Lemon and Cumin Burger with a Mint, Cardamom and Cinnamon Sauce
When I go out for a burger I prefer my meat pure and steaky, like at The Bird, my favourite burger place in Berlin. But when I make burgers in my kitchen I like to get out my spice box and play with different aromas. I even add an egg and some breadcrumbs sometimes (which is not acceptable for purist burger lovers!). I don't restrict myself, I just add whatever I feel like.
Yesterday I wrote about my parsley, tomato and mint salad which I love to eat at a Tunisian restaurant and today's burger is the perfect companion for this dish, my lemon and cumin burger with a mint, cardamom and cinnamon sauce!
The mixed minced meat is seasoned with lemon zest, cumin, parsley and spicy crushed black peppercorns, it's so rich in aromas but none of them is overpowering. When I came up with this recipe I got so excited that I decided to bake my own flat bread, it's not really necessary but nothing beats warm bread which is cooked in a cast iron pan to accompany a burger. I used my Umbrian Torta al Testo recipe. My idea was to stuff the burger into this pita style bread and add a fresh sauce on top, made of sour cream mixed with cardamom, cinnamon and fresh mint leaves. Just delicious!
Lemon and Cumin Burger with Mint, Cardamom and Cinnamon Sauce
For 4 burgers you need
mixed minced meat (beef and pork) 550g / 19.5 ounces
zest of 1/2 lemon
cumin 1 teaspoon
black peppercorns, coarsely crushed in a mortar, 1/2 teaspoon
salt 1 heaping teaspoon
fresh parsley, chopped, 2 tablespoons
vegetable oil for frying
For the sauce
sour cream 100g / 3.5 ounces
olive oil 1 teaspoon
fresh mint leaves, chopped, 3-5
a pinch of cardamom, to taste
a pinch of cinnamon, to taste
a pinch of salt, to taste
For the bread recipe click here.
Whisk the ingredients for the sauce and season to taste.
Mix the ingredients for the burgers with your hands or the hooks of your mixer and form 4 flat burgers.
In a large heavy pan, heat a splash of oil to cover the bottom of the pan and fry the burgers for a few minutes on medium-high heat until they are done the way you like them. Put each burger between kitchen roll to remove excess oil.
Cut a flatbread in half, fill with a burger and sprinkle with mint sauce.
A juicy Lamb Burger with Ramp Pesto
Yesterday I mentioned that nothing can escape my appetite for ramp, not even a burger! At first, my plan was to add just a few spices and leave the focus on the strong lamb meat. A juicy hamburger with tomato and lettuce, simple and pure, that was my idea, but when I saw the bowl with yesterday's ramp pesto on my kitchen top I remembered a beef burger I had made two weeks ago with pesto mixed into the burger mixture and it was so good that I couldn't resist! I had to make it again and added it to the lamb meat. The pesto doesn't only add its flavours but it also effects the texture and makes the burger very, very juicy.
Usually, for my sandwiches on Wednesdays I measure the amounts for a quick lunch for 2, but I knew that this would have to be a proper dinner. It's so good that you can't stop after one burger! So I got 600g / 21 ounces of minced lamb meat and mixed it with 1 egg, 40g / 1.5 ounces of bread crumbs, 2 teaspoons of salt and ground black pepper. I stirred in 3 tablespoons of my ramp pesto (you can find the recipe here), but you could use any other pesto which matches the taste of the meat. When I made the beef burger I only added 2 tablespoons of the pesto as the meat isn't as strong as lamb so I put in an extra one. To keep the meat juicy while its frying I form thick burgers. We had 6 which I fried in 2 tablespoons of butter and some olive oil, on high temperature which I turned down to medium immediately after I put the burgers in the pan. After a couple minutes on each side they turned a crisp brown, but still juicy inside.
We put the burgers in some crunchy buns together with thin slices of tomato, a leaf of green lettuce and sprinkled them with some more pesto - and then we ate them all!
