Cheesburger recipes

Burger and chips by Gordon Ramsey

Every chef in the country would be a hypocrite if they said they never ate burger and chips. The Boxwood Caf├й burger has been the most amazing addition to the menu - we make it with veal and add some minced foie gras. We give it real three-star treatment, with beautiful chopped mushrooms on the bun and the most amazing onion relish. HereтАЩs a slightly different version but made along similar lines. The thing to remember is to treat your burger like a steak. Sear it beautifully on both sides, then let it rest and it will continue to cook to medium. If you cook it to medium and then let it rest, it will be very dry.
Serves 4

Onion relish
2 red onions, finely sliced
50g butter
1 tbsp demerara sugar
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 large red onion, peeled and finely chopped
1kg minced lean beef
Sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper Vegetable oil
Butter
4 large burger baps, toasted
4 large pickled gherkins, sliced
2 beef tomatoes, sliced
1 baby gem lettuce, washed and divided
Shavings of parmesan cheese
Chips, for serving

1 To make the onion relish, fry the onions in the butter until soft. Add the sugar to the pan and fry for a further 4-5 minutes until caramelised. Drain the excess fat from the pan and add the balsamic vinegar. Cook for 2-3 minutes more until it has the consistency of a syrup. Put aside until ready to use.

2 Mix the chopped onion into the minced beef and season well. Mould the mince into 4 large balls (N.B. 250 gm each) and press down lightly to shape them into burgers, then leave them to set in the fridge for a couple of hours.

3 When youтАЩre ready to cook the burgers, get a large frying pan or griddle pan hot, and cook them in a little vegetable oil for 10-15 minutes. This will cook them medium, so adjust the timing depending on whether you like your burger a bit rarer or slightly more well-done. Add a little butter to the pan towards the end.

4 Serve the burgers straight away on the toasted baps with the salad garnishes and Parmesan on top and the chips on the side. Top with the onion relish.

How to make crispy chips

The best potatoes to use are Desir├йe. Cut them to the thickness you require. Put enough vegetable oil in a deep pan to cover the chips and heat to 130C/250F. Add the chips and cook until theyтАЩre almost tender but havenтАЩt taken on any colour. Remove from the oil, drain, and if not needed right away put them in the fridge until you do. Just before serving, raise the temperature of the oil to 180C/350F and cook the chips until golden brown. Do a handful at a time so as not to reduce the temperature of the oil. Remove the chips from the oil and drain off the excess fat on kitchen paper.

Extracted from Kitchen Heaven by Gordon Ramsay, published by Michael Joseph on May 6 at ┬г20, ┬й Optomen Television and Gordon Ramsay, 2004. Food photography ┬й Lis Parsons, 2004, reportage photography ┬й Mark Read and Chris Terry, 2004. Available at the Books First price of ┬г16 plus ┬г1.95 p&p on 0870 160 8080;

Courtesy The Sunday Times UK