14: Signature burger

Eat healthy to stay fit. Eat a burger to stay sane.

I'm no Michelin Star, Jamie Oliver super-chef extraordinaire, but I do fancy myself on the BBQ. I often have friends over during the summer for a swim and show off my skills by putting on a feast. I am more of a hotdog and chicken guy, but I wanted to add THE BURGER to my limited BBQ menu. I didn't want to make just any old burger however, I wanted to craft my signature burger.

Au Cheval in Chicago

I love burgers. My favourite is Easey's Burgers in Collingwood, followed closely by Au Cheval in Chicago and then storming home in third place is the classic Simply Grilled. Everyone overlooks Grilled because they are a chain, but they make a mighty fine burger. The worst burger I ever had was in Greece. The restaurant had a revolutionary build your own burger menu system, which was great until you realised the burger was dry and tasteless. Making things worse we went back the next day to try the chicken burger instead... big mistake.

Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice can't get fooled again. Unless your Bob's Burgers in Mykonos, because that place could fool anyone.

I wanted my burger to be centred around capsicum, my favourite vegetable. I went down to the Prahran market to pick up some meat (lamb and beef), veggies, lots of different burger buns and condiments. Today was experimentation day. From the eight burgers it was very hit and miss. The burger I loaded up with every spice from mum's cupboard made me teary, and another fell apart in my hands. But I eventually landed on a beef based capsicum burger with challah buns and home made big mac sauce. Yum!

I eventually served these burgers at the annual Grand Final Day BBQ Bash that I host every year for my friends. They were a huge success and will be served many more times in the future.

If you would like to make these burgers a recipe is provided bellow:

Ingredients

For the sauce

2 tbl spoons mild yellow mustard (make sure it is mild, I gave my girlfriend the hot version and she almost cried)

2 tbl spoons mayonnaise

1/2 tbl spoon pickled gherkins

1 tspn paprika

1 tspn ground galic

1 tspn onion powder

For the patty

1.5 kilos minced beef (try get beef with a high fat grade)

3 red capsicums

2 red chilis

1.5 onions

Salt

Pepper

Oil

2 eggs

Sliced cheese

For the burger

2 red tomatos

2 baby lettuce

1/2 jar of Fehlbergs Burger Pickles

1 red capsicum

2 onions

8 challah burger rolls (best purchased from Glicks Bakery)

The Sauce

Add the ingredients into a medium sized mixing bowl and stir with a fork until they are mixed well. Taste the sauce to see if the ratios are correct adding either mayo, mustard or gherkin to balance the flavours.

The Burger

Cut 2 onions in half and slice them thinly. Place these onion slices into a pan with oil over a medium heat for 10 minutes. Place the grilled onion into a bowl to be served with the burger.

Tear the layers off the baby lettuce, cut the challah bagels in half (you can lightly toast these if you want for 1 minute on the grill), slice the red capsicum and slice the tomato into thin pieces. Place all ingredients into seperate bowls ready for the assembly phase.

The Patty

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees celsius. Slice the capsicum and chilli into long thin sheets about 1/2 inch wide. Add these to a baking tray with foil and pour a dash of oil over the top. Put into the oven for about 20-25 minutes or until the capsicum is soft. Whilst that is cooking, dice up 1 and 1/2 onions. Take the capsicum and chilli out of the oven and slice into small bite sized pieces. Place the onions, capsicum and chilli into a blender and mix until a pasty consistency.

Add the mince meat and capsicum mixture to a large mixing bowl along with salt and pepper. Add two eggs and mix well with your hands. Roll a handful of the mixture in the palm of your hands creating an oval shaped patty. Do this until the meat is finished. Place the patties into a tray and leave in the fridge for 10 minutes before cooking.

Cook the burgers on the grill on one side for 4-6 minutes or until the cooked bit of the meat reaches 3/4 up the burger, cook the other side between 2-4 minutes or until cooked through. Make sure you season your burger patties with salt and pepper throughout this process. 1 minute before you are ready to take the burger patty off the grill add a piece of sliced cheese on top so that it melts over the corners of the patty.

Assembly

Place the bottom half of the challah bun onto a small serving plate. Take the sauce out of the fridge and add a generous spread of sauce to the bottom layer. Take the burger off the grill and add it to the bun. Generously add another layer of sauce. Add the next three layers - capsicum, tomato slices and lettuce. Use tongs to add the grilled onions and burger pickles. Finally add one more layer of sauce to the top half of the burger bun and close to finish.

Voila, you have made the Jason signature burger!