Posh Burgers With Red Wine Sauce And Rosemary & Dill tossed Potatoes

Hello, boys and girls!

So I was having dinner the other day and as I was eating, I started to wonder what my most favourite things to eat were and the more I thought, the harder it got to pinpoint the stuff I love to eat most. What I did realize, however, was that burgers feature pretty high up on my list. Now I'm not talking about the burgers you get at fast food joints because lets face it, more often than not, as I'm eating those burgers, I find myself feeling pretty bad for the animal in question at having gone out so meekly and not in the blaze of glory and explosion of flavour that it so richly deserved!

I mean really, slapping a slim frozen patty on the grill and and passing it down an assembly line to be sandwiched between tiny buns and too much salad only to be devoured in 30 seconds all slathered in ketchup (hurk!) does not sit well with me.

Burger patties should be thick and meaty and juicy with the smoky flavour from the char that they get. Patties that when you bite into them cause your eyes to fly open and your tongue to tingle with delight, your mouth to mumble incoherently as your hands reach for napkins as the juices dribble down your chin.

Today's recipe celebrates the star of every burger, the patty, by plating it in a dish sans it's regular accompaniments (which if done right are nothing short of phenomenal) and instead making it a little posh by serving it instead with a rich red wine sauce and a side of tossed rosemary and dill potatoes. Throw in a glass of good red wine and you have a meal that will make your toes curl!

Please note from this point on the words patties and burgers are used interchangeably.

For my Posh Burgers With Red Wine Sauce And Rosemary & Dill tossed Potatoes, you will need the following:

For the patties:

Minced meat of your choice	1 pound (for 4 quarter pounders)
Salt	to taste
Pepper	to taste
Paprika	1 tsp
Garlic	3 - 4 cloves
Oil

Alternately, you could get the uncooked pre-pattied quarter pounders from your local supermarket.

For the sauce:

Butter	1 big chunk
Onion	1 large
Flour	2 tbsps
Bacon	3 rashers
Chicken stock	2 cups (or 2 stock cubes)
Red wine	1 cup
Salt	to taste
Pepper	to taste
Soya sauce	for colour

For the potatoes:

Baby potatoes	6-8
Rosemary	2 sprigs
Dill	1 big handful
Butter	big dollop
Salt	to taste
Pepper	to taste

Prep:

1. Mince the garlic.
2. Add the minced garlic, salt, pepper and paprika to the meat.
3. If you're using patties from the market, rub the garlic, salt, pepper and paprika onto the outside of the patties and press gently such that the garlic is embedded into the meat.
4. Shape 4 large patties (without pressing too hard).
5. Slice the onions.
6. Chop up the bacon.
7. Dissolve the stock cubes in 2 cups of water.
8. Parboil the potatoes. (This will help them cook quicker.) 
9. Cut potatoes into halves.
10. Chop up the rosemary.
11. Chop up the dill.

Method:

Burgers:

1. Turn on the gas.
2. Bung a pan or a skillet onto the gas.
3. Splash in some oil. (Not too much since the meat has oils of its own.)
4. Place all 4 patties into the pan.
5. Realize your pan is only big enough to hold 3.
6. Decide to do 2 at a time so the 4th patty doesn't feel left out.
7. Place a lid over the pan and let it cook for 3-4 minutes. (Do not press down on the patties as they cook as that compacts them and makes them dense and you lose all the yummy meat juices.)
8. Remove lid.
9. Gasp at the gorgeous aroma.
10. Attempt to flip patties over.
11. Expertly avoid the grease sputtering in the pan.
12. Successfully flip patties over.
13. Cook for about 3 minutes.
14. Cut into one of the patties to see if it's cooked through.
15. Get the patties out of the pan and onto a plate.
16. Fight the urge to eat them then and there.
17. Repeat for the remaining patties.
18. Keep pan aside for potatoes.

Sauce:

1. Turn on the gas.
2. Bung a pan on the gas.
3. Melt a knob of butter in the pan.
4. Add in the onions and cook until the onions are translucent.
5. Add in the flour and cook for a few minutes.
6. Add in the chopped bacon.
7. Cook for a few minutes until the smell of bacon fills the kitchen.
8. Add in the stock.
9. Let it simmer for a minute or so.
10. Add in the red wine.
11. Dissolve some flour in some water and add in the mixture to thicken the sauce.
12. Add salt and pepper. (Not too much since the soya sauce is salty).
13. Splash in some soya sauce (or Worcestershire sauce) to give it some colour.
14. Taste test.
15. Simmer for a few minutes.
16. Turn off gas.

Potatoes:

1. Turn on the gas.
2. Bung the burger pan/skillet onto the gas.
3. Add in some butter.
4. Throw in the potatoes.
5. Look around to make sure no one is watching.
6. Grasp the handle of the pan.
7. Toss the potatoes like the chefs on TV.
8. Watch in horror as the potatoes exit the pan and bounce off the floor.
9. Put the pan back on the gas.
10. Pick up the fallen potatoes and throw them back in the pan citing the 5 second rule.
11. Sprinkle in the salt, pepper, rosemary and dill.
12. Attempt to toss the potatoes again albeit more carefully.
13. Continue until potatoes are cooked.

Plating:

1. Put 2 burgers on a plate.
2. Heap some potatoes on the side.
3. Drizzle the sauce over the burgers.
4. Uncork a bottle of some nice red wine. 
5. Stuff face. 
6. Bask in the glory of your successfully executed dish.

Tip: Now I know all the good Hindus out there will probably opt for mutton or lamb or chicken but nothing beats a good beef burger! 

Also, if you add the patties to a lightly toasted bun with a slice of fresh tomato, a slice of red onion, some smoky bacon, mustard and burger relish, you'll end up with a pretty awesome burger.

And remember, overeating is a myth. A full tummy is a happy tummy!