Burgermeister

In the news this week was a report that household shops have seen a decline in the number of table knives sold compared to the number of forks. In years gone by, the British people would always buy their cutlery in a pair, and knife and fork. Table manners stated that you must use both a knife and a fork, the fork being held in the left hand, no elbows on tables please. This was all very proper, and symbolised everything that was great about Great Britain.

However, the shocking fact is, in the 21st Century, us Brits are snubbing the knife, and making do with just a fork. And to make matters worse, some people have been spotted holding the fork IN THEIR RIGHT HAND!!!!

As more people eat ready meals, stews, curries, stir-frys and pasta dishes, we no longer need a knife. Also, when sitting on a sofa with a plate of food in your hand, only one item of cutlery can be wielded at any one time. And it is not proper to put your knife in your mouth.

Ed Watson, spokesperson for Retailer Debenhams was the one that kindly pointed out to us how barbaric we have become.

“Bad table manners can turn an enjoyable meal into an embarrassment. Using both a knife and a fork to eat has held this country in good stead for centuries – it’s one of the mainstays of being British. It’s all about maintaining standards, so we want to act now before the single fork habit becomes ingrained in the next generation.” Ed Watson, a true Brit.

Funny, as the people of England, sorry Britain, are always asking “who are we? have we lost our identity?”. It seems that we always had an identity, we just forgot what it was. It was holding 2 pieces of Sheffield steel while eating our pork chops.

Anyway, do we care? No. Of course not. Because you do not need either knife or fork to eat a burger.

Some people would say there is more to life than burgers. However, I disagree. Everything else is merely an accompaniment to a good burger. And this is certainly the case for juicing. Juicing is a great way to consume those much needed “5 a day”, and it is also good for us. Some celebs even use it to lose weight.

In fact, the British model Michelle Bass has recently lost weight after going on “Jordan’s Juicing Diet”. The diet was actually invented by Jason Vale (the Juice Master), who has published many books on the subject of juicing. The diet seems to be very simple indeed. Jordan (Katie Price) went on the diet after piling on the pounds after her son Junior was born.

UK juicing expert Jason Vale told Closer magazine, “it’s great that celebs like Michelle are having such great success on the programme, it is the easiest way to lose weight but importantly furnish your body with live nutrients giving you high energy levels and allowing your body to repair, detox and clear out some of the junk in your system.”

Juicing diets have been around for a while now and then Jason Vale expanded on this success with a range of books detail every aspect of juicing. Juicing is simple, and the drinks taste so much better than anything bought in the supermarket. Fresh juice is not only good for you, but it tastes great.

Jason Vale’s success has now spread over to America, with Vale-fanatics Sarah Jessica Parker and Drew Barrymore by turning to him and his methods to control their weight.

The easiest way to learn about juicing is to buy one of Jason Vale’s books.

There are burger fans, and there are burger fans. One burger fan in Austin, Texas, decided to make a bed in style of a giant burger. Kayla Kromer is a fast food fan, and loves hamburgers so much that she decided that she wanted to be able to sleep in one.

The bed features all the trimmings, with pickle and tomato pillows, lettuce sheets, a cheese slice quilt and a round burger shaped mattress.

Kayla Kromer says that her burger bed was inspired the film Hamburger, in which students sleep in burger-shaped beds. She just could not get the image out of her mind, so decided to embark on a prject to build her own.

“Once I get an idea, I have to execute it. So far the hamburger bed is the best bed I have ever owned. Not only does it make me smile, it is insanely comfy.” – Kayla Kromer

Image source: Fun Is Cool
Join the fun: Facebook Fan Page – Burger Bed
Inspiration: Hamburger: The Motion Picture
See also: http://www.hamburgerbed.com/

Good news for the burger world – Burger King, famous for its fast food burgers, has decided to produce a real whopper of a burger. The burger, named ‘The Burger’, costs GBP95.00 and is only available in one Burger King restaurant, the Gloucester Road, West London branch.

