Homemade Hamburgers :: Easy Gourmet Burger Recipe

Making your own hamburgers at home is not exactly rocket science, but a lot of people fail to appreciate the difference between buying a frozen hamburger patty and getting your own hamburger meat ground - either by grinding it yourself or asking your local butcher.

Most grocery stores have the facility to grind beef and it really does make a big difference to the final taste. For a start - if you watch the butcher grind the meat - you know there is nothing added. There are a million ways to make a gourmet burger and this is one of those ways.

I love to make my own homemade burgers and t his particular gourmet hamburger uses ground sirloin for the patties, with just a dash of salt and pepper added just before cooking, then the toppings are melted brie, crispy bacon and caremelized onions.

I do prefer to grind my own hamburger meat now, and you can buy a very inexpensive meat grinder from Amazon which does the job perfectly. I have a Norpro heavy duty meat grinder, which I paid less that $50 for, although you can buy electric ones if you are going to be doing a lot of this type of thing. They are great for making your own baby foods as well.

You can also – if you so desire, buy one of the many hamburger presses available, or even a hamburger mold. I have never used one of these because I like the loose texture that comes from hand rolling them, but you may prefer it, and if you have a large family or big group of friend to feed that may well make sense also.

This will make 4 decent sized homemade burgers.

• 1 lb ground sirloin steak
• dash of salt and pepper
• 8 rashers of bacon, fried to a crisp
• 1/4 lb brie cut into slices
• 4 hamburger buns
• salad garnish of choice

First caramelize the onions and set aside. This is how to caramelize onions. Next, cook the bacon and also set aside. Then, add the salt and pepper to the ground beef and form into patties. Leave them in round balls until cooking and then flatten them as they cook. Either fry them in a cast iron skillet or on a barbecue. These I cooked in a skillet. About 1 minute before they are ready, add the brie and allow it to melt. Then add the onions and bacon and make the burger.

These I served with lettuce, tomato and mayo on the bottom and a dash of English mustard and ketchup on the top with homemade french fries.

There is no limit to the burgers you can make in this way, but the key is to buy good quality beef and grind it as soon as possible before cooking. I like to keep it simple when I am adding complex flavor toppings and only add a small amount of salt and pepper to the meat – otherwise you end up with too many competing flavors.

Bon Apetit!