USA

USA for dinner tonight. The 1-1 draw was a good result for them... absolutely abysmal result for England. We're officially supporting England in this house (well Derek is.. my heart's really with Spain) so not the result we were hoping for. Its early days though, still all to play for. Nobody has shone so far... Germany tomorrow, maybe they will take things up a notch...

Anyway we went for Hamburgers and fries and a Vanilla Malt shake for our USA dinner. Not the healthiest dinner by a long shot but I suppose the home made stuff is better than going to the take away and it tastes a million times nicer.


Hamburgers
(serves 2)


Ingredients

150g minced beef
1/2 onion
1/2 beaten egg
handful of breadcrumbs
1 tsp dijon mustard
salt and pepper


burger buns
lettuce
dijon mustard
spicy mayo (2 tsp mayo, 1/2 tsp tomato puree, 1/2 tsp paprika)
streaky bacon
sliced gerkins
sliced tomato
cheese (we used grated gruyere we had left over in the fridge - otherwise a slice of cheddar would be perfect)


Method

Mix mince, mustard, onion, egg, breadcrumbs and season. Most recipes I've seen say you should saute the onions first before adding them to the mix but I always prefer to add them raw so they still have a little bit of bite in the finished burger... its up to you which way you prefer.
Divide the mixture into two patties and fry on a hot griddle pan for about 15 mins, depending on how thick you've made you burgers. If they appear to be browning too quickly just turn the heat down a touch and let them cook through slowly.

About 5 mins before the burgers are ready fry the bacon in a little oil until crispy.
Slice the gerkins and tomato thinly and make the spicy mayo. Then assemble the burgers whatever way you like.. I like lots of mustard and I'm not a fan of ketchup, but the best thing is that there are no rules.


Vanilla Malt Milkshake

5 tbsp good vanilla ice cream
200ml whole milk
1tbsp Horlicks (or any other malt powder)

Mix together and blend. Simple!