So, what are the ingredients of the world’s most expensive burger?

• Wagyu beef*
• White truffle
• Pata negra ham slices
• Cristal onion straws
• Modena balsamic vinegar
• Lambs lettuce
• Pink himalayan rock salt**
• Organic white wine
• Shallot infused mayonnaise
• Served in an Iranian saffron and white truffle dusted bun

Celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson simply said that the “It sounds delicious.” I would love to try the burger to be able to provide a review, straight from the horses mouth, but cannot afford the bus fare to the West End, so will have to pass. I am not convinced that “organic white wine” is the best choice however. The ingredients are sourced from all over the world, so a splash of organic wine can only be there to attract the green vote.

But wouldn’t it be great of Burger King, and its rival burger bars and restaurants, made a greater attempt to produce a better burger? I would happily pay six pounds for a high quality burger sandwich (not meal) but we only have the whoopers and Big Macs to choose from, with poor quality bread, bland meat and a garnish that tries to disguise the meat rather than compliment it.

*Wagyu refers to several breeds of cattle genetically predisposed to intense marbling and to producing a high percentage of oleaginous unsaturated fat. Also known as Kobe-style beef, the meat from wagyu cattle is known worldwide for its marbling characteristics, increased eating quality through a naturally enhanced flavor, tenderness and juiciness. Because of the wagyu cattle’s genetic predisposition and special diet including beer and sake, wagyu yields a beef that contains a higher percentage of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids than typical beef. The increased marbling also improves the ratio of monounsaturated fats to saturated fats. (Definition from Wikipedia).

**why not use Maldon Sea Salt?

A few months ago, I decided that the Burgermeister needed to lose some weight. So I decided to try the Atkins diet. Glad to report that I have so far lost 10kg (about 22 pounds). Of course, the Atkins Diet is probably the only diet that allows you to eat burgers (without the sesame seed bun though).

This recipe is actually one suggested by my good pal Rich, who has recently started Atkins for the second time. He kindly gave permission for me to publish his wonderful low carb fat burning chilli recipe.

For a hot low carb chilli – extra spice boosts the metabolism!

“Use fresh or dried chillies rather than powder.

Fennel seeds and coriander seeds! I just remembered that they are also
fantastic in their carb:fibre ratio. Here’s a recipe for your website that
I invented the other day. You know I’m not flexible enough to blow my own
trumpet, but it was fracking dellicious! (Net Carb figures in brackets.)

4 chicken breast pieces, no skin. (0) (can try with skin if you like, but
the seeds may not stick as well)
1 Green pepper, sliced lengthways (4.8)
200g Celery, chopped into bits about 5cm long. (3.6)
1 tbsp coriander seeds (0.6)
1 tbsp fennel seeds (0.7)
2 dried thai chillis (0)
2 tbsp lemon juice (2.6)
4 tbsp red wine vinegar (0)
2 tbsp roughly chopped basil (0)
A few splashes of olive oil (0)

Preheat the oven to 200.
Grind the seeds and the chillies together in a pestle and mortar until they
are a rough powder. Splash some olive oil in the bottom of a heavy bottom, oven pan and heat it on a high hob heat. Whilst it is heating, rub olive oil on both sides of the chicken pieces salt and pepper them well, then rub the seed mixture into both sides of them. Put the chicken pieces in the pan and sear them over the high heat until browned on both sides, remove from the pan. Throw the celery and green pepper into the pan and stir quickly, scraping the nice bits up from the bottom of the pan and mixing it in. When they start to cook, throw in half the red wine vinegar and continue to stir and mix it all up. After a minute or so, the pan off the heat, put the chicken back in and mix it all up, add the rest of the vinegar, the lemon juice and the basil. Stick it in the oven for 12 minutes.

