2011 Cooking Club Week 4: Baby bunburgers

Little Alex

Makes 24, enough for 4-6 people

There are three parts to this recipe: the buns, the burgers and the onion rings.

Ingredients:

Buns

250g plain white flour
250ml buttermilk
30g butter
1 sachet instant yeast
1 teaspoon white sugar
Salt and pepper
1 egg
Sesame seeds

Burgers

400g minced beef
50g breadcrumbs
Garlic
Smoked paprika
Egg (left over from buns)
Onion (left over from onion rings)

Onion rings

2 or 3 small onions
50g plain white flour
Half tablespoon baking powder
Buttermilk
Oil for frying

The buns

Start with the buns first.



In a pot gently heat the buttermilk and add the butter and sugar. Continue until melted, but do not allow to get too hot.



Put the flour into a mixing bowl, add the yeast and buttermilk mixture and season with salt and pepper. Knead the dough for about five minutes. You need the dough to be just dry enough so that you can handle it without it sticking to your hands or that it comes away from the bowl if using an electric mixer (which I did!), so you may need to add slightly more liquid or flour to achieve this.

When kneaded, cover the dough and leave for about half an hour. I took advantage of the residual heat from my hob and put the tray on a trivet over the still-warm hob ring. After that roll into 24 balls of equal size and pat them down gently onto a baking tray to give them their bun shape. Cover with a cloth and leave for another half an hour. Remember to leave enough space between the buns to allow for them to expand.

Beat the egg in a bowl and brush over the buns. Then sprinkle over the sesame seeds, which will adhere well due to the egg. Very little of the egg will actually be used and the rest will be added to the burger meat.



Preheat the oven to 150ºC and bake the buns until golden, which should be between 20 and 30 minutes. Just keep checking on them while they bake.



When cooled, slice the buns in two with a serrated knife.

Tesco sell own-brand sesame seeds in the baking section for 65c and own-brand yeast for about €1 for a packet of 8 sachets.

The burgers



Finely chop the onion that was left over from the onion rings. In a bowl combine the beef, breadcrumbs egg, onion and flavouring: I used smoked paprika and garlic. Roll the meat into 24 equally sized balls.




Flatten the balls on a baking tray into burger shapes and bake in the oven until browned, which should take about 10 minutes or so.

This can be done at the same time as the buns are baking, but I prefer to let the buns bake first so that I know what size they will have ended up being and then shape the burgers so that they are of the same diameter.



I added the breadcrumbs and egg so that as little of the juice as possible is lost and the burgers do not shrink: as the fat melts it is absorbed by the breadcrumbs.

If seasoning, do this after the burgers are done.

I made the breadcrumbs using two slices of bread that were left out for a few hours to dry out and then blitzed in a food processor.

The onion rings



Peel the onions and cut them into half centimetre slices. Pop rings out of out of the slices and put the inner parts - the parts that are too small to make rings out of - to one side.

Make the batter by stirring the flour and baking powder and then pouring in the buttermilk while whisking. Add enough buttermilk until the batter is so thick as to coat the back of a spoon.

Put the onion rings into the bowl with the batter and toss them until coated.



Pour enough oil into a pot so that it is about an inch deep. Turn on the hob and allow the oil to heat up. It's hot enough when a ring placed into the oil immediately starts to "fizz". Fry the rings in batches, as they tend to clump together, until golden in colour. When they are done let them drain on some kitchen paper.



Instead of baking powder and buttermilk you could also try adding some sparkling spring water.

When the buns, burgers and onion rings are all ready put them on their serving plates and add the "accessories".



Cheddar cheese slices (real cheese, not Easi Singles) cut into quarters
Lettuce
Gherkin slices
As many different sauces and condiments as you have
And whatever else you like!



Put together the burgers and enjoy!

boosh_fan

love the look of those! Can't wait to try them!!!!

BaZmO*

Great looking recipe. Well done. I'll have to have a party to try them out! Although, I think I might just half the recipe so I can try them!

nice1franko

Little Alex wrote: »

Makes 24, enough for 4-6 people

Makes 24, enough for Franko

Excellent choice, Sir. Looking forward to these.

angeldelight

They look great! I won't be trying this one, I just know I don't have the patience for it and am not a huge fan of burgers anyway but it looks like a fab recipe!

Faith

Wow, that looks amazing! I generally only cook for 1 so I'll have to wait until I have a party to make these .

