Beef & Pickle Burgers

Makes 4

Taking the time to mince the meat yourself means you can safely cook the patties to medium rare.

Shared Kitchen by Julie & Ilaria Biuso, Published by Bateman 2020 Photo: © Manja Wachsmuth Photography

Ingredients

Beef Patties

• 400g Scotch fillet (rib-eye steak)
• 1 Tbsp finely chopped shallot
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
 to taste
• ½ tsp crumbled dried oregano or a little chopped fresh marjoram
• ½ tsp chopped rosemary
• 1 tsp creamy Dijonnaise mustard
• 1 Tbsp tomato ketchup
• 1 small (size 5) free-range egg, lightly beaten with a pinch of salt
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Burgers

• Olive oil
• I Tbsp butter
• Flaky sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 4 quality burger buns or baps, split in half
• Mayonnaise (use a ready-made premium brand)
• Iceberg lettuce leaves, torn into bite-sized pieces or shredded
• Tomato ketchup (optional)
• Gherkins or pickles, patted dry and sliced
• Tomatoes, sliced

Method

1. To make the beef patties: Trim meat, removing any tough or scrappy pieces and excess fat. Slice meat into fat strips, then chop coarsely. Work half the meat at a time in a food processor, giving it 10-12 pulses only, taking it no further than a coarse purée – if you process it too long it will turn pasty. Transfer meat to a bowl as it is prepared. Pick over, slicing off any pieces with silverskin attached.

2.Mix in shallot, garlic, half a teaspoon of salt, a little black pepper, oregano or marjoram, rosemary, mustard, ketchup, egg and extra virgin olive oil. Divide into four balls then roughly shape into thinnish patties on a plate, but don’t squash or compress. The patties don’t have to be perfectly round – mine never are (I go for a rustic look!). Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 1-4 hours.

3. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a heavy-based ridged frying pan over medium-high heat. Drop in butter when it is hot and add patties when it is sizzling. Don’t move patties around, leave them where they land, but spoon butter and oil over them as they cook to keep them moist. Once patties are nicely browned, turn and cook the other side. Keep anointing them with the oil and butter. Transfer to a plate and season with salt and black pepper. Alternatively, cook patties on a preheated lightly oiled barbecue hot plate over medium heat, and brush with olive oil as they cook.

4. Toast buns and spread with mayonnaise (or butter). Stack with lettuce, patties, ketchup if using, gherkins and tomatoes. Sprinkle with sea salt. Put bun tops in place and serve.

Recipe Notes

Mincing or grinding your own meat gives you the opportunity to cook burger patties to medium-rare, if that is your preference, keeping them nice and moist in the process. If using minced or ground meat it is safer to cook the patties right through. The extra handling and exposure to air makes it more vulnerable than fresh joints, slices or cubes of meat (a joint of meat will keep fresher longer than sliced or cubed meat).

The whole deal here is to have sufficient fat in the meat to make a succulent pattie. Scotch fillet (rib-eye steak) has fat threaded through the meat so it’s ideal – save fillet (tenderloin) steak and minced beef for other recipes. I’ve added an egg to the mix to help hold the patties together.

Another important tip – once you put the patties in the pan or on the barbecue hot plate, resist the urge to move them around because, firstly, they are likely to stick to the cooking surface until they are browned, so moving them can break them up, and it also interferes with the cooking momentum, slowing it down. If this happens, they might start to stew!

Opt for tomato ketchup, not tomato sauce which is sweet and doesn’t have the necessary depth of flavour and tang.