What makes the perfect cheeseburger?
Are you into soft, sweet brioche or nutty sesame buns? Tangy, distinctive cheese or a shameless slice of plastic cheese? Pickles in or out? Mayo, ketchup, mustard or all three at once? Is bacon really necessary?
Making a cheeseburger requires thoughtfulness and careful execution. You'll typically signpost a handful of elements: the bread, the beef, the cheese and any additional players (sauces, pickles, lettuce etc). What's important to consider is the overall goal. Sure, bacon sounds like a nice addition but is it necessary? Does it make the burger nicer than it would have been without it?
We believe the perfect burger is brilliantly uncomplicated. Find good bread, beef and cheese and you've won half the battle. Add a delicious sauce and, bingo, you're there.
The purpose of The Tip Jar is to offer ways of using your preserves that you may not have initially considered. In this month's addition, we've created the most incredible burger sauce using our English Mustard and Spicy Tomato Relish.
Believe me, make this sauce and you will never go back to Ketchup and French's again.
Enough chit-chat, let's get to it.
Ingredients (serves 4)
- 4 high quality beef burgers (we used The Butchery's beef & bone marrow burgers - if you know, you know)
- 4 slices of a cheese of your choice (we used Gruyere from Mons)
- 4 brioche buns, sliced in half
- 4 slices of tomato (we used a wonderful heirloom from Puntarelle)
- Any extras (get creative!)
For the sauce
- 3 tbsp of mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp Spicy Tomato Relish
- 1 tbsp English Mustard
- 25g Maison Marc Cornichons Aigre-Doux, finely diced
Method
- Prepare the sauce. In a bowl, mix the mayonnaise, Tomato Relish and English Mustard along with the diced cornichons.
- Heat your pan. Heat a cast-iron skillet or griddle pan over a medium-high flame.
- Cook your burger. Once the pan is hot, place your burger in the pan (we recommend cooking one or two at a time, but if you're cooking on the BBQ, feel free to add more). To ensure a beautiful crust and an even cook, flip the burger regularly. The overall cooking time should be between 6-10 minutes depending on the thickness of your burgers and your cooking preferences.
- Melt your cheese. Apply the cheese to the burger for the final 2 minutes of cooking. Cover the pan to speed up the melting process.
- Toast your buns. Toast your buns to a light golden crisp. We like to do this in the same pan the burgers have been cooking in.
- Build your burger. Start by spreading a generous layer of the burger sauce on the base of each bun. Next, place a slice of tomato on top of the sauce and lightly season. Place your burger on top of the tomato and add an extra tbsp of burger sauce to make it special. Close the bun and enjoy!
Thanks for reading, folks.
While eating burgers may not be brilliant for the body, is certainly brilliant for the mind. I like to starting thinking about eating burgers on a Monday morning but restrict myself until the weekend. That way, it's a shiny reward that spurs you on throughout the week.
Gigi Hadid explains it well, "eat clean to stay fit; have a burger to stay sane".
Happy August!
| Best wishes, Sky, Kai & the England Preserves team |