Luckily for me, a Fairprice Finest opened at one of the malls near our home recently and in it is a counter stocked with meat from Culina (and eco-friendly Seventh Generation cleaning products but that’s another story for another day).
I popped by the supermarket one night after work with absolutely no idea what I should cook for dinner. And then like a siren calling out to me, I stopped by the meat counter and saw, on display, slabs and slabs of juicy raw meat. Mmm, possibilities! In the end, the minced beef’s temptation was far greater than the rest – it even drowned out the desire for wagyu. WAGYU! – and we had the menu for the night.
Beef burgers with grilled peppers and mushroom
Serves 2
What you need:
- 250gm of minced beef – lean or regular (I used a mix)
- 11/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 11/2 tsp soya sauce
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 small carrot, diced
- 3 small onions, 1 diced and the others chopped into rings
- A handful of bread crumbs
- 2 burger buns
- Unsalted butter
- 5 small Portobello mushrooms
- 1 red capsicum pepper, deseeded and chopped into thin slices
- Blue cheese (Optional)
- 2 eggs
Directions:
- Mix the minced meat with the diced onion, diced carrot, soya sauce, bread crumbs and Worcestershire sauce, and then season with freshly ground pepper
- Shape into patties and then leave aside
- Heat up a griddle pan and lightly brush patties with oil. Place patties into the pan, together with onion rings, and fry for about 2 minutes each side (it cooks the meat through so if you prefer medium cooked beef, fry it for a less than 2 minutes)
- Remove the patties from the pan but keep the onions in it
- Stick the capsicum into the pan with the onions and sprinkle a dash of olive oil, salt and freshly ground pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes and then set them aside
- Fry the eggs sunny-side up and at the same time, toast your buns and spread butter on both halves
- Stick the mushrooms onto the griddle pan and sprinkle some salt and pepper into the pan. Grill them for about 3 minutes on each side
- Assemble your burger – patty, egg, onions, blue cheese between the bun
The blue cheese was really, really awesome. It added so much depth and richness to the meat. I had grabbed it in the supermarket without thinking of adding it to the burger, really, and it was Mr Thick who put two and two together. The sweetness of the onions and the oomph (there isn’t any way for me to describe the taste) of the cheese was just a potent combination.
And I’m glad I bought the griddle pan from Ikea (cheap and good). Don’t you just love the grilled marks on the meat? Yums.
Yannisms 