The Black Oil

Damn you, Little Alex, everything you do seems to be immaculately prepared. :pac: Looking forward to trying these.

emaleth

I'll be trying these wee buns at the weekend (just right for the Super Bowl, good timing!) and am sure they'll be great. I wanted to say that mini buns with pulled pork and coleslaw are little pieces of heaven - sliders are what they're called on the other side of the pond. A mix and match with burgers and pulled pork is great fun too, so there's serendipity to the Cooking Club

hussey

You mentioned Yeast - but it is not in the recipe ?
I take it you just add to the flour?

Little Alex

BaZmO* wrote: »

Great looking recipe. Well done. I'll have to have a party to try them out! Although, I think I might just half the recipe so I can try them!

Faith wrote: »

Wow, that looks amazing! I generally only cook for 1 so I'll have to wait until I have a party to make these .

Yeah, I think they'de be nice for a kids' party and of course also for a grown-ups party!

nice1franko wrote: »

Makes 24, enough for Franko

Excellent choice, Sir. Looking forward to these.

I like your style!

The Black Oil wrote: »

Damn you, Little Alex, everything you do seems to be immaculately prepared. :pac: Looking forward to trying these.

Aw, thanks!

emaleth wrote: »

I'll be trying these wee buns at the weekend (just right for the Super Bowl, good timing!) and am sure they'll be great. I wanted to say that mini buns with pulled pork and coleslaw are little pieces of heaven - sliders are what they're called on the other side of the pond. A mix and match with burgers and pulled pork is great fun too, so there's serendipity to the Cooking Club

Yep, I'd say they'de be great with pulled pork, too. Here's a mighty fine pulled pork recipe, in case you haven't seen it already.

The first time I made these burgers I also made a batch of Buffalo wings. They go really well with them; too.

hussey wrote: »

You mentioned Yeast - but it is not in the recipe ?
I take it you just add to the flour?

Just edited it now! I used instant yeast so it can be just added to the flour without any preparation, activation, etc.

You could probably also use baking powder instead if you wanted.

Loopy

Fantastic photos Little Alex.
They look devine, must give them a bash..

allandanyways

If your onion rings taste like the onion rings from Spurs in Liffey Valley as much as they look like them, I will marry you. I've tried every batter under the sun, but never one with buttermilk, maybe that's the trick!

Excellent recipe nonetheless, CC 2011 is shaping up to be a good one!

cullen5998

Looks delicious, so hungry right now!

Good idea making the buns yourself:)

Little Alex

allandanyways wrote: »

If your onion rings taste like the onion rings from Spurs in Liffey Valley as much as they look like them, I will marry you. I've tried every batter under the sun, but never one with buttermilk, maybe that's the trick!

Excellent recipe nonetheless, CC 2011 is shaping up to be a good one!

Who wudda thunk it? Onion rings! Less of your diamond rings and more of your onion rings! :pac:

I'm not sure if they're the same as in Spur because it's years since I've been there, but they turned out nicely. I don't know if buttermilk is any different than any other liquid, but I think that the baking powder gives the batter some structure.

boosh_fan

Alex, do you think it's ok to make the dough tonight to have tomorrow at 7.00ish?

Little Alex

boosh_fan wrote: »

Alex, do you think it's ok to make the dough tonight to have tomorrow at 7.00ish?

I'm not sure, boosh.

There are recipes that call for yeast doughs being left overnight to "ferment" or whatever, pizza dough, for example...

... but I am not sure that if you do that and that you shape your buns the next day that the yeast will have any more "rise" to offer when they are baked. I don't know if you would end up with dense, little unrisen doughballs if you did that.

Anyone have any advice to offer?

boosh_fan

Thanks, I made it anyway and we'll see. It had risen a bit by this morning. It's not too much trouble to make again (just doughy hands - which I HATE!). I'll let you know.

boosh_fan

I used it anyway to see and the dough balls did rise. There was a smell off the dough when I got to it. It smelled like something from playschool - isn't it weird how smells stay with you after 25 years. Not a bad smell!

Back to the burgers! They were so fab, so cute. I made them for my housemates and they were mad about them too.




I'm in the middle of a Come Dine with Me session with some friends and I'm doing Middle Eastern food but I think if we do it again I'll go with a "mini-food" theme and make mini versions of things! These burgers would go down a treat!

Thanks Alex

Little Alex

They look fab. boosh! Glad they turned out well for you.

The coleslaw is of course a welcome addition. Yours isn't "white" so I'm guessing it's a nice one like Superquinn's.

foodaholic

Made these on Friday night. Appologies for the quality of the photos might have been a bit tipsy

The buns are amazing and really easy make had trouble keeping the batter on the onion rings maybe I should have floured them first. But it didnt stop them all being scoffed.





