Thursday, September 30, 2010

Hamburgers with a Twist

When my mother decided to make hamburgers I knew that they wouldn't necessarily bear any resemblance to the mass produced variety we'd seen on television. The one thing I did know is that they would be delicious and they did indeed fulfil that criteria.

In fact, they were so good I still make them now. What impressed me at the time was the inventiveness of my mother and that they came with a hidden surprise - a deliciously gooey core of cheese.

hamburger© by Haalo


Hamburgers

300 grams beef mince
1 small red onion
1 small carrot
1 stalk celery
handful parsley leaves
1 heaped tablespoon tomato paste
freshly grated parmesan
salt and pepper
cheese, cut into cubes (Swiss and Cheddar are my favourites)
breadcrumbs


I take after my mother and prefer to mince my own beef - in this case I use girello, which is a very lean meat. You could equally use rump or topside.

You can chop the vegetables and parsley by hand into a very small dice or go for the time saving option and use a processor to get them nice and fine.

Place the mince and the prepared vegetables into a bowl, along with a heaped tablespoon of tomato paste and a generous handful of grated parmesan. Sprinkle over with a little sea salt and white pepper and then mix this together until evenly distributed - this is best done my hand. This also helps to work the proteins of the meat so the patty will stick together.

hamburger mixture© by Haalo


Divide the mixture evenly into 6 to 8 portions, depending on the size of hamburger you like. Remeber that these are going to be filled so they will be thicker than a normal hamburger. If you want to be pedantic, use a scale to get even-sized portions.

Take a portion roll it around in your palm to form a ball - flatten the ball in your palm and place a cube of cheese in the centre. Fold up the sides to cover the cheese and reshape to form a patty.

Repeat this process until all portions have been formed.

Place some breadcrumbs into a dish and take a patty and roll this round the crumbs to lightly coat. The crumbs help form a nicer crust.

hamburger© by Haalo


You can now store these in a sealed container in the fridge until ready to cook.

To cook:

Place a knob of butter and a little oil in a frying pan and place over a medium heat. When the butter has melted and has started to sizzle, add in the burgers, being careful not to crowd the pan. Brown both sides then transfer onto a baking paper lined tray.

Bake, in a pre-heated 180°C oven until cooked through - about 20 minutes depending on size. Turn them over half way through the cooking time.

hamburger© by Haalo


They are moist and far more tasty than plain old hamburgers. These weren't eaten in buns but as a companion to various vegetables. However, leftovers were surprising tasty eaten cold in rolls.

4 comments

  1. Oh my goodness, this looks incredible. The cheese centre just makes the dish...

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  2. These burgers so intrigued me. So much so that when I finished reading this post, I got up and went to my dining partner and demanded he read it too, followed by a "Can we PLEASEEEEE make this?"

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  3. Thanks Leaf - the cheese also lets you know that they have cooked through - it's doubly clever!

    Thanks F!

    Hope you enjoy them as much as I do Celeste! They are totally adaptable, add sage or rosemary, shredded zucchini, it's up to your imagination.

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