The blog of cooking-ez.com

Let's rehabilitate the burger


Let's rehabilitate the burger
The burger is a sandwich that is very fashionable at the moment, and as for all other sandwiches, the worst (often) rubs shoulders with the best (much more rare).

In principle, I'm probably not teaching you anything, it's a sandwich made of a small round bun, rather soft, like a sandwich bread, the bun, which is filled with a small grilled ground beef steak and various vegetables (tomatoes, onions, salad,...).

The whole point of the burger is the delicious contrast between the grilled meat and the crunchy vegetables in the bun.
5,242 4.9/5 based on 16 reviews
Grade this page:

Last modified on: April 10th 2021

Keywords for this post:BurgerSandwichHamburgerAmericanMeatSaladBreadBun
Let's rehabilitate the burger

burger

A burger, then, is very simple, very good if it's well done, a bit like the emblematic "dish" of the cuisine of our American neighbours, who are often persuaded to have invented it, which is totally far-fetched, it is in fact of German origin, literally hamburger is "Hambourgeois" for the French-speaking people or inhabitants of Hamburg, where it originates, brought to the United States by the immigrants from this city.

We can find it everywhere now, not only at macdo fortunately, and especially it arrives in our kitchen, adored by many, especially children/teens/youth in general.

You can find a lot of them in take-away, in delivery, and a lot of chains, more or less sophisticated, offer practically only that.

You can buy it of course, have it delivered of course, but most of all, as you can see, you can make it yourself and with a little effort, have something healthy and delicious, miles away from the over-fat and over-sweetened stuff of fast food chains.

If you want to get started, which is quite simple I reassure you right away, here are a few points that deserve your attention.

The bread

buns maison



Without doubt the most important, it is very easy to buy in supermarkets vacuum-packed burger buns, not expensive, but which are horrors without name, very fat, very sweet and which remain under plastic 2 months without problem, filled with additives that they are.

If you buy in a supermarket, read very carefully the label, and choose the healthiest, proscribe the endless lists of additives of fats, sugar, it will probably be a little more expensive, but much better taste and health.

But there is a much better option: Go to your baker and buy from him, order if necessary, buns. If he's a good baker he'll make them himself, in his bakery, quality buns, fresh and infinitely better than anything you'll find in the supermarket. As demand increases, (good) bakers are adapting and offering a variety of different breads, in doughs, sizes, and toppings (seeds on top).

There is even a third way, you can consider making your own hamburger buns, it's not that complicated, with a mixer or a bread machine. You can also decorate them to your taste.

Bread related tips:
- Cut your bread in half with a saw knife shortly before topping (so it doesn't have time to go stale)
- Toast the two pieces of bread before topping, in the toaster or in the oven, it will be much better in taste and texture

The meat

galettes de viandes pour hamburgers



Here too, it is necessary to go for quality, and therefore to buy quality meat from your butcher, minced in front of you.

Tips related to meat :
- Instead of making a simple ground steak, mix the meat with salt, pepper, chopped onion, herbs, etc. and then form patties by hand to grill.
- It is now quite easy to find "hamburger presses" that allow you to quickly mould the meat into a well rounded patty of the right size.
- You can go off the beaten track and replace the beef by another meat, more original, chicken for example.

The vegetables and the rest

salade verte tomatesoignons



You can put in your burger a bit of everything you want, only limited by your imagination, let yourself go!
The classic tomatoes (in season only), onions and lettuce are delicious of course, but don't hesitate to think outside the box: spinach leaves, fresh herbs, cooked vegetables, avocados, etc. etc.
You can also add a lot of other things to slip in between the ingredients already mentioned: cheese slices, hard-boiled egg slices, pickles, grilled bacon, etc.

The sauce

moutarde



In principle, a little mustard is enough, but you can enrich your burger with another sauce: mayonnaise, remoulade, béchamel, spicy...
Be careful not to saturate the sandwich, it is easy to make it a little too rich and give it a taste of sauce rather than burger.


