Recipe: the ultimate hamburger
Great happiness can sometimes be found in simple things, like this ultimate hamburger, which is also easy to make. The ground beef is seasoned only with salt and pepper. There’s no bacon, no egg, but there is tomato, lettuce, pickle and a slice of cheddar processed cheese. And yes, it can simply be an inexpensive slice; the tart sauce with sweet pickle relish and the meat are the stars. You can buy sweet pickle relish at some Asian grocery stores or American shops, or you can easily make it yourself – we’re giving you that recipe right away, too.
How to make the sweet pickle relish
- Chop 1 cucumber into very small pieces, mix with 1 finely chopped white onion, season with salt and leave to drain in a sieve for approx. 3 hours.
- Place in a clean tea towel and squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
- Bring 125 ml white vinegar, 30 g sugar and a pinch of salt to the boil until slightly reduced, approx. 3–4 minutes.
- Add the cucumber and onion and let simmer for approx. 2 minutes.
- Mix 1 tsp cornflour with 1 tsp water and add; gently thicken for approx. 1 minute.
- Spoon into a cold container and leave to cool completely.
How to make the ultimate hamburger
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Divide the meat into four equal portions. Shape the meat into burgers with your hands. Set aside.
- Mix the mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, sweet pickle relish, garlic powder and paprika. Set aside.
- Cut the buns open and lightly butter both sides. Heat in the oven for approx. 5 minutes, until golden brown. You can also do this in a frying pan.
- Heat sunflower oil in a frying pan and season the burgers on both sides with salt and pepper. Fry the burgers for approx. 3 minutes on one side, turn over and fry for another 3 minutes on the other side for medium doneness. Place the cheese on the burgers during the final 30 seconds, add a small splash of water to the pan and cover with the lid. This is the best way to melt the cheese.
- Spread the sauce over the buns, place a leaf of iceberg lettuce and a slice of tomato on top (or two, if you have smaller tomatoes). Remove the burger from the pan and place it on the bun, finish with a pickle and close the bun.
TIP
Tip: Ask your butcher to mince chuck for you for burgers with the ideal fat percentage. If you get to choose: coarsely minced is better than finely minced.
WINE TIP: Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Summation Red Blend, 2014
What should you drink with an all American burger? An all American wine! And just as the hamburger bun from this recipe is made up of different ingredients, the same applies to this wine: a blend of eight different grapes. Mostly syrah and merlot, supplemented with, among others, the zinfandel and petite sirah grapes popular in California, plus small percentages of petit verdot, malbec, cabernet sauvignon and just a touch of carignan. It produces a fruity and lush wine, fresh enough to stand up to the Sweet pickle relish and full-bodied enough to hold its own with the meat. Let’s make wine-pairing great again!
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