Delicious Barbeque Burger Recipe

The weather is set to be warm and sunny this weekend, which gives us all the perfect opportunity to spark up the barbeque, enjoy the great outdoors and tuck in to some tasty food with friends and family.

Keith from Manor Cottage Catering is one of our preferred suppliers here Cranmer Cottages and has kindly supplied us with his favourite burger recipe plus his secret pickle recipe which is the perfect accompaniment with a BBQ burger.

So why not treat yourself to some good local produce this weekend and have a go at making these delicious burgers with their tasty pickle.

Soft herb and English onion pickle

150ml Good olive oil
50ml Red wine vinegar
100g Tomato ketchup
1tsp Worcester sauce
1tsp Tabasco sauce
4 English onions, very finely diced
50g Chervil, finely chopped
50g Chives, sliced very finely
25g Tarragon leaves picked and chopped
2tsp Dijon mustard

Prepare all the ingredients separately and then mix well in a bowl.

Store in an air tight container and this recipe will keep for at least one month in the fridge.

I use this pickle as an accompaniment to a slow braised, salt beef sandwich or barbeque beef burgers. It also works really well through a leaf salad to give an added boost of flavour and texture.

Beef burgers

3kg Good steak mince. (I use Sandringham Estate Red Poll. Most decent local butchers will stock Red Poll but there is plenty of other good quality beef available. Locally, Walsingham Farm Shops also stock a very good quality beef too)

4 English onions, finely diced
50g Fresh thyme, dried can be used but use half of the amount
2tbs Colman’s English mustard powder
2tbs Smoked paprika
Sea salt and black pepper

Fry your onions, slowly, in very little oil, without colour. Once they start to turn translucent, add your paprika (at this point you could use a good quality barbeque powder to give your burgers a real smoky flavour). Cook your onions for another minute so that they take on the paprika and it starts to release its aroma. Now leave to cool.

Chop your thyme. If you have very fresh, young thyme, you can chop the whole herb, including the stork, as long as you do it very finely. You can always pick any odd bigger pieces out, if needed, before adding it to your mince. Another trick, which works better with older thyme, is to freeze it. Once frozen, remove it from the freezer and hold it between your palms above a plate or board. Now roll it between your palms and the leaves should all fall off, ready for you to chop.

Once you have prepared these ingredients and your onions are cool, add all of the ingredients together in a bowl and mix well with plenty of seasoning. This is best done in an electric mixer but by hand is fine. I never use breadcrumbs or eggs to bind. You don’t need them. As long as you mix the mince and press your burgers well, they will hold together. Do not over mix as this will make your burgers tough. You can always cook a little bit off at this point to check for seasoning.

Finally shape into 200g burgers. You can do this several ways. Weigh them all first so you can shape them all together. I use a pastry cutter. Keep them nice and flat so you don’t get meatballs when you cook them.

Now leave them to rest in a fridge until you are ready to stick them on the BBQ.

Cook and enjoy!