WEEKEND TREATS

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 Hello ladies and gents this is the Viking telling you that today we are talking about 

Blue cheese and bacon smash burger



This blue cheese and bacon smash burger consists of two caramelised beef patties – each topped with a rich blue cheese sauce – on a bed of earthy beetroot and finished off with sticky, salty bacon jam. It’s the smash burger of dreams!


Ingredients

  • 250g beef mince (20% fat)
  • 2 sesame burger buns, sliced open
  • Olive oil to fry
  • 1 cooked beetroot, thinly sliced
  • 2 small gherkins, halved 

For the bacon jam

  • 80g smoked streaky bacon, finely chopped
  • 1 shallot, finely chopped
  • 40g light soft brown sugar
  • 40ml cider vinegar

For the blue cheese sauce


  • 75g blue cheese, crumbled (any blue cheese will do)
  • 2 tbsp soured cream
  • Dash Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 1 tsp cider vinegar

Method

  1. To make the bacon jam, put the bacon in a small pan over a low-medium heat. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add the shallot. Cook for another 5-10 minutes until the bacon is crisp and the shallot has softened, then add the sugar and vinegar. Cook for 4-6 minutes until sticky, then keep warm over a very low heat.
  2. For the sauce, mix together all the ingredients until combined with just a few chunks of blue cheese showing. Taste, then season with salt and pepper.
  3. Put a wide cast-iron or stainless steel frying pan over a medium heat and wait for it to heat up. Meanwhile, divide the mince into 4 equal balls. Flatten the balls slightly to make them into thick pucks. Lightly toast the cut sides of the buns in the dry pan, then set aside.
  4. Drizzle a little oil into the pan. Put the pucks in the frying pan, spaced out as far as possible. Use 2 frying pans or work in batches if needed. Using a metal spatula and a rolling pin (or a metal press, if you have one), flatten/smash the pucks into thin patties, pressing down hard and getting them as thin as possible. Season liberally with salt and pepper and cook for 2 minutes, pressing the patties back down if they start to rise in the centre.
  5. Use a metal spatula to scrape the patties off the pan and flip them, season with a touch more salt and lots more pepper, then pour half the blue cheese sauce over each. Cook for another 2 minutes, then scrape them up and set aside.
  6. Spread the bacon jam onto the base of the buns, top with the beetroot slices then put 2 patties on each bun base, sauce-side up. Top with the sliced gherkin, put the bun lid on top and wrap the burgers in foil. Leave for a few minutes for the flavours to meld, then unwrap and enjoy.

And as always have a chilled day from the Viking

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