Pat PilcherIn the second part of his Great Burger Odyssey, PAT PILCHER goes all DIY and whips up the ultimate homemade cheeseburger.
Armed with burger crafting tips from some of Wellington’s best burger masters, I set to work. After testing several variations, I finally settled on a cheeseburger, which is both easy to make and uses ingredients that you can find in most supermarkets. You can, of course, substitute your own variations, so feel free to experiment with your own masterpieces!
Ingredients
Burger buns (brioche or potato)
100 minced beef (per person)
Sliced cheese (Cheddar, or processed – in fact, use any cheese you really like)
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper
American mustard
Smokey BBQ sauce
3 x pepper dew pickled peppers or 1 x dill pickle
Fresh lettuce
1x sliced tomato
Oil (rice bran is best)
Method
Roll 100g of minced beef into a ball
Preheat a heavy pan (cast iron, ideally)
Wash lettuce under cold water to refresh and gently dab dry using a paper towel
Slice tomatoes
Slice cheese into pieces big enough to cover a burger pattie
Cut burger buns in half
Add small amount of oil to the hot pan
Slice pepper dew/dill pickles thinly along their length so you have thin strips
Sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper onto the top and bottom of the beef mince balls
Place beef ball in the hot pan
Once the bottom of the beef ball is starting to look and smell cooked, flatten it with a fish slice and turn it over
Place sliced cheese on the cooked side of the beef pattie and cover with a pot lid until the cheese is melted, covering the top of the beef pattie
Place both halves of the burger bun cut side down on the hot pan and lightly toast
Spread a small amount of mustard to the toasted side of one burger bun, placing sliced pepper dews or slice of dill pickle on the mustard
Place tomato on the pickle, followed by the lettuce
Place the meat pattie cheese side down on the mustard/tomato/lettuce
On the other side of the pattie spread a thin layer of BBQ sauce
Place the other bun on the pattie
Voila! Enjoy!
Part 1 of Pat’s Great Burger Odyssey, where he soaks up the advice of Wellington’s best burger chefs and then chews on their fabulous creations, can be found here.
