Basic Hamburgers

Basic Hamburgers

These hamburgers are made with recipe is from Darina Allen’s – Ballymaloe Cookery Course.

Darina Allen's basic hamburger recipe
Before making these I hadn’t had a hamburger since going gluten-free. These hit the spot nicely.

There are so many wonderful dinner recipes in this cookbook and you might be disappointed that I chose a basic hamburger recipe. I’m not. These are delicious and so much better than the drive-thru takeaway ones that I had been craving.

They’re simple and quite quick to make. I’ve made them twice now and both times I prepared them the night before and cooked them the next day. Don’t know if this makes any difference or not. You’ll have them prepped in 10 minutes, cooked in about 5. They are great. And so good with baked potatoes and salad.

darina allen cookery book
This recipe is from Darina Allen’s – Ballymaloe Cookery Course

The baked potatoes I cooked according to the instructions in the book – this book really does cover everything. So she says you shouldn’t cook baked potatoes in tin foil because it make the skins soft and sometimes even soapy. What you’re supposed to do is just prick them a few times with a knife, bake them for an hour at 200C and then smother them in butter. She doesn’t say it quite like that but that’s roughly the gist of it. They are gorgeous. Dangerously so. I may never bother cooking potatoes any other way.

For the minced beef I just minced up some stewing beef, with the fat taken off, in the food processor. I then added all the rest of the ingredients to the food processor and mixed them together in that. I love stuff I can slice and blend all in the blender because it just makes the whole thing so quick and easy, and slightly less of mess. Although I did end up spilling some of the ingredients on the page of the book… And then remembered I hadn’t yet taken a photo of the ingredients.

For the gluten free buns I used the gluten free brown rolls you can get in Aldi cut in half and toasted. Nothing like a normal hamburger bun but I think you’re actually better off not trying to replicate any wheat products exactly because you usually end up reminding yourself what you’re missing. And the important bit of a hamburger is the meat and the dressings, right? Maybe not for everyone but I think so.

For the spicy ketchup, my own simple mix of ketchup, some English Mustard, some wholegrain mustard and some chilli (dried chilies blended and preserved in vinegar).

The recipes also has the option of wrapping the patties in pork caul fat. I didn’t do this. They were still delicious.

ingredients for homemade hamburgers
Minced onion fried in butter, minced beef, fresh thyme leaves, fresh parsley, egg, salt and pepper.

Basic Hamburgers

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Makes 4 - 6 patties

Basic Hamburgers

Ingredients

  • 10g butter
  • 50g onion, finely chopped
  • 450g beef (flank, chump or shin would be perfect), freshly minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
  • 1/2 teaspoon parsley, finely chopped
  • 1 small egg beaten
  • salt and freshly ground pepper
  • pork caul fat (optional)
  • oil or dripping for frying

Instructions

  1. Melt the butter in a pan and toss in the onion, sweating until soft but not coloured. Leave to get cold.
  2. Meanwhile mix the mince with the herbs and beaten egg, season with salt and pepper, add the onions and mix well. Fry off a tiny bit in the pan to check the seasoning and correct if necessary.
  3. Then shape in to hamburgers, 4-6 depending on the size you require. Wrap each in caul fat if using. Cook to your taste in a medium hot pan or in a grill pan, turning once.
http://twimii.com/recipes/basic-hamburgers/

hamburgers for dinner
Hamburgers, a mix of gluten-free and wheaten buns, mayonnaise, spicy ketchup, carmelised onions, baked potatoes and a little salad.