a mince thatis rough and open in texture, despite the fact that my burger will probably crumble a little on the grill, or my meat loaf will fall apart.
You can mince pretty much any cut of meat you like for a patty. Butcher's mince is economical and will vary according to what they have around to use up. This often makes the most interesting mince of all, using cuts we rarely see on display. Although Ihave tried everything from rump totopside in a burger, I prefer chuck or skirt. Ilike a bit of fat in there, too, though not so much that it smokes everyone out if you decide to slap your burger on the barbecue.
To get a burger with a nice open texture it is probably best to chop the meat rather than mince it. This can be hard work, but worth it. Cut the meat into fine dice, as small as you can, removing any bits of fat or sinew, before chopping it to a coarse mince. The slightly uneven texture you end up with gives a looser, less tight texture. It means you will need to handle the results with care if you are to keep them in one piece.
I will often cook a burger without any seasoning other than salt and pepper. Occasionally I will introduce a single herb, such as rosemary, very finely chopped, or a little thyme. But the beef burgers I grilled one blistering evening last week got aspike of extra heat from a shredded ripe chilli and some deep, smoky notes from sun-dried tomatoes, aningredient I will rarely admit to using. The hot, smoky notes just felt right and worked neatly with atomato salad.
Good though a beef burger can be, my heart lies with patties, meatballs and burgers made from pork. Any cut will do for the mince, and a little fat is no bad thing, but again I like to keep the minced meat coarse. Usual flavourings are grated ginger, ground coriander or lemon, but this time Iintroduced the sweet-sharpness of quince paste. It made for a ravishingly good little burger.
Beef, chilli and sun-dried tomato burger
Makes 4
steak – skirt, chuck, rump etc 400g
red chilli 1, medium-sized
sun-dried tomatoes in oil 6 tbsp
chives 6, long
For the salad:
avocados 2
basil leaves 6 or 7
lime 1
Very finely chop or mince the steak. Halve the chilli lengthways, discard the seeds, and chop the flesh very finely. Drain the sun-dried tomatoes, chop them almost to a pulp, then toss them with the steak mince, chillies and a generous seasoning of salt. Roll a tablespoon of the meat into a small patty, then cook briefly on both sides in a little oil in a shallow pan. Taste the patty, then alter the seasoning of the remaining mixture to taste. Share the remaining mixture into four thick patties.
You can fry or grill the burgers. I prefer them on the grill, but they need to be turned carefully as they cook so that they don't fall apart. Let them cook for 4 or 5 minutes on each side, turning until they are fully browned on both sides.
Halve the avocados, remove and discard the stone, remove the skin then slice the flesh. Tear or finely shred the basil leaves and stir into the juice of the lime. (You will get more juice from the lime if you warm it a little first, then roll it hard on the table with the palm of your hand.) Dress the avocado with the lime and basil.
Quince pork burger
Many burger recipes use raw onion, but I prefer to cook the onions a little first. Makes 6.
For the burger:
red onion 1
quince paste (membrillo) 2 heaped tbsp
minced pork 400g
oil a little
For the salad:
tomatoes 4
radish sprouts a handful
Peel and finely chop the red onion, then cook it for 10 minutes in a shallow pan in alittle oil until soft and pale gold. Stir regularly, making sure the onion doesn't brown, then mix in the quince paste and set aside.
Put the minced pork in a mixing bowl, stir in the onion and quince paste, then season with salt and black pepper. Shape the mixture into thick patties about the size of a digestive biscuit, then leave to rest and firm up a little in the fridge.
Heat a large, well-seasoned iron griddle (or a heavy nonstick frying pan with a little oil). Add the burgers and cook for 4 or 5 minutes, until the undersides start to become deep brown, turn and cook the other sides, then lower the heat and cover with a lid. Once they are sizzling, sticky and sweet, they should be cooked. (The only true way to check that they are cooked through to the middle is to break one in half.)
For the salad, slice the tomatoes thickly, then as soon as you have removed the burgers, add them to the pan and toss in the hot juices. Add the radish sprouts, thenserve with the burgers, tucking the salad on top of the patty or sandwiching it all together in a bun.
Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk
