Burgers are always better when they're entirely homemade. They take little time to prepare, and can be made well in advance, or in big batches and frozen for later use. These burgers are given a bit of a kick with the addition of whisky both in the meat, and in the sauce.
This recipe includes a number of toppings which are entirely optional, but which in my opinion, make all the difference.
The below recipe will make 8 burgers.
Ingredients
Beef Burgers
1.5kg minced beef
5 cloves garlic, minced
1tspn salt
1tspn ground pepper
1tbsp worcestershire sauce
1tbsp tomato paste
1tspn dijon mustard
1/4tspn cayenne pepper
2 eggs
8 burger buns
Sauce
1 cup beef stock
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup brown sauce
1tbsp worcestershire sauce
1tsp dijon mustard
1tbsp honey
1/4tspn cayenne pepper
1tsp ground pepper
1/2 cup whisky
Toppings
8 slices American cheese
Sliced red onion
Lettuce leaves
Potato Wedges
1.6kg potatoes
5 cloves garlic
Sprig fresh rosemary
1/4 tspn ground nutmeg
Method
1. To make the beef burgers. In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients until well combined. The mixture should hold it's shape quite easily, without being too firm. Do not overwork the mixture.
2. Your mixture should weigh approximately 1.7kg once you've made all the additions. I wanted to go for thick, beefy burgers, so aimed to weigh out all the burgers at around 210-220gr. Should you wish to go for smaller patties, this is of course fine, you'll just get a larger yield. Separate the mixture into 8 portions and shape, either using your hands or using a burger press. Set the shaped burgers onto greaseproof paper, stack, cover, and refrigerate for a few hours.
3. To make the sauce. Add the beef stock to a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Add in the rest if the ingredients except for the whisky, and stir until smooth. Add in half the whisky and allow the sauce to reduce (around 10 minutes). Add in the rest of the whisky and cook for a further 5 minutes. This ensures that the whisky flavour comes through nice and strong and doesn't entirely get cooked off. Refrigerate the sauce until ready to use. This should last in the fridge for quite some time, as all of the ingredients last ages as long as they are well kept.
4. To make the potato wedges. Preheat your oven to a 210 degrees celsius. Start off by making the oil infusion. Chop the garlic finely and place in a small bowl along with the sprig of rosemary. Cover in olive oil and set aside. Allow this to sit for at least 15 minutes for the flavours to infuse.
5. Wash your potatoes well, as we'll be leaving the skin on. I generally soak them for around 5 minutes in hot water so any dirt dissolved, and then scrub the potatoes with a brush, rinse, and repeat.
6. Chop your potato in half, lengthwise. Set the half down on the flat side, and chop down the middle, lengthwise, and diagonally on either side of the original cut, to create 4 wedges. Repeat with all the potatoes, and rinse once again.
7. Place all the potato wedges in a large dish and add in the oil infusion, including the rosemary and garlic. Toss until the potatoes are entirely coated. Place in a preheated oven and bake for around 40-60 minutes or until browned and crispy. You may want to toss them every 20 minutes or so to get an even colour.
8. Assembling the burgers. Slice up a small red onion finely, and set aside. Wash any lettuce leaves you'll be using and set aside also. Slice the burger buns.
9. Heat around 2 tablespoons of oil in a large pan, and set the burgers down, cooking them for around 5 minutes on either side, initially. These burgers are quite thick, so it'll take a while for them to cook through if you don't want them to be too rare. To avoid burning due to them needing more than the initial 5 minutes on either side, add a few tablespoons of water to the pan and cover, allowing the steam to cook them without burning. Repeat until all burgers are cooked.
10. Heat the sauce prior to use. A rule to burger assembly is don't put anything that slips and slides underneath the burger - this is often what causes burgers to fall apart. So on the bare burger bun bottom, place the burger. Directly on top, whilst still warm, add the american cheese. On top of that, add any toppings, such as lettuce, and onion. On the bottom of the burger bun top (sorry for the complexity), smear around 2 tablespoons worth of the sauce before closing off the bun. You can add more sauce later if you'd like, of course, but I'd start slow.
11. Serve the burgers with the wedges still piping hot.
Recreating this recipe? Tag me on instagram @juliawgr!
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