Pork Burgers with Crispy Potatoes by The Fat Foodie

It would not surprise me if the people who read my blog harboured the impression that I am a vegetarian because of the amount of veggie dishes I cook and write about, but the truth is, I really enjoy good meat. When I say ‘good meat’ I mean meat that’s of a high quality and not really processed.

The other day I fancied making a really good burger and although ordinarily I’d use beef mince, I had a pack of pork mince in the freezer so I figured I’d have a bash at making pork burgers with crispy potatoes on the side. I have to say, as much as I enjoy a beefburger, I could be a convert! The pork burger kept its moisture during the cooking process much better than a beefburger normally does and it took on the flavours of the seasonings I added to it very well.

The pork burgers were incredibly easy to make and the flavour possibilities you could make with them are endless (sage and chive, smoked paprika and red pepper, and ground cumin and fresh coriander leaf are a few which spring to mind). I served mine in a soft gluten-free bun with some crispy potatoes on the side. Give this a try and see if you convert too.

Ingredients:

500g pork mince

1 tsp asafoetida powder

1 ½ tsps. paprika

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

4-6 soft burger buns

4-6 large potatoes

2 tbsps. of vegetable oil

Method:

Preheat your oven to 180°C/160°C Fan/Gas 4.

In a large bowl mix the asafoetida powder, paprika, salt and pepper into your pork mince.

Form 4-6 patties with the mince by hand (depending on how big you want your burgers to be) or you could use a burger press to form the patties, and place them on a baking tray. If you find your mixture is too dry to pack together then feel free to add 1 egg into it to help bind the mixture.

Cut your potatoes into cubes or wedges, place on a baking tray, coat in the oil and sprinkle with salt. You could add 1 tsp of smoked paprika to your wedges too if you’d like them to have a smokey taste.

Put both baking trays in the oven and bake until your pork burgers are fully cooked in the middle and your potatoes are soft when speared with a fork.

Put the burgers in their buns and build your burger, adding cheese, lettuce, tomato, jalapeños, mayo, ketchup etc. as desired.

Serve with the crispy potatoes and get stuck in!

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Pork Burgers with Crispy Potatoes by The Fat Foodie

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The Ultimate Smokey Burger by The Fat Foodie

On the whole, I’m quite happy on a low-meat diet because it’s better for both my body and the environment, but occasionally my body screams out for meat and it’s a call I must answer. This leads me to last night’s culinary delight – the ultimate smokey burger.

One of my bookshop colleagues is a vegan and over the past few weeks I’ve been enjoying discussing my Happy Pear recipe exploits with her and learning more about the tricks vegans and vegetarians can use to enhance their food. One such delight is the marvel that is Colgin’s Liquid Smoke. It’s a hickory-based sauce that you can add to any dish that you’d like to enhance with a BBQ flavour. Initially I couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t just use smoked paprika, but it turns out that the benefit of using the liquid smoke is that it simply adds a BBQ smokey taste to the food instead of the sweet roasted pepper tone that the paprika brings.

My colleague generously brought into work a bottle of Colgin’s for me yesterday and I was dying to try it. Thankfully it coincided with my meat craving, although you could easily use it to add smokiness to vegetables, particularly bland ones such as courgettes and aubergines.

So last night, after deciding what to have for dinner, I went to Marks and Spencer’s, purchased some good burgers and gluten-free buns, and set off into a BBQ seasoned sunset with the ultimate smokey burger.

Ingredients:

A good quality beefburger (I used one from Marks and Spencer)

A soft gluten-free bun cut in half

3 to 4 drops of Colgin’s Liquid Smoke

1 generous slice of mozzarella (I used Violife dairy-free)

A couple of rashers of back bacon

Jalapenos

2 cherry tomatoes (sliced)

Lettuce (shredded)

Mayonnaise and ketchup to taste

Method:

Sprinkle 3 to 4 drops of liquid smoke onto your burger (you could add more if you’re feeling brave, but I was conservative because I wasn’t sure how strong it would be).

Cook the burger in the oven, in a frying pan, or on a BBQ.

A few minutes before the burger’s done cook your bacon rashers.

Place your mozzarella slice on top of the burger and put it back in the oven until the cheese has melted.

Once everything’s almost cooked pop your bun in a toaster (or on the BBQ) to toast for 30 seconds or so, just to warm it through and gently toast it.

Place the bottom of the toasted bun on a plate and add ketchup if you’d like.

Put your burger on top and start to add your choice of toppings. I used cherry tomatoes, lettuce, jalapenos and bacon.

Put mayonnaise on the top part of the burger bun (and any other sauces you’d like).

Join the ultimate smokey burger together and enjoy!