British Burgers, Shred Salad, Pickles & Things

First off, I love the title of this recipe...Pickles & Things?! I mean come on.

I have recently went on a cooking spree and cooked four days in a row, so expect a couple recipes coming your way! 

On the other hand, I picked up some unholy virus along the way and have been sick for a week now, blah! I couldn't even rest it off, but had to go to school and write out essays and projects and work I am definitely not capable of. But it is the weekend so I am hoping to recuperate. 

Getting back on track, these british burgers were a blast to make with a 38C temperature, but I pulled through and watched the others enjoy, so it was kind of a win :)

This is what I came up with:

Once you read through this text, you'll see how obscenely easy this is and how the only improvement from a regular burger are the spices/seasoning, which then truly is great!

Before anything, I made my super-simple and healthy bread dough which I used for my little baps, and let to rise. If anyone at all is interested, I will be glad to provide this few ingredient recipe which I use for any type of breads and find always to work top notch!

I seasoned my mince with salt, pepper and 2 tsps of mustard instead of one, keeping away from the beer/ale as no one drinks it in my household and I didn't exactly want to go out and buy it for the sole purpose of using a couple drops on my meat. I left that to soak in while I prepared my other ingredients!

In my processor, I grated the carrots, cabbage, pear and red onion. When I achieved my desired grate-ness I guess haha, I set aside in a bowl as dressing the salad now would only make it wet and soggy and life-less by the time I ate. 

While I was at the veggies, I sliced some pickles and tomatoes for the burgers itself, but any other veggie could be included to you liking!

To create the sauce, you are to include some yoghurt, which is very thin and runny in Croatia, so I mixed in some "mileram", which is just a thicker dairy product, with a tablespoon of mustard, as I couldn't find Worcestershire sauce. Use what you have!

I then turned to the most time consuming part of the recipe - the meat. I really don't know why it takes me so long to prepare the meat, maybe its because my gas top doesn't work, or I just like it "too" well-done. Any way, it took me the longest, maybe 10 minutes for 1 batch, but I had like 2-3 burgers which wouldn't fit and plonked in as soon as the first burger was done. 

I didnt divide the mixture into 4 because if I did I would have a pattie as big as my head. Instead, I rather made more small patties so we could all have seconds. This resulted in over 10 patties which were soon gone. 

And that is literally it! 

P.S. I also took the time out of my day to create these little flags which are a super fun party trick!

Another true 15 minute recipe, this is a tasty twist on a regular American-style hamburger. The mustard in the patties is definitely the unique component, squashed in by homemade baps and the proposed sauce, yum! If you are organizing a casual get together with some good friends, everyone will go crazy after these, and they will only take you 15 minutes!

To achieve this recipe, you will need:

Ingredients out * Oven at 130C/250F/gas 1/2 * Large frying pan, medium heat * Food processor (coarse grater)*

Serves 4, 532 calories

Ingredients 

Burgers
500g lean beef mince 
1 heaped tsp wholegrain mustard
1 swig of quality beer or ale 
olive oil
4 wholewheat baps
2 tbsp fat-free natural yoghurt
Worcestershire sauce
1 ripe beef tomato
2-4 gherkins
tomato ketchup, to serve 

Salad 

2 carrots
1/4 of a white cabbage (roughly 250g)
1 pear
1 small red onion
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar 
70g rocket

Start cooking

Put the mince into a bowl with salt, pepper, the mustard and the beer or ale, then with clean hands scrunch and mix together. Divide the mixture into 4 and with wet hands shape into patties about 2.5cm thick, then put into the pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, turning when crispy and golden, and pushing down on them with a fish slice so they're in good contact with the pan.

Place the baps into the oven. Put the yoghurt into a small bowl, add a good splash of Worcestershire sauce, then stir and ripple it together. Slice the tomato and gherkins on a nice serving board.

In the processor, grate the trimmed carrots, cabbage, pear (stalk removed) and peeled red onion. Put the extra virgin olive oil and vinegar into a serving bowl, tip in the grated veg, toss together and season to taste, then mix in the rocket. Get the baps out of the oven, cut them in half and dollop with ketchup. Top with a slice of tomato and the burgers, then let everyone build their own at the table. 

Note: This recipe was taken straight out of the cookbook, my version is stated above. 

Bon Appétit!