Eat it. Absolutely delicious. ”

Seeing that I am on Atkins, I will be featuring more low carb recipes in the coming weeks / months. Maybe Burgermeister will become a useful resource for low carb / high protein meals, as well as burgers! No promises though, but do check back!

Last weekend was my son’s 1st birthday party, and I cooked up two big pots of chilli for the adults. Everyone loved it, and seeing that my mum asked for the recipe after I cooked it on my birthday last month, it is time to put my famous chilli con carne recipe in writing. Any good burger chef should always have plenty of minced beef in the house, which makes a chilli both a great last minute meal, as well as a great dish to cook for a large party. Apart from the minced beef and onions, everything else can come straight from a tin.

Ingredients for chilli con carne:

• Minced meat
• Chopped tomatoes (tinned are ideal)
• Kidney beans
• Chick peas
• Black eye beans
• Butter beans
• Chilli powder
• Cumin
• Garlic (3 or 4 cloves)
• Black pepper
• Salt
• Red and green sweet peppers
• Onions
• Red wine.

On Saturday I made actually made 2 chilli-con-carnes, one spicy and one mild. THis is what I used:

• 1600g (4 packets 400g from Tesco) lean Scottish mince.
• 4 medium onions chopped
• 2 red peppers
• 2 green peppers

In one chilli I added red peppers, just kidney beans, and more chilli powder,
more pepper, some mustard powder, some extra curry powder. This was the spicy chilli, and had a red look to it with the kidney beans and red sweet pepper. You can of course use red fresh chilli pepper also if you want a real good kick.

In the second chilli I added green peppers, all the other beans, plus kidney beans, and only a small amount of chilli, with more Indian spices, using a mild curry mix, some turmeric and paprika. As this chilli is mild, it is good to have a variety of beans to give a more varied texture to the dish.

Method:

Gently fry the onions and garlic in olive oil, chuck in the mince, stir a bit, keep on low heat, when brown, chuck in everything else, leave to simmer, add water and more wine to stop it burning, simmer for about 45 minutes. Serve with rice or jacket potatoes.

Last week I watched Heston Blumenthal’s TV show In Search of Perfection in eager anticipation, as I saw a review that he was on a mission to find and cook the perfect burger. His journey for burger perfection first took him to the USA, to a small cafe that claims to be the birth place of the burger. Their burgers were simple meat patties served in a white toast sandwich, with runny cheese sauce. Strictly no ketchup allowed.

Blumenthal then went to New York to sample a McDonalds hamburger, which obviously disappointed. He also stopped in on an old friend who served Lady Burgers, or something similar, which were mini bite sized burgers neatly presented, albeit with a bit too much greenery falling out, and not an onion in site.

As we know, the core ingredient in a good burger is the meat. And this is where things started to get interesting for the Burgermeister. Firstly, the steak used is minced, wrapped, and stored for a month. Then when ready, the burgers are sliced directly, rather than moulded by hand. The reason being that the line of the fibres and tissues in the meat is essential to the flavour and texture of the burger. Also, rather than using just one cut of meat, Blumenthal uses three different cuts, to provide the perfect flavour, texture and consistency for the burger. Naturally binding burgers are essential to a good burger, remember the Burger mantra NEVER ADD EGG! For this, he used a combination of beef chuck, short-rib meat and minimum 30-day dry-aged beef brisket. Now, this really is going into new realms of burger-discover, as I always use minced meat as it comes from the butchers. I always use the best minced meat available, but have never minced it myself.

For the rest of the burger, Heston Blumenthal prefers a plain white bun with sesame seeds (the seeds are added using an egg wash). The buns are then covered in cheese slices (made with sodium citrate!) and put under a grill. I am glad to say that this has been my preferred method for sometime now, as it ensures that the bun remains in tact throughout the whole burger eating experience.

His burger sauce obviously has the standard foundation of tomato sauce, mayonnaise and mustard, with the usual extras including onion (sliced thinly and the rings blanched for 20 seconds in boiling water), crisp lettuce and gherkins and other pickles.

