HOMEMADE BURGERS

Making your own burgers is so easy once you have done it you will never use shop bought again and this way you know exactly what is in them!  It is important to use good quality lean meat.  This recipe should yield 6 burgers.

INGREDIENTS

1lb Minced Steak

1 Onion - grated or very finely chopped

1 egg

Plain flour

Mixed Herbs (I favour Herbes de Provence)

1 large clove of garlic, crushed

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

NB:  Lots of people don't like onion in burgers but it adds flavour.
Grating it into the mixture means no-one will even know it's there!

Burger Buns and any or all of the following:

Sliced Cheese

Sliced Tomato

Sliced Onions

Sliced Gherkins

Iceberg Lettuce

Mayonnaise

Tomato Ketchup / Relish

Caramelised Onion Relish

METHOD

Place the minced steak, grated onion and seasonings together in a large bowl.  Add a beaten egg and a little flour to bind.  Get into the mixture with your hands to combine thoroughly!  Then form your burgers. I use a Burger Press and Waxed Discs to keep all the burgers separate.  They're not expensive and using one means that the burgers don't fall apart and look great!  You can buy them online at Lakeland Plastics.  If you haven't got one though you can form them with your hands.

If you're not cooking these on a BBQ you can grill them quickly under a very hot grill or use a griddle pan. They need to have a good brown colour to add to the flavour.  Whichever method you choose they need to be cooked in a quick manner on a high heat.

TIP: If you are using a griddle pan oil the burgers, NOT the pan!  Get a dish and put some olive oil in it.  Take off the waxed disc on one side of the burger and using a pastry brush, brush a little oil on one side of each burger.  Heat the pan so it is very hot and place the burgers in the pan, oil side down.  Whilst they are cooking remove the waxed disc from the top side and brush a little oil on each burger.  Don't be tempted to jiggle the burgers around the pan, you want some nice brown stripes!  After a couple of minutes flip them over to brown the other side.  You could also place a slice of cheese on the top at this point.

When the burgers are cooked place in a warm Burger Bun with accompaniments of your choice ...

I like to put mayonnaise on one side of the bun, tomato ketchup / relish on the other side and then sliced onions, tomato, crispy lettuce before adding the cheese topped burger. Another variation I like is to add just tomato ketchup, caramelised onion relish and sliced gherkin to a cheese topped burger. Yum!

TOMATO, PEPPER & ONION SALAD

This is a traditional Spanish tapa.  It's easy to make, delicious and a good accompaniment to Tortilla. It also keeps well in the fridge.

INGREDIENTS

Tomatoes

Red peppers

Onions

Olive oil

Sea salt

Lemon juice

You need roughly equal quantities of tomatoes, peppers and onions.

METHOD

Peel and chop the onion

Halve the tomatoes and deseed. Put the seeds in a sieve over a bowl, stir and leave to drain

Halve and deseed the pepper, chop into small chunks

Chop your tomatoes into small chunks

You want all the vegetables to be more or less equally sized

Place all the vegetables into your serving dish, sprinkle with salt and stir.  Add a splash of lemon juice and then add enough olive oil to liberally coat all the vegetables, add any juice that has drained from the tomato seeds.  Stir well and leave for at least 30 minutes before serving.  The addition of salt encourages the vegetables to release their juices which when mixed with the olive oil produces a fabulous liquor...delicious mopped up with bread!

Serve on it's own with fresh crusty bread or as part of a Tapas spread.

FRESH TOMATO SAUCE

Making your own tomato sauce is easy & worth doing as it is the base for so many recipes.

INGREDIENTS
Tinned tomatoes (cheapest supermarket own brand is fine)
Olive oil
Pinch of mixed herbs (I favour Herbes de Provence)
Dash of Tabasco (to enhance the flavour, not for heat)
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
A small amount of sugar (a teaspoonful, then taste before adding more)
*Optional:  Garlic - I always add garlic but you can leave it out if you like

METHOD
In a deep pan empty the tinned tomatoes.  Add a good glug of olive oil (this helps to emulsify the sauce) and all the rest of the ingredients.  Turn on the heat and break up the tomatoes using a potato masher until you are happy with the texture.  Bring to the boil and then turn to a low simmer.  Leave to simmer for at least 20 mins.  The longer you leave it on a low heat the more the flavours will develop and the sauce will thicken as it reduces.  You will notice that the colour will change from deep red to a more orangey red.  Check your seasonings and add a little more if necessary.

VARIATIONS
Italian dishes: To the above sauce add garlic and more herbs, fresh or dried.  This can be be used as a sauce to coat pasta or added to cooked mince and onions for Spaghetti Bolognese or Lasagne.  You can also use it as the sauce base for a quick French bread pizza.

Spicy: Add fresh or dried chilli and add to cooked mince and onions and you have the sauce for a chilli con carne or a topping for patatas bravas.  Add some garlic and prawns and you have a wonderful sauce for spaghetti.

HOMEMADE BAKED BEANS

Nothing quite like Heinz but these are delicious too and good for a change. They are great on toast with a poached egg but they are marvellous with a cooked breakfast as they combine the flavours of baked beans and tomatoes.  The sauce is a a basic tomato sauce, quick and easy to make from tinned tomatoes.  I recommend making it in a larger quantity and storing it in the freezer so that you always have a base tomato sauce for lots of other recipes, see 'Variations' below.

INGREDIENTS for the base Tomato sauce
Tinned tomatoes (cheapest supermarket own brand is fine)
Olive oil
Pinch of mixed herbs (I favour Herbes de Provence)
Dash of Tabasco (to enhance the flavour, not for heat)
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
A small amount of sugar (a teaspoonful, then taste before adding more)

The ingredients above are for a base tomato sauce.  For this recipe I add a small amount of fresh or dried chilli to make the beans a little spicy but that is optional. You could also add a little garlic.

White cannellini beans or similar
(tinned or dried, it's up to you, but if you use dried follow the instructions with regard to soaking & cooking.  I use tinned as that's the quickest)

METHOD
In a deep pan empty the tinned tomatoes.  Add a good glug of olive oil (this helps to emulsify the sauce) and all the rest of the ingredients.  Turn on the heat and break up the tomatoes using a potato masher until you are happy with the texture.  Bring to the boil and then turn to a low simmer.  Leave to simmer for at least 20 mins.  The longer you leave it on a low heat the more the flavours will develop and the sauce will thicken as it reduces.  You will notice that the colour will change from deep red to a more orangey red.  Check your seasonings and add a little more if necessary.

Add the cooked white beans, heat through and serve.

VARIATIONS
Italian dishes: To the above sauce add garlic and more herbs, fresh or dried.  This can be be used as a sauce to coat pasta or added to cooked mince and onions for Spaghetti Bolognese or Lasagne.  You can also use it as the sauce base for a quick French bread pizza.

Spicy: Add fresh or dried chilli and add to cooked mince and onions and you have the sauce for a chilli con carne or a topping for patatas bravas.  Add some garlic and prawns and you have a wonderful sauce for spaghetti.