So here is a small overview of the burger, to make it short, it is a simple sandwich with grilled meat, but it deserves that we pay a little attention to its realization and its composition.

In summary: The burger is not the archetype of junk food, it is a sandwich that if it is well made, preferably at home, can be delicious and healthy, thanks to the use of quality ingredients.


PS: Those who live around Brest in France, will be happy to go to the bakery"Pen ar bread", in Guipavas, the remarkable establishment of Sébastien and Audrey that I highly recommend (best bakery in Brittany 2019), where you will find a whole range of burger breads just delicious. Those are the buns you see in the introduction photo. And in addition the owner is a very nice guy, a real well of science in bakery, do not hesitate to ask him about it.

PPS: You've probably already seen those famous black and white archive images of JF Kennedy's speech in Berlin in 1963, and his even more famous "Ich bin ein Berliner"? Imagine for a moment that he gave his speech in Hamburg...






Lasts posts
Clean your mixer easily
Clean your mixer easily
If you use a "bowl" or "blender" mixer, as opposed to a plunger, you've probably noticed that it's a bit of a hassle to clean it after use. And yet, with a simple trick, it can be done very quickly. See how here.
1,4975 June 26th 2024
Preserving egg yolks
Preserving egg yolks
If you're using only the egg whites in a recipe (such as meringues ), you'll need to store the yolks until you're ready to use them again. There's nothing very complicated about this in principle - all you have to do is chill them, but there are a few pitfalls to be avoided in practice.
2,0205 June 18th 2024
Preservative oil, an asset for taste
Preservative oil, an asset for taste
When you prepare a dish using an ingredient that has been preserved in fat, for example a springtime mixed salad with tuna in oil or sun-dried tomatoes, you're probably going to make a french dressing (vinaigrette) next. In that case, why not use the preserved oil from the tuna or tomatoes?
2,1845 June 5th 2024
Don't throw away disposable piping bags
Don't throw away disposable piping bags
Nowadays, it's fairly easy to find what professionals use as piping bags, i.e. disposable or "single-use" plastic ones. They're practical, functional and inexpensive, but disposable? That's debatable...
3,5705 May 28th 2024
Should asparagus really be cooked in bunches?
Should asparagus really be cooked in bunches?
You'll probably read recipes here and there explaining how to cook asparagus "en botte", i.e. in a small package (the famous "botte"). Is this really the right way to cook asparagus?
2,7255 May 22th 2024
Other pages you may also like
Making the most of seeds: Dry roasting
Making the most of seeds: Dry roasting
In cooking, and particularly in baking, there are a lot of seeds we can use, such as linseed, sesame, poppy, etc. Usually, recipes simply say to add them just as they are to the mixture or dough. To make a seeded loaf, for example, prepare a plain bread dough as usual, then, towards the end of...
56K4.0 January 30th 2015
Candied fruits: don't get ripped off
Candied fruits: don't get ripped off
Do you like candied fruit? You might like to nibble a handful or add it to a recipe, like a classic fruit cake or delicious Italian specialities like panettone or sicilian epiphany pie.
54K 24.2 June 21th 2017
The march forward
The march forward
When professionals get to work in their kitchen, lab or bakery, they are (if they are conscientious) very sensitive to hygiene and cleanliness. It is impossible for a good baker for example to do a day's work without regularly cleaning the table where he or she works, and it is even more...
14K5 June 30th 2021
Kitchen ovens
Kitchen ovens
You certainly have one in your kitchen, an oven, the essential tool for all kinds of cooking, whether in the kitchen of course, but also in pastry, bakery, pizza, and many others. Here is some information on its structure and operation.
23K4.4 May 16th 2020
Beans in primeur
Beans in primeur
As I write this, it is the beginning of the short season for fresh beans. If you've never made them before and you're just starting out (and that's a great idea) you'll find that it's a bit time consuming to prepare, you have to shell them once, remove the beans, scald them to remove the skin (and...
9,333 June 4th 2022
Post a comment or question
Posted by:
I am not a leaving thing
Follow this page
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.

Back to top of page