Phil's ultimate burgers
With BBQs being fired up across the country, Phil’s on hand with the ultimate al fresco feast. He’s making two delicious burger recipes - and better still, they can be cooked indoors if you’re worried about the weather!
Serves: 2
Phil's ultimate cheeseburger
Ingredients
400g minced chuck steak (20% fat content)
salt
pepper
To serve:
4 slices burger cheese
sweet large dill pickles
slice or 2 of ripe tomato
2 large sesame burger buns, sliced in half and toasted
Method
1. Preheat the grill or BBQ. Otherwise set a frying pan over the hob on a medium to high heat when ready to cook.
2. Mould the meat into patties, then flatten in a burger press then place into the preheated grill or bbq, or fry in the pan on the hob. Cook to your preference approximately 2-3 minutes on each side, until the desired colour. Place the cheese on top towards the end of cooking.
3. To serve, lay the burger in the bun’s lower half, and layer up with the tomato and pickle. Top with the other half of the burger bun. Enjoy with the onion rings (see recipe below).
Salmon burger
Ingredients
400g fresh salmon, free of skin or bone, as cold as possible
1 medium egg white
1 tbsp mayo
1 level tbsp fresh grated ginger
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
Salt and black pepper
50g breadcrumbs
Wasabi Mayo:
6-8 tbsp mayo
2 - 3 tsp wasabi
4-6 tbsp finely chopped chives
To serve:
4 large sesame burger buns, sliced in half and toasted
Method
1. Preheat the grill or BBQ. Otherwise set a frying pan over the hob on a medium to high heat when ready to cook.
2. To make the salmon patty, chop the salmon really finely, then re chill in the fridge. Once chilled, in a bowl mix the salmon with the rest of the ingredients and season well with salt and pepper. Add the breadcrumbs to the salmon and mix really well, then chill again.
3. When chilled, mould into 4 even patties.
4. To make the wasabi mayo, in a bowl mix all the ingredients for the mayo together really well.
5. Place the salmon patties onto the preheated grill or bbq, or onto the frying pan and cook for approximately 4 minutes on each side or until cooked to your liking.
6. Serve the patties in the toasted sesame buns, with a little of the wasabi mayo.
The best onion rings
Ingredients
sunflower oil, for deep-frying
150g self-raising flour
250mls roughly sparkling water
2 onions, peeled and sliced into ½ cm rings
a little extra flour
Method
1. Preheat a deep-fat fryer or fill a deep-sided pan one third full with the oil and heat to 190C. If you don’t have a thermometer the oil should be hot enough so that when a bread cube is added, it browns in 40 seconds.
2. Place the flour into a bowl, then whisk in enough of the sparkling water until you have a relatively thick batter.
3. Dust the onion rings in a little flour then into the batter, gently shaking off any excess and then deep-fry for 4-5 minutes until crisp and golden brown.
4. Drain on kitchen paper.