Heston's Hamburgers

Am I overloading you with burgers? I dearly hope not. I appear to be on a burger kick of late. Today I am introducing Heston Blumenthal's Hamurgers, so it's a bit special. I gave this photo a little retro effect, just for kicks.

Do you remember when I mentioned that my Dad made Heston's Hamburgers? Many of you were keen for me to post about these luscious, indulgent burgers, so, without further ado, here they are (recipe links 1 and 2 - two for good measure).

You can thank my Dad for these babies - he went to the effort of happily labouring over the components to create this fantastic meal as a welcome home for Ben and I after our month travelling Asia.

Dad took quite a few liberties with the recipe and skipped a number of steps due to sheer lack of time. Here are our notes about Heston's burgers...

The cheese was not your average slice, it is infused with sherry, garlic, peppercorns and thyme, and spiked with sodium citrate. Dad was disappointed with the cheese, as he felt the sherry flavour dominated. It thought it was absolutely delicious! Very thin and soft, just beautiful.

Dad opted not to make the buns, for lack of time. He used fresh, crusty rolls instead and they worked fabulously.

After a rather intense discussion with his Butcher, Dad used minced beef rump rather than Heston's meat assembly. His Butcher was more than pleased to mince the meat as Heston suggested, and Dad was thrilled with the flavour and texture. The patties were the superb. The meat was well-marbled, which is why it was oh so incredibly, unbelievably juicy.

Never before have I come across such a perfect example of the definition, melt-in-your-mouth...and boy did they ever.

The tomato concentrate was really lovely, as were the other additions such as pickles. A pickle never goes astray...

Jackson, my brother, was clearly in lust with his burger.

Despite the extra effort required of this recipe, Dad said it was a pleasure to jazz up a classic gem, like a burger. He said it inspired him to think about burgers in a different way, and to dream up other creations. I agree, it's a lot of fun to view old favourites in a new light. I encouraged him to further experiment with burgers...provided he makes them for me, of course.

Heidi xo