Category: cheese

Categories
burger cheese food

heston blumenthal’s ultimate cheeseburger

What is it with burgers? After spending the 2000s in the doldrums, they’re now elevated to greasy lunch treat du jour.

I was a little surprised to see this recipe from Heston pop up online; his In Search of Total Perfection Burger involves grinding different meat cuts together, the most laborious method for making a bun you’ve ever seen, and a quite detailed method of making cheese slices involving sodium citrate and other odd things (a recipe that’s in marked contrast to my ingredient infographic!).

But this version appears to mostly be a shill for his Heston burgers, with a much simplified cheese slice recipe. So I gave it a go. And being the arrogant sod I am, endeavoured to improve it.

I used Comté cheese and cheddar for a more interesting blend, and whisked it with Chardonnay over ale as I don’t like the taste of beer. I included my own touch that I usually use of a drip of oyster sauce to act as a glaze. It provides a tantalising umami layer in your burger that you can’t quite place but makes it irresistible. The cheese slice was very tasty and really not a lot of work so well worth doing again. You could probably come up with a bunch of interesting ingredients to add into it too.

Looking for a tasty burger recipe this bank holiday weekend? You could do a lot worse than this recipe.

The original Heston recipe without me mucking about with it can be found here. And read In Search of Heston having a go too.

Heston’s ultimate cheeseburger (serves 2):

For the cheese slices:

50g mature cheddar, grated

50g Comté cheese, grated

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

10g cornflour

¼ teaspoon dried yeast

¼ teaspoon Marmite

¼ teaspoon English mustard

80ml white wine

For the burger sauce:

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1 teaspoon tomato ketchup

½ teaspoon burger mustard

Everything else:

2 quarter pounder burgers

2 sesame seed buns, split and toasted

½ teaspoon oyster sauce

Handful of crisp lettuce leaves (I like lollo rosso)

  1. Combine the cheeses, mustard, Marmite, cornflour, yeast and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl and refrigerate for 2 hours (I’m not sure what this refrigeration achieves. Do the flour / yeast expand in the fridge? I’d try this again without the fridge step to see what happens).
  2. Line a shallow tray with baking parchment, and get the wine on to a simmer. Add the cheese mix a handful at a time whisking merrily until all dissolved and smooth. Pour into your tray and chill for at least 30 minutes or until needed.
  3. Mix the ketchup, mayo and mustard together to make a smooth sauce and set aside until you’re ready to serve.
  4. Heat a drop of oil in a pan and add the burgers. Cook for 30 seconds on each side, turning until they’re done to your liking (anywhere from 5 – 10 minutes depending on thickness and how done you like them). 2 minutes before the end, smear the oyster sauce over the patties to make a thin glaze, and after a minute cut out a cheese rectangle and plonk on top to heat through for the final 60 seconds.
  5. Serve in a bun with the sauce and lettuce, plus gherkins and onions if you like.
Categories
cheese food onion potatoes

cheese and onion mash

The other week, I got my hands on a Masha. It’s a new potato mashing device that looks pretty much like a hand blender. I’m sure you’ve heard the horror stories when using a stick blender on mashed potato: you get glue. The fibres tear, leaking starch everywhere and the whole thing coagulates.

This gadget comes with a fabulous verb though. It extrudes. In other words, it pushes the potato through some holes. Doesn’t sound that revolutionary but it really does make some pretty fine mash. Sexy looking device too, and it washes up dead easy to boot.

Would I use it much? Probably would actually. I surprised myself. I was absolutely certain this was going to a once-only toy but the speed and ease with which it makes smooth mashed potato is impressive. I prefer mine smooth to chunky and this is much quicker than mucking about with a sieve, which is my usual weapon of choice.

