‘Smash’ beef burgers, three ways
You can flavour a pack of beef mince in so many ways. Use the highest-fatcontent mince you can find, ideally 20 per cent. The fat will baste the burgers from the inside as they cook, keeping them juicy and helping them stick together. You make these as balls and literally smash them on to a hotplate, or chapa, to cook, preserving any precious juices. You can improvise by using a heavy-duty baking sheet or flameproof frying pan on the grill, but it is so useful that I’d recommend investing in a chapa, for cooking things that would fall through the grill bars, such as asparagus. Netherton Foundry makes brilliant ones (see below).
MAKES FOUR BURGERS INGREDIENTS
800g beef mince (ideally 20 per cent fat)
½ small onion, finely grated 4 burger buns of your choice Rocket or salad leaves, to serve Mayonnaise, ketchup or other sauces, to serve
For mustard cheese burgers
American mustard, for drizzling 4 cheese slices
For Moroccan spiced burgers
6 dried apricots, finely chopped 25g fresh coriander, finely chopped
2 tsp cumin seeds, crushed, or ground cumin
For herb, olive and feta burgers
2 tsp dried mixed herbs
40g pitted green olives, chopped 200g feta, cut into 5mm-thick slices
METHOD
Put the mince into a mixing bowl along with the onion and a good grind of salt and pepper.
For mustard burgers, just lightly mix this together, taking care not to overwork the meat or it will toughen up. For Moroccan spiced burgers, mix in the apricots, coriander and cumin. For the herb and olive burgers, mix in the dried herbs and chopped olives. Shape into four even-sized balls.
Fire up your barbecue for direct cooking. Set a chapa, baking sheet or frying pan on to the grill bars to get hot. Firmly press the burger balls on the hot chapa with a fish slice until flat. Sear the bottom of the burgers for two to three minutes so they get a nice crust. Alternatively, shape the meat into flat patties and cook directly on the grill. For Moroccan spiced burgers, cook for two to three minutes each side (three to four if you like yours a little less pink). For mustard burgers, drizzle a little mustard over the uncooked side, spreading out with your fish slice, then flip over and add a little more mustard to the cooked side. Flip once more so you get a lovely crust all over. Add the cheese and put the barbecue lid on so it melts a little.
For herb and olive burgers, add the feta for the last couple of minutes of cooking so it starts to melt. If you splash just a little water on your chapa before shutting the lid again, it will help the cheese melt.
Whichever burgers you have made, once cooked, stuff into warmed buns and add salad and condiments of choice.
SWAPS
The Moroccan burgers are excellent made with lamb mince.
Mature cheddar works well for the mustard burgers, but you can use any cheese.
LEFTOVERS
The burgers can be easily frozen before cooking, separated with sheets of greaseproof paper.