The BBC Cooking web page has the full method for making the dough for the buns, the burgers, the cheese slices, the tomato concentrate for the sauce plus a description on how to construct the burger the Blumenthal way. Take a look, try it out and enjoy. Burger perfection is finally here. We bow to Heston Blumenthal, and thank him for dedicating his time and efforts to improving the knowledge and furthering our cause, of making the perfect burger!

I cooked many curries at University, but generally either cooked Thai style or just made up a random recipe. As I have some Indian colleagues at work, I asked them for a curry recipe, and got what is a basic Indian chicken curry recipe, but very good all the same.

Rather than list the ingredients, I’ll just give the method.

First, chop a large onion, some garlic, ginger and green chillies. Fry the onion in oil, adding salt (this speeds up the browning process) and then add the garlic, ginger and green chillies. Add some ground pepper at this point too, and throw in a cinnamon stick.

Now chop some chicken breasts, and add them to the pan. Then add a couple of heaped tea spoons of yellow powder (ground turmeric), red powder (chilli powder) and cumin. Also add some coriander if you like. Add a couple of cups of water, then bring to the boil, and simmer.

That is it really. Add more chilli if you like it hotter. I like to add a couple of teaspoons of garam masala too, just for some more flavour. Serve with plain boiled basmati rice.

I have used the same recipe to make Bombay potatoes (aloo gobi) and have also made a tasty meal using both chicken and potatoes in the curry. If you add plenty of potatoes you do not need to cook rice with it, which saves some time.

The two photos of curry here have added tomato sauce, which one of my colleagues recommended. Personally I prefer them without the tomato sauce though, but if you like a more tomatoey curry, then added some puréed sauce at the same time as you add the chicken. Do not use lumpy, chopped tomatoes, make sure the sauce is smooth, i.e. a Passata sauce.

As part of my search for the perfect burger, I like to try every famous burger I can, to enable me to improve my own burger recipes. During a recent tour of southern England I found myself at the Marriott Highcliff hotel in Bournemouth, so therefore could not resist trying out the famous Marriott Burger.

The Marriot Burger is an 8oz burger with cheese and crispy bacon, and comes with chips and a salad garnish. At first glance it did look a good burger. It was well presented in a white sesame seed bun, the chips were golden on the outside, and the salad was OK as far as salads go.

Unfortunately it was soon obvious that the first impressions were misleading. The presentation did not make up for what was a very disappointing burger. The first problem was the bun was slightly stale and over toasted. It seemed that the bun may have been frozen, then quickly defrosted. Or it may have just been a bit stale. Either way, not what I would expect from the brand as highly respected as Marriott. The burger was rather disappointing too. The burger itself was slightly over cooked, and bland, there seemed little if any seasoning to the meat, and certainly no spice. There was no juice whatsoever. The bacon was certainly crispy, and the cheese was cheesy, but neither complimented the burger. There was also no burger sauce or relish provided with the burger, just the standard tomato sauce, mustard and mayonnaise.

The Marriott burger was a real disappointment, especially as it came with a price tag of GBP10.45 (about 22 US dollars). Maybe the chefs at Marriott should take a look at the recipes here before putting their burgers back on the menu.

A good burger sauce is prepared fresh from old ingredients. Fresh ingredients could be used, but this will add several hours to the preparation time. My burger sauce recipe:

• Tomato sauce
• Mayonnaise
• English mustard

Mix it all up. It should turn into a nice pink burger sauce colour. I sometimes throw in some brown sauce instead, or leave out the mayo. Depends on how I feel. You can also add some spices, such as chili powder or Tabasco sauce. The best burger sauces are prepared once the burger is cooked, as until you cook the burger, you never really know what sort of mood you are in. Some days you may want spicy, some days tomatoey, some with more mayo. So mix it while the burger is cooling down, or the cheese is melting, then enjoy.