Last Friday I expected to get from work, have something to eat and then head out to see a presentation of the Notes on Montreal concert. This was slightly affected by my getting caught in the office for half an hour past the usual time and also for a stop at the butcher to get something to cook quickly before leaving the house again. My girlfriend even suggested we grabbed a burger in the greasy spoon around the corner, but the quality of their burgers hasn’t been the same since they made some staff changes a few months ago. So I suggested we just cooked ground beef to have with the mashed potatoes we had in the fridge before leaving (quick to make) and had burgers over the weekend.
I’d made burgers at home before, but this time there would be a twist: it would involve also baking my own burger buns.
We started working on it on Saturday afternoon. I used a recipe for Challah, but instead of braiding it, I separated the dough into six buns (note to self: you can make more buns with this recipe). Also, as a result of teamwork, we prepared coleslaw to go with it (she sliced what seemed like 2 kg of cabbage, onions and carrots, I slice half an apple -a big one- and mixed everything). We also scored 200 grams of raw milk emmental cheese.
On Sunday, before preparing the burgers, I made caramelized onions on scotch. With all the above said, I’ll keep this text short and let the pictures do the talking. I will also include some of the recipes, starting with the burgers. To make each patty, you just take about 120 grams of ground beef, add salt, pepper and, if needed, olive oil (you need some fat in it), and mix well by hand. Leave it at room temperature for a while before grilling it. Add cheese to the top of it.
Not mentioned anywhere, we also added rocket leaves to the burger.
Recipes after the jump.
Challah burger buns
Ingredients
500 grams of white flour
200 ml of warm water
75 grams of melted butter
2 eggs (+1 to glaze)
20 grams of fresh yeast
10 grams of salt
20 grams of sugar
Directions
1. Add flour and salt to a bowl. In a separated recipient, dissolve the sugar in the water and add the yeast.
2. Let the yeast/water/sugar mix rest for about 10 minutes. In the meantime, melt the butter and mix in the eggs (remove it from the heat).
3. Add all the liquids to the flour/salt mix and knead until the dough is uniform and smooth. Cover it and let it rest for 1 hour.
4. After 1 hour, press the dough so it releases some of the air. Let it rest for another hour.
5. Cut the dough into smaller parts (from a quick mental calculation, eight parts should work). With the hand, make each into a ball and flatten them. Place them on a baking tray and cover for another 45 minutes. Pre-heat the oven to 200° Celsius (395° Fahrenheit).
6. Beat one egg and brush the buns with it. Sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds. Place them in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes.
Coleslaw
Ingredients
Half a head of cabbage
3 carrots
1/2 an onion
1/4 cup of cider vinegar
1/2 an apple
2 teaspoons of mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon of dill seeds
Directions
1. Chop all the vegetables. Sprinkle the cabbage with salt and place it on a colander with something heavy on top. In the meantime, put the onion in the vinegar and leave it while the cabbage drains (about 1 hour).
2. In a bowl, add all the vegetables, the mayonnaise, chopped apple and onion. Add dill seeds, salt and sugar and mix well.
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Scotch caramelized onions
Ingredients
1 onion thinly sliced
1 shot of scotch or bourbon – optional
1/8 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of vegetable oil
1 teaspoon of butter
Directions
1. In a small pan add the vegetable oil and butter. Heat it up until melted.
2. Add the onions and stir until they are lightly brown.
3. Add the sugar and salt and mix well with the onion.
4. Add the shot of whisky and mix until the liquid evaporates. Skip this step if not adding booze.
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Plantain chips
Ingredient
Directions
Walk to the store, grab a bag of plantain chips, give money to the cashier and go back home. Open bag and serve it with your burger.
Manning the Oven 