Happy New Year people! I hope you had the best possible start into 2021! My family and I ended 2020 with a Burger night. Let’s be honest, shall we? Whether we end the old year with a Burger night, begin the new one with one, or if it’s just an in between burger night throughout the year – Burgers are always delicious and the perfect comfort food for pretty much any occasion, but especially when it comes to a night in with comfort food.
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Burger buns ingredients:
1/2 cake fresh yeast or 1/2 package of active dry yeast (use more or less for a more or less present flavor of yeast and to vary the time to rise)
1/3 cup of lukewarm water (80ml)
3 1/2 cups of flour (400g)
1 tbsp of sugar
1 tbsp of sugar beet syrup (or molasses)
1/2 cup of buttermilk (120ml)
2 tsp of kosher salt
1 egg
5 Tbsp of melted butter (70g)
for brushing right before baking:
1 egg yolk
1/8 cup of water (20ml)
sesame seeds (optional)
for brushing right after baking
2-3 Tbsp of butter
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Instructions for the burger buns:
- Mix together water, sugar and yeast, cover it and put it aside for about 15 minutes.
- After those 15 minutes, add all the ingredients to a mixing bowl and with a dough hook attachment (or by hand) start kneading together a soft dough.
- Once the dough is nice and smooth, form into a ball and place it seam side down in a lightly greased bowl and grease the top and sides of the dough with a little oil as well.
- Cover it with a kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm place for at least 1 hour or until doubled in volume.
- Take the dough out of the bowl and cut the dough into 9-10 equal pieces. (I personally used a scale to measure the pieces because I wanted my buns to be the exact same size) Each piece measured about 90g – 3oz.
- Take each piece of dough and roll it into a smooth ball, place the ball seam side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Cover the baking sheet with a kitchen towel so that the formed buns won’t dry out.
- Once all the rolls are on the sheet, cover them with the kitchen towel again and allow them to sit in a nice warm place for about 30 minutes or until they are about one and half times bigger than the original size.
- Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 345F degrees 170C)
- With a fork, whisk the egg yolk and the water together to make an egg wash
- Once the rolls have risen, brush with the egg wash and sprinkle the sesame on top.
- Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Brush them with the melted butter immediately when they come out of the oven.
- Let them cool completely.
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Chili sauce ingredients:
1 lbs cocktail tomatoes (500g)
1 onion
1 tsp. Oregano (I used fresh, but dries works just as well)
1/4 cup Apple cider vinegar (50ml)
1/4 cup brown sugar (25g)
1/2 tsp salt
a pinch of pepper
1-2 Chilis (I used one bigger chili because I want the heat to be present, but not too overwhelming, so 1 did the deal for me. Use more if you want the heat of the chili to really shine through)
1/2 tsp mustard seed
4 fennel seeds
1 tbsp Olive oil
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Burger patties ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs of ground beef (I used chuck with 30 percent of fat) —> Ask your local butcher
- take about 2.5oz (75g) and form a burger patty (optional: Use a burger press if you have one on hand)
- Freeze the patties for at least 30 minutes which makes them easier to grill.
- Once your pan is hot, grill your patties on low for about 3-4 minutes on each side (depending on how you’d like to eat your burger, we wanted ours to be slightly pink in the middle). For exact measuring you can also use a meat thermometer.
- Place some cheese on top of the patty and let it allow to melt before taking it out of the pan.
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Assembling your Burger:
Use whatever ingredient you want to top your burger with. We used iceberg lettuce, pickles and onions and obviously cheese. Cut the buns in half, smear some butter on each half, put them into a hot pan (not greased) and let them brown a little. Put some chili-sauce at the bottom half of the bun, put your patty on next and top with whatever your heart desires. The world’s your oyster. Use the Chili-sauce as a glue.
I know it seems like a lot of work, but ohhhh it’s sooo delicious and absolutely worth it!! I don’t make burgers that often, but when I do I want them to be the best of the best, it’s like the cherry on a sundae.
Enjoy!