A delightfully fresh recipe that's perfect for when the Sun's about. Once again, burgers can be made up in advance, and frozen with ease if there are only a few of you. Beautiful either fried/ grilled or BBQ'd. Deduct measures by...
number of people, preference or taste. Never be afraid to toy with amounts or even the ingredients themselves, that's what cooking is about.
Ingredients (Serves 6 People) ::
Minted Lamb Burgers
500g Lamb Mince
Handful of Finely Chopped Mint (Dried will still work)
1 Tbsp Mint Sauce (Helps the flavour along without losing the freshness)
1 Egg Yolk
4 Garlic Cloves (Crushed)
Salt & Pepper (To taste)
Home-made Salsa
Dozen Cherry Tomatoes (Chopped)
1/2 Red Onion (Finely Chopped)
2 Garlic Cloves (Crushed)
Small bunch of Fresh Coriander
1/2 Lemon
Red Wine Vinegar (Cap-full)
Drizzle of Olive Oil
1/2 Red Chilli
Salt & Pepper
Chips
Potatoes (Preferably Maris Piper's)
Paprika/Chilli Powder/Cajun Spice
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Salad
3 Little Gem Lettuce
1/3 Cucumber
1 Cress Punnet
+ Ciabatta Loaf (enough for the number of diners)
1 Halloumi
1. Put the kettle on Boil, turn the oven to 200 degrees and put a baking tray in. Also grab a frying pan and a saucepan suitable for frying the burgers, & boiling the chips.
2. Chop the potatoes into about 1.5cm size chips, don't bother peeling (they get much crispier). Boil them for about 5 minutes then leave to steam for a few. Then, grab a mixing bowl and add the chips with a load of Olive oil, Paprika (or Cajun/Chilli Powder), Salt & Pepper. Toss the chips in the mixture, scatter over the baking tray and put back in the middle of the oven for about 45 minutes, giving them a good shake and flip every 20 or so minutes. As long as you keep an eye on them from around 40 minutes + you can't go wrong.
3. With the same bowl you've done your chips in, add the lamb mince, chopped mint, mint sauce, chopped garlic, egg yolk, and season well. Similar to my meatball recipe, you can mix with a spoon but getting stuck in with your hands will do the job far better. Divide the mixture into burger sizes of your choice. If they are too big they won't cook and will be overwhelmingly meaty and heavy to eat. You should get 6 or more from a typical supermarket Lamb Mince packet.
4. Now for the Salsa. I like to wash the seeds away from the Tomatoes as I think they can make the salsa taste more bitter than needed, but it's all personal preference.
Grab a bowl and squeeze the 1/2 lemon in. Add the finely Onion, Cherry Tomato, crushed Garlic, Chilli & Coriander. Drizzle over some Olive Oil, 1/2 a Cap of Red Wine Vinegar & season well. Toss the salsa well and set aside.You may need to cup the mixture and empty a bit of the dressing out if needed.
5. When the Chips are starting to look cooked, slice the Ciabatta in to Burger sized buns and lob in the oven. Get your frying pan on a fairly high heat, add the Burgers and cook for about 2 or 3 minutes on each side. This timing is based on burgers that are about 2cm thick. If you are worried about under cooking them, slice in to the middle of them and double check.
6. For the Salad Dressing, grab a mixing bowl and add a mixture of 3 parts Olive Oil to 1 Part Red Wine Vinegar (or Balsamic/White Wine Vinegar). Squeeze a small amount of lemon juice, season with Salt & Pepper and set aside. You should have about a shot's worth of dressing for 6 people.
Roughly chop the lettuce, finely slice the cucumber and snip the cress into the bowl. Toss well and set aside.
7. When the Ciabatta is done, slice it down the middle and drizzle a little Olive Oil on each half. Serve the Burgers on the bottom half and leave to rest while you prep the other elements.
8. Whilst the pan is still hot, slice the Halloumi and rub with Olive Oil. Fry them on a medium heat for about a minute on each side, or until golden. Any of these back end stages can be prepped in advance as not to be too rushed. Just be sure to save dressing the Salad until the last few minutes or else it will sog up.
9. Serve the Halloumi on top of the Burgers along with a good spoonful of Salsa. Serve the Salad on the side and a good helping of chips. If you want a nice dip for your chips that doesn't draw from the Burger too much, Creme Fraiche or Greek Yoghurt with some Lemon Juice beaten into it is a bloody delight.
Enjoy...