Thanks Little Alex

nice1franko

Little Alex wrote: »

Just noticed the Chang Beer... don't mind spoiling yourself, do ya Little Alex!?

I'll have to hunt that out again... Does O'Briens or something stock it?

Little Alex

foodaholic wrote: »

Made these on Friday night. Appologies for the quality of the photos might have been a bit tipsy

The buns are amazing and really easy make had trouble keeping the batter on the onion rings maybe I should have floured them first. But it didnt stop them all being scoffed.

Thanks Little Alex

They look great, foodaholic. Glad you liked them!

nice1franko wrote: »

Just noticed the Chang Beer... don't mind spoiling yourself, do ya Little Alex!?

I'll have to hunt that out again... Does O'Briens or something stock it?

hehe

I got it in a wholesalers and I don't know where it's sold in shops.

nice1franko

I underestimated how much the bread would prove so I had to up-size everything else:



So ended up with small-ish normal burgers rather baby 'uns. Lesson learned ... won't make that mistake again.

I didn't make the onion rings because there was only two of us eating and she doesn't like onions but will try them the next time.

Very tasty all the same tho

fred funk }{

Made these yesterday evening. They went down a treat with all the gang. I made about twenty and they were lovely. I'm going to make them again to the same recipe but normal size. I didn't get to take a picture of the onion rings because they didn't last long enough to take the picture

Thanks for the recipe.

Little Alex

nice1franko wrote: »

I underestimated how much the bread would prove so I had to up-size everything else:

So ended up with small-ish normal burgers rather baby 'uns. Lesson learned ... won't make that mistake again.

I didn't make the onion rings because there was only two of us eating and she doesn't like onions but will try them the next time.

Very tasty all the same tho

fred funk }{ wrote: »

Made these yesterday evening. They went down a treat with all the gang. I made about twenty and they were lovely. I'm going to make them again to the same recipe but normal size. I didn't get to take a picture of the onion rings because they didn't last long enough to take the picture

Thanks for the recipe.

Thanks! Glad you both liked them!

BaZmO*

Made these tonight. A lot of work but it was worth it. Will definitely make them next time I'm having a party, they'd go down a treat.
Only thing I did differently was that I fried the burgers instead of baking them. I only made half the quantities in the OP so it wasn't a problem.

Thanks OP!

Little Alex

They look really good, BaZmO*! Nice "bouquet" effect photo, too, so well done to Mrs. Baz again??? :pac:

BaZmO*

Little Alex wrote: »

They look really good, BaZmO*! Nice "bouquet" effect photo, too, so well done to Mrs. Baz again??? :pac:

"bouquet"? Do you mean Bokeh? If so, yeah it's a a great effect from the lens I have on my camera. And yes Mrs. Baz again.

I do all the hard work and then she comes in and takes the picture and gets all the credit. :rolleyes::D

I had some dough and burger mix left over on Saturday so I made a large Bun and had a proper sized burger yesterday which was lovely. Didn't do the onion rings though, too much work! I just needed quick fuel after a run.

Little Alex

BaZmO* wrote: »

"bouquet"? Do you mean Bokeh? If so, yeah it's a a great effect from the lens I have on my camera. And yes Mrs. Baz again.

Yeah, that's what I meant! Only ever heard it being said so didn't know it was spelt "bokeh". :eek:

BaZmO* wrote: »

I had some dough and burger mix left over on Saturday so I made a large Bun and had a proper sized burger yesterday which was lovely.

Now there's an idea!

BaZmO*

Forgot to mention that I made a full batch of these last week. Had friends and family over and they went down a storm.
I'd made a load of food and had these ready to go but nobody seemed that pushed on them so I only put half of them in the oven. But once they all tried them they made me put the rest of them on!

I didn't make the onion rings this time as I didn't fancy the extra effort but they were just as nice with regular rings of raw onion.

They are such a great party food, and I've already been asked to make them for the next party!

Faith

Rightio, making these this weekend. You mention kneading the dough, but also doing it in the machine. Do I use the dough hook to do that?

I'm really looking forward to them! I'll half the recipe because there'll only be two of us. I'll take pictures!

Little Alex

Yeah, you use the dough hook, Faith.

Hope you enjoy them!

Wurly

Little Alex - do you reckon I could make the burgers out of quorn mince or would the balls fall apart?

Little Alex

I don't think that Quorn Mince on its own would hold together, Wurly. You would need something like egg to bind it. Then it'd probably work!