Most people who know me know that I don’t really like to go out much and prefer to stay at home. But I do like to eat delicious food and try different things. I spend a lot of time looking at different recipes and menus. I had heard in passing of Charcut Roast House in Calgary, but didn’t really dig into what it’s all about until I saw a couple blog posts on the Alley Burger. Sounds spectacular! I hope I get to try it. But I just looked into and thought about attempting to make my own.
I read somewhere that Charcut uses lamb, or maybe that was another delicious burger I was looking at. I wanted to use some for my burgers this time, but despite the abundance and low cost of lamb here in Belgium, I can’t seem to get it ground. Oh well, another time. I went to a nice butcher just outside the town square and picked up a good mix of 200g ground pork and 300g ground beef for some contrast.
After a little digging I found this recipe for Roasted Garlic Burgers. I had to give it a go. I picked up some nice buns from the bakery. And we had a bunch of potatoes that had been left to use up… frites! And while I’m roasting garlic, let’s do a little extra and do a roasted garlic mayo for the fries! I just put about 6 of the roasted garlic cloves in a small bowl, squishing them with a fork and mixing them in with some mayo. Scrumptious.
In hindsight, I would have just roasted the garlic the I normally would… chop off the top of the head, drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Wrap in tinfoil and roast in 375F oven for about 45 minutes. But I wanted to try this recipe.
Roasted Garlic Burgers
Ingredients:
- 2 heads garlic
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 1 slice bread
- 3 tbsp milk
- 300g ground beef
- 200g ground pork
- cheese, I used a nice old Gouda (optional)
- other toppings (I used just spinach and mustard)
Directions:
- Separate and peel the garlic cloves and place in an oven proof pan with a little olive oil over medium heat, generously added salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes, then place in 375F oven for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and aromatic.
- While the garlic is roasting, tear up bread and place in a bowl with the milk. Allow to mix, motivating it with a fork when it begins to soften. Add roasted and cooled garlic and mash into the bread and milk with fork. Add in ground meats and salt and pepper. Don’t handle the mixture too much, but mix everything together.
- Shape into 5 patties. Put in the fridge for a few minutes to a couple hours.
- Heat olive oil in a pan (cast iron is really nice) over medium high heat. When the pan is hot, add the patties and cook for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Flip burgers and cook for 5-8 minutes on the second side. Add cheese in last few minutes and cover with a lid to melt.
- Enjoy!
What say you?