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Cheese and onion mash

Something a little different from regular mash.
Course Side Dish
Servings 2
Author Gary @ BigSpud

Ingredients

  • 250 g white potatoes peeled and chopped good old Maris Piper would be great
  • ½ onion sliced
  • 1 star anise
  • 20 g Comté cheese grated
  • Butter and milk to taste

Instructions

  • Put the oven on to 180°C. Put the onion slices in a baking tray with the star anise, drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper. Pop in the oven for 20 - 25 mins, stirring every now and then until starting to catch.
  • Meanwhile cook the potatoes in boiling salted water, for 15 - 20 mins until knife-tender. Drain well, add a knob of butter, a splash of milk and use a Masha for a few seconds to mash. Stir in the butter and onions (discard the star anise) and season to taste.
Categories
cabbage cheese food gherkin pastrami sauerkraut

reuben-style sandwich

Goodness, those New York delis know how to make a decent sarnie, don’t they?

This is a take on classic Reuben sandwich, which has about a thousand origin stories. Whatever its beginnings, this stacked snack is packed with sharp, salty, savoury delights. I can’t claim this is authentic; just “inspired by”. I’ve put lovely, lovely Comté in here. The sweet nuttiness is brilliant with the strong meaty flavours.

I had to buy an enormous jar of sauerkraut to make this; just as well I’ve discovered I have a real appetite for it!

Reuben style sandwich (serves 1):

6 inch french stick bread

2 gherkins, sliced

2 slices pastrami

1 slice salt beef

30g Comté cheese, grated

Mayonnaise

English mustard

1 heaped tablespoon sauerkraut

  1. Preheat your grill to high. Slice the bread in half and pop under the grill and heat the cut side until dry and crisp. Remove one side from the grill and spread over mayo and mustard as desired. Brush the other side lightly with oil, top with the sauerkraut, meats, gherkins and cheese and put back under the grill until the cheese starts to melt. Sandwich together and munch happily.
Categories
breadcrumbs cheese pasta roux

jackie kashian’s cheese penne bake

I devour podcasts by the audio gallon. Since 2007 (late to the podcast party, I know) I’ve had a regular diet of banter, thought, review and revue. Many have come and gone from my queue, and I’m always happy to try new ones.

A few weeks ago I discovered The Dork Forest. Hosted by comedian Jackie Kashian she indulges her weekly guest in one of their obsessions, or ‘dorkdoms’. It’s a lot of fun, and if you like your podcasts rambly and occasionally educational, this is one for the playlist. On a recent episode her guest Tracey Ashley couldn’t praise her macaroni cheese enough. I don’t need asking twice; I raced off to try it.

Jackie’s original recipe is here, but be warned it’s written in American (Sticks of butter! Sharp cheese!). My rough Anglican version is below. I’ve not used Gruyere as it wouldn’t survive against the strong cheddar I used, an Asda mature cheddar with wholegrain mustard, part of their Asda Summer range. Any cheddar will do but the mustard flavour through it is really good. I’ve also subbed penne over macaroni. But it’s a great pasta bake, with a silky sauce and big flavour. I think it’s the breadcrumbs that make it.

Thanks to Asda for sending me the cheese to try.

Jackie Kashian’s cheese pasta bake (serves 4):

1 garlic clove, halved

4 tablespoons butter, melted

3 slices bread

3 tablespoons flour

500ml whole milk

2 teaspoons salt

¼ nutmeg, grated

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

400g cheddar cheese, grated

400g penne or other pasta

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Take your garlic clove and rub it around the inside of a baking dish. Whizz up your bread in a food processor, stir in 1 tablespoon of the butter and set aside.
  2. Get your pasta on to boil in plenty of salted water, and drain when done. Meanwhile make your sauce.
  3. Over a low heat stir together the remaining butter and flour until you have a roux and continue to cook for another minute until pale in colour. Add all of the milk and whisk constantly for about eight minutes until thick and smooth. Add the salt, nutmeg, cayenne and cheese. Take off the heat and stir through, then fold in the pasta.
  4. Pour into your baking dish, top with breadcrumbs and bake for 30 minutes until golden brown. Wait 2 minutes before serving to let the sauce settle, and serve with a green salad to try and offset some of the guilt.
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