Occasionally I serve hamburgers to the boys for dinner.  Para hindi naman parating kanin at ulam.  And it isn’t difficult to make delicious and moist beef patties knowing that most if not all NZ beef is grass-fed due to the country’s free ranging pastures plus a climate that produces fresh grass all year round.  It’s inexpensive as well.  You probably heard that dairy cow population has overtaken the human population in this part of the world.  Yes, hindi lang tupa ang mas madami kaysa sa tao.  No kidding.

Anyway, here’s how I normally cook burgers with a bit of butter-sautéed mushrooms and onions, and stock-soaked breadcrumbs to keep the patties moist when cooked.  I also toast the buns now the way Erwin does.  I once served half of the buns toasted, the other half not.  There’s a difference trust me – the toasted buns add flavor to the burgers.

Ingredients:
Approx. 1/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs
Approx. 1/4 cup beef stock (or chicken stock or milk)
1-2 tbsp butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
4-5 button mushrooms, coarsely chopped
Approx. 500g Angus prime beef mince
1 egg
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Burger buns

Typical toppings and spread I serve:
Baby rockets (or lettuce)
Sliced fresh tomatoes
Cheese
Ketchup
Mayonnaise
Ham or crispy bacon slices (optional)
Fried or grilled caramelized onion slices (optional)

Soak the breadcrumbs in beef stock while preparing the other ingredients.

Heat butter in a pan.  Sauté onion until softened but not browned.  Add mushrooms and cook until softened as well.  Transfer to a mixing container.

Add beef mince to the mixing container.  Season with salt, freshly ground pepper and Worcestershire sauce.  Add the soaked breadcrumbs and egg, and mix all together with clean, bare hands.

Form the meat mixture into patties, each approx. 100mm diam and 10mm thick.  You may use a bowl to form them; I just use my hands.  Separate them with baking paper and refrigerate for few hours before frying.

Lightly oil pan (or grill plate).  Fry patties about 5 minutes each side.  Transfer to a platter.

Wipe to clean pan with paper towels.  Heat over low to medium heat.  Slice burger buns in half and toast both sides on the pan (or use a grill pan).

Serve buns and burgers separately on the table alongside a couple of plates with delicious toppings you can imagine. Assemble your own burger.

Iska

I am not a professional cook. My only claim to having a culinary background is a short stint as my dad’s teen ‘sous chef’ in his carinderia ages ago. Dad ran small eateries since I was a young kid - serving standard ‘turo-turo’ food ranging from the likes of menudo, adobo, pritong isda, dinuguan, binagoongan, bopis, munggo, pinakbet and giniling to merienda fares like goto, ginataan, pancit bihon, halu-halo and saging con yelo.

My father, a farmer in his hometown before working his way to becoming an accountant, definitely influenced my cooking in a lot of ways than I thought. My siblings and I were raised in a backyard full of fruit trees and vegetable garden. We spent weekends and the summer breaks running around with ducks, chickens, goats and pigs. I had wonderful memories of gathering eggs, butchering chickens, selling vegetables and the sweet aroma of preserved fruits. But my love for art led me to a degree in Architecture. Just few months after getting my license, I went abroad and lived independently at age 23. Definitely no maid, no cook, and a totally different food culture. Along the way I met lots of friends and spent what seemed a lifetime learning new tricks and recipes.

Now living in Auckland, I am a work-from-home mum who juggles time between work, fun and family - in pursuit of work-life balance. No matter how busy I am, I love the idea of cooking for my family. My blog chronicles home cooking greatly influenced by life outside my home country from Southeast Asia to Beijing and Auckland. And most of the time, being busy also means easy (sometimes quick), affordable meals.