Recipe: The Astro Burger

After recently being disappointed with the stuffed range at Handmade Burger Co (read the review here), we were left wondering if it was possible to actually create a stuffed burger that wouldn’t result in the contents found the middle evaporating during cooking. Our good friend @Astro_Pol (follow him on Twitter!) was up to the challenge and set about creating the best stuffed burger you are ever likely to try. We invited him to James vs. Burger HQ to show us how it’s done and as soon we took our first bite, we were in stuffed burger heaven. Following this recipe will result in the best stuffed burgers you’ll ever eat whether it’s in a restaurant or homemade.

The Astro Burger consists of a 50% lamb, 50% beef patty, infused with picante peppers, jalapenos, garlic and various herbs, containing a disc of smoked applewood and topped off with a homemade sweet balsamic beetroot relish on a red leicester and onion bun.

INGREDIENTS:

200g lamb mince
200g beef mince
6 jalapeno slices
4 sweet piquante peppers
3 cloves of garlic
Paprika
Black pepper
Oregano
Basil
Smoked applewood cheese
1 tablespoon of sweet chilli sauce

(Serves two)

First, use a hand blender (or chop finely) to mix the jalapenos, piquantes, garlic, sweet chilli sauce and herbs (take care not to add too much or it’ll kill the flavours in the meat). Leave them still slightly chunky so that you get a bit of texture; you don’t want to make it into a puree. Then, put it in a bowl with the meat and get your hands dirty. Make sure the meat has absorbed pretty much all of your mixture and ensure that both meats have been well mixed together. We elected not to use lean mince so as to avoid the need for a binding agent.

Once that’s done, split the meat into 4 equal portions. Use your hands to craft the bottom section of both burgers, leaving a slight dip in the middle to allow for the cheese. As best you can, slice a reasonable portion of the smoked applewood and round its edges, making a disc. The cheese disc shouldn’t be so large that it comes too close to the edge of the burger; use your own judgement here. Place it in the middle of your burger bases and then mould the other 2 portions into the tops of your burgers. Pop them on and fuse the 2 halves together at the edges. Remember to lift the burgers and gently press them together to avoid them coming apart in the pan. Now, they’re ready to cook.

Put a small amount of oil in the frying pan and wait until it starts to smoke. Pop both burgers in and turn them every few minutes. Make sure they don’t stick, but it’s OK for them to burn a bit if you enjoy that lovely charcoal flavour. When they’re almost ready, you’ll see the cheese starts to escape. Give them another couple of minutes just to be sure.

After that, put them on your bun (we went with red leicester and onion rolls from Sainsbury’s), ladle on a couple of spoonfuls of relish (recipe below) and you’re good to go!

BEETROOT, RED ONION & TOMATO RELISH – RECIPE

– Half then thinly slice 2 small red onions and fry them gently in olive oil
– Add 10 halved cherry tomatoes to the pan
– Dice 3/4 beetroot (depending on size) and add them to the pan
– Add 1 teaspoon of sugar, salt, pepper and a good splash of balsamic vinegar (to taste)
– Let it bubble on low/med until it reaches a nice jam consistency (5-10 mins). Please note that if using raw beetroot – it takes longer to cook and you may need to add a little water to keep it from drying out too much.
– Leave to cool a little or chill completely before serving

(Makes two jars)

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