You can make these hamburgers as thick or as thin as you like. Obviously, you can cook them rare, if you wish – the FSA is unlikely to show up at your door.
1.4kg good-quality minced rib steak or chuck, with 20-30 per cent fat
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
A little vegetable or corn oil for brushing
8 good-quality baps
2 medium red onions
8 large sweet pickled gherkins
2 beef tomatoes
For the club sauce
80g American mustard
320g tomato ketchup
Mix the mince to ensure that the fat is evenly distributed throughout, then mould it into 8 balls and shape them either with a burger press, if you own one, or by pushing the meat into a pastry cutter. Then put the hamburgers into the fridge to set the meat before cooking.Whisk together the tomato ketchup and American mustard for the club sauce.
Lightly toast the baps and keep them warm until you’re ready to serve. The hamburgers are best cooked on a barbecue or griddle plate, but a smoking-hot cast-iron pan will do: this seals in the juices and will give a nicely cooked, rare or medium-rare burger in a couple of minutes. Don’t cook them under the grill unless you have a red-hot American-style one, as this tends to boil the meat, making it dry and lacking in flavour.
Once the hamburgers are cooked to your preference, serve them in the baps with slices of red onion, gherkin, beef tomato and the club sauce.
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