Royale With Cheese

27th July - PJ's Hamburger Patties

After the massive week of cooking that was last week, it was time to get back into it. As Sian had what she described as “the worst hangover of my life”, I decided that it was the perfect time to cook PJ's Hamburger Patties.

When I got home, Sian did not look good. She was lying on the lounge with a bucket of spew in front of her. Hot! Not only did she look like shit, but she didn't even want my hamburgers! (“Hamburgers! The corner stone of any nutritious breakfast”) She decided that chicken nuggets and chips would be a much better dinner. Oh well, I was committed to the hamburger cause, so just cooked them anyway.

I was very excited to get to use sausage mince again as I love squeezing that out of its plastic wrapper! It really was quite simple, I essentially just combined it all up and cooked it. I didn’t use a glass bowl, as the recipe requested, as we don't have one, but I don't think it mattered. It was way too cold to go outside and use the BBQ, but a pan worked fine.

I also cooked caramelised onions. The best decision I've ever made. I was super happy with myself! I found some (stale) bread rolls in the freezer (lucky I was toasting them anyway) and topped the burgers with pineapple, beetroot, lettuce, tomato, cheese and my onion. Since Sian didn't eat any and I only had one there are now 9 hamburgers lying around which I'll probably forget about and never eat. Oh well. They were real good anyway.

I said I'd do a comparison if I got two of the same recipe in my book, so here it is. PJ's burgers stayed together much better than Alex's so were more ascetically pleasing, and honestly, I think I might have preferred the taste as well. HOWEVER, Alex's can be made from ingredients that you may have lying around in your house so this is an advantage.

Honestly though, I was just loving life sick when I ate this one which may also be due to the fact that it had caramelised onion, and also that I felt great while Sian felt shit. Hard to tell.

Caramalised Onion: Thinly slice 2 medium white onion. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan. Cook onion, stiring until soft. Add 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and 2 tablespoons of water. Cook, stiring until onion is caramalised.

Tips: Have a housemate that will use the leftover mince to make a yummy pasta with meatballs dish like Sian did for me.

Music: Due to Sian's state, I just left Seinfeld on and watched that while I cooked.

The burgers are better at Hungry Jo's.

17 April 2011 - Alex's Beef Patties for Hamburgers

Another weekend, another engagement party, another Sunday night attempt at cooking due to a whole week of laziness! It was time to have a crack at Alex’s Beef Patties for Hamburgers.

I've got two hamburger patty recipes in my book already, so I've been looking forward to the competition that might arise from trying out these dishes! I decided to try Alex’s first, as they were in my book first (and I had almost all of the ingredients so wouldn't have to do much shopping).

The recipe is very easy and lots of fun to make. They were a darker colour than I'd imagined, but I had no reason for the image in my mind. The best part was definitely getting to mix it with my hands - particularly squeezing the egg and popping the yolk (something I thought I'd find gross, but actually really enjoyed).

It was very simple. I got to use the BBQ all by myself as Sian wasn't home and I felt very cool (in my glasses and my pyjamas and my post-braid crimped hair). It all went really smoothly. The patties fell apart a bit on the BBQ, but I don't know what I could have done about that really. They were delicious and I'm counting it as a hands down success!

I didn't know how to clean the BBQ so told Sian to check it the next morning. She cleaned it but roused on me for not turning off the gas. I said "I didn't have to turn it on so I thought it must just disconnect itself like Dad’s" to which she replied "Dad’s doesn't do that"... Epic fail. May now be responsible for empty gas bottles across the country!

Tips: Find out how to use the BBQ before claiming it was successful! Also, even though Alex wouldn't like it, it's not worth having a hamburger if you don't have beetroot!

Music: Blakroc