Last Saturday, our very kind BBQ guests brought their own meat and forgot to cook it, leaving us with a freezer full of mince. I’ve made the usual suspects: Cottage Pie, Spaghetti Bolognaise, and Home-Made Burgers, and still have some left.

My burger recipe comes from my friend Phil Broadberry, purveyor of amazing curries, home-made pastes, and generally one of the best amateur chefs I know. He brought 20 of these delicious patties to the party and they were demolished. Ah, you can’t beat a burger: simple, quick, and satisfying if you don’t go overboard and eat four of them. Phil reckons you should have enough here for about five burgers.

Ingredients

• 500g minced beef or lamb
• 2 slices stale bread, whizzed into breadcrumbs (Phil’s burgers contained brown, multiseed breadcrumbs)
• 1/2 an onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped and mashed 2 tsps of salt
• 2 tsps ground cumin
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 2 tsps English mustard
• 1 egg
• Plain flour
• Fresh black pepper
• Optional extras: a dash of Worcester sauce, a little squeeze of lemon juice (this is to compliment the chilli, says Phil), a dash of ground coriander or some fresh chopped parsley

Instructions

• Mix together all the ingredients except the meat, either by hand or in a blender
• Add the blended mixture to the meat, along with an egg, and stir well
• Form the mixture into patties, dip into flour, and cook. Burgers must always be cooked through. Always, always, always.

I’ve been experimenting with some burger mixes lately. Surprisingly, fresh rosemary with ground nutmeg works really well, especially in lamb burgers. Any suggestions from our readers?

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1. Wednesday Wind-down: Spicy Basil and Parmesan Burgers
2. Wednesday Wind-down: Green Omelette/ Frittata
3. Recipe: Delicious, Quick and Cheap Turkey Burgers