Beef burger, brie, slow roasted tomatoes & onion marmalade

*DISCLOSURE: THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS.

I am always on the hunt for new recipes and in particular beef burger ideas.  I posted a few recipes lately that we all really enjoyed slow-roasted tomatoes and onion marmalade.  Seeing as I had them in the fridge and knowing they would taste great with some brie cheese – well, I decided to make some delicious beef burgers using the organic minced beef I had in the freezer for the family!

Health Benefits – Really?

Well, I could wax lyrically about some made-up google stats about why a beef burger is healthy and good for you. But we all know that would be a pile of fake news.  Lord knows there is enough of that going around these days!

Truthfully the benefits of a burger are as follows

1. It’s quick to make
2. You can eat it on the couch
3. No cutlery to wash up and what’s better if you BBQ it then no pans to wash either!
4. It tastes AMAZING
5. Will put you into a food coma quick enough
6. If your ladyfriend is like mine then she won’t finish it and you get 1.2 dinners instead of just 1 – BONUS!

What makes a good beef burger?

There are multiple elements when making a burger.  Any old clown can grill a bit of meat and throw it between to slices of bread and call it a burger but knowing how to execute it correctly is the key!

• Choose good quality meat. I used delicious organic meat for this one from my good mate Simon over at Organic Meat Online.  TRUST me it was worth every penny.  You want your burger to have a good ratio of meat: fat.  I’m an 80: 20 or 75: 25 person where possible
• Size.  Guess what?  It matters!!  Firstly take into consideration your bun when shaping it.  But more importantly, you think the bigger the better but in this case, it ain’t.  I go with about 150g to 180g.  Anything smaller and it’s a bloody slider.  Anything bigger and it can start to get messy
• Toppings.  Choose wisely.  Compliment the burger and put them in proportion.  I LOVE bacon but putting 8 slices in your burger probably makes it more a bacon sandwich than a burger!
• Protect the bun.  This means you need to protect it from the meat/juices.  Nothing worse than soggy buns 😉  Firstly, toast the bun, secondly allow the beef burger to rest a moment before placing it on the bun and thirdly lettuce.  I know, I know it’s “healthy” but trust me when I say putting lettuce on the bottom will stop the bun getting soggy and having to use a knife/fork to eat it.  See benefits above!
• Temperature.  Nobody likes dry beef.  Sorry, I am sure people do but WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU!!  Cooking your burger to medium is (in my opinion the way to go), this means hitting about 60c or 140f and letting it rest for a minute.

Follow these basic instructions and you are pretty much there in making the ultimate burger – if I have missed anything then feel free to scold me and let me know!

Wine Pairing

A good burger doesn’t simply just require beer – especially one of this caliber!!  For me, I am ALL about a good shiraz with my burger.  Something bold, beautiful, and powerful (but not to the point where I can only drink 1/2 the bottle).

The Tim Smith Barossa Shiraz hits the nail on the head.  Textbook, perfect, moreish, and hell yeah are words that come to mind when I first describe this wine.  Tim is one of those winemakers that offers phenomenal value for an incredibly high standard of wine.  Sounds like me with my recipes 😉 The 2017 Shiraz is drinking great now but will defo reward cellaring for I would say 5-8 years.  Chances are it will go longer but have you the will power to leave it alone that long.  I doubt I will.  95 pts from Nick Butler the wine is packed with flavour.  Chocolate, plum, blackberries all sit at the forefront of this medium-full bodied classic Barossa shiraz.  The tannins are fine and graceful, perfectly balanced acidity, and a touch of oak on the finish.

Recommendation = buy, buy, buy!!

Follow Along

I hope that my ramblings entertained you for a couple minutes and that you enjoyed the recipe.  Feel free to SUBSCRIBE and follow my culinary journey or at worst hit me up on instagram and FB to see the latest posts.

Happy Cooking and Happy Eating Friends!