I’ve never really like hamburgers. Can you believe that? Well, okay, I’ll admit I love them off a barbecue grill with the right toppings and I especially love them with these spices.
My aunt Virginia, from whom I learned this recipe, makes a version of these, which are truly the only way I’ll eat a hamburger at home. And my husband loves them so much, he ate three the other night! (Mind you, he’s not Paleo and eats his with a burger bun.)
I served these over a bed of wild rocket (arugula), topped them with some avocado and tomato slices, a sprinkling of fresh onions, and accompanied them with some sweet potato chips or crisps.
For the sweet potato chips: simply peel the amount you want to use, slice thinly with a mandolin (careful to not cut yourself, these things are very sharp), sprinkle with some coarse sea salt and toss in a bowl, then fry them in plenty of oil. I used olive oil in a deep pot (I haven’t yet opened up my deep fryer), turning them frequently with a slotted spatula to ensure they didn’t stick to each other and didn’t burn.
I cooked my burgers in lard on a frying pan on the stove. The lard gives them an added flavour, but I imagine on the bbq they are also great.
- 500g minced (ground) beef
- 1 medium onion, peeled and very finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
- coarse sea salt, to taste
- a sprinkle of turmeric for colour (I used probably about 1-2 teaspoons)
- 2 tablespoons white wine
- lard, for cooking
- sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced with a mandolin
- olive oil, lard or other fat for frying the potatoes
- For the hamburgers:
- Place all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix well with hands.
- Form hamburger patties of the size you like. (I made 4 medium ones and a tiny one with this amount of meat.)
- Melt about 2 tablespoons of lard in a frying pan.
- Cook the burgers to your liking.
- For the sweet potato chips:
- Simply fry them in the grease of preference. I used a slotted spatula and stirred frequently to ensure they did not burn or stick to each other. They fry much quicker than regular white potatoes do.