As a burger lover it was most appropriate for my friend to present me with the ultimate burger cookbook for my birthday. “The Burger” by Tara Duggan, Love Food Editors, helps you master the art of preparing, cooking and building unbeatable burgers.
Featuring a collection of recipes from across the globe, tonight was my time to tackle creating (and eating!) the Black & Blue Burger. Full of spice, Black and Blue burgers are very flavourful and beautifully balanced with a blue cheese sauce.
Ingredients
- 115g blue cheese
- 50ml mayonnaise
- 50ml soured cream
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- 450g fresh beef mince
- 4 burger buns of your choice
- lettuce leaves
- tomato slices
This recipe makes 4 burgers, will take you about 30 minutes to prepare and 10 minutes to cook.
Step 1
To make the blue cheese dressing mix the soured cream, mayonnaise and roughly chopped blue cheese together until smooth. Add the finely chopped shallot and stir. Set aside.
Step 2
Next, mix together the pepper, paprika, thyme, salt and cayenne pepper in a small bowl or dish. You can vary the spices in this recipe to suit your own personal taste, try garlic powder, onion powder or chili powder.
Step 3
To make the patties, place the meat in a bowl and mix together using your hands. Divide the meat into portions, then gently form each portion into even-sized patties. Try and make the patties slightly wider than the buns, because they will shrink during cooking. For the same reason, it also helps to make the edges of the patty thicker than the centre, or to add a dimple to the centre of the patty, so that when the meat contracts, the patty will end up evenly thick.
Step 4
Heat a large, non-stick frying pan over a high heat. Whilst it’s heating up sprinkle the patties evenly on both sides with the spice mixture. Add the patties to the hot pan and cook for about 4 minutes until the spice mixture forms a light crust and the edges are brown. Turn and cook on the other side for a further 4 minutes until brown and cooked to your liking.
Tip! Don’t mess with the burgers. Some cooks like to flip their burgers several times and can’t help but press down on them with a spatula. This will only toughen them up.
Step 5
By this point, you’re kitchen is smelling delicious and you’re burgers are looking ready to eat! Transfer the patties to lightly toasted burger buns (you can do this is quickly using the same frying pan) top with the blue cheese dressing, lettuce leaves and tomato slices.
The black pepper spice rub has the perfect kick to it, complimented by the blue dressing cheese sauce, fresh lettuce and the juicy tomato. The only thing left for you to do now is ENJOY!
For more action-packed tasty burger adventures like this, get your hands on The Burger book.
Just another London foodie 