Home Made Beef Burgers (and Brioche Bun) with Parmesan Truffle Fries

        Guess who's back from holidays? Me of course. I've been back for a few days now but have been either busy spending time with the boy (away from the 14 other people who were on holiday with us) and helping to paint his room, or have been cooking for my sibblings because Mum and Dad have flown straight to Vietnam after our family holiday. In between all of that I have just been resting, a holiday from my holiday before I head back to work. I'm just thinking about the mega back log of posts I have and also the 2500 holiday happy snaps I have to sort through... oh dear. Oh and not to mention catching up on my blogs to read too!

        Well being the eldest of 4 I have been left in charge of the household. First thing we did when Mum and Dad were gone was to go grocery shopping. And try and figure out what we were going to eat for the next few days (and weeks). I had a request from one of the brothers for burgers so tonight was burger night. I really do love a good burger and most times when I've had to pay for one I seem to be left slightly disappointed. Dry patty, soggy fillings or bun, sometimes overpowering ingredients too. How could you go wrong with something so simple like a burger?

        Originally I was just going to go buy either some hamburger buns or bread rolls to make things easy but our pantry is absolutely stocked with yeast that is all about to expire so I thought I could 'quickly whip up' some bread dough before I head to Ryan's place to do some more painting. I googled for a hamburger bun recipe and after some clicking and browsing I settled on a light brioche bun recipe found via tastespotting which was from Honey and Butter, which was adapted from Smitten Kitchen, which was adapted from a recipe on The New York Times from Hidefumi Kubota of Comme Ça restaurant, Los Angeles.

        I end up slightly adapting the recipe again. It is really only a light brioche because you don't use as much butter as you would a regular brioche hence it isn't as rich. I find that this works perfectly for a burger bun. I probably shouldn't have flattened my balls of dough so much either because the brother was asking me where the burger bottoms were, these were the whole burger buns I told him. Oh and make sure when you leave the dough to proof the first time to use a nice big bowl, I went out and came home to my dough seeping out of the plastic wrap coming down the side of my bowl - but then again I don't think I was meant to leave it for that long.

Light Brioche Buns

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp. warm milk

• 1 cup warm water
• 1 sachet dry instant yeast
• 2 ½ tbsp sugar
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• 1 large egg
• 3 1/3 cups plain flour
• 2 ½ tbsp unsalted butter, softened
Egg wash
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tbsp milk
Optional
·  Sesame Seeds

1. Place milk, water, yeast, sugar, salt and egg in the bowl of a mixer and mix on low until well combined. Add  flour and mix on low until the mixture comes together and is slightly tacky. Add the butter and mix until combined.
2. Change to a dough hook and work dough on low for about 8-10 minutes until dough comes away from bottom of the bowl. It will still be slightly tacky but you don't want the dough too dry.
3. Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap then leave in a warm area to rise until doubled in size. This should take approximately 1-2 hours (or even 3), depending on how warm the room is.
4. By now the dough should have expanded and is very airy. Punch down the dough and quickly knead until it all comes together again.
5. Pre heat fan forced oven to 200 degrees celcius. Turn dough onto lightly floured bench and divide dough into 8 portions and roll into balls. Place on lined baking tray and cover with a tea towel until doubled in size again - approximately 1-2 hours.
6. For egg wash, beat together egg yolks and milk and lightly brush the buns. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Place a pan with boiling water at the bottom of the oven.
7. Place tray in oven and bake at 180 degrees celcius for 15-20 minutes rotating tray half way through cooking.

        The best thing about home made burgers is that you can customise them according to your own liking - or whatever ingredients you have on hand. Or you can have them simple and plain. Just remember to use quality ingredients, good flavour combinations and don't overcook your patties!

Beef Hamburger Patties

Ingredients:

• 1 kg minced beef

• 3 tbsp chopped onion

• 3 cloves garlic, crushed or finely chopped
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs soaked in milk, made from day old bread
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tbsp salt
• 1/4 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp ground pepper
·  2 tbsp olive oil
Optional - This is where you can chop & change to your own accord
• ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
• 2 tbsp dried parsley (or 4 of fresh)
• 1 tsp paprika
To serve:
• Lettuce
• Tomato
• Fresh pineapple. grilled
• Cheese of your choice
• Sauce or relish of your choice
• Anything else you want in your burger

1. Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix until well combined.
2. Shape into patties and heat some olive oil in a pan until hot.
3. Place patties into pan and cook until well browned then turn down heat. Once patty is half cooked through turn heat to high and flip the patty to brown the other side. Turn down heat and cook through.
4. Set patties aside for a few minutes to rest while assembling the burgers.

        You can't have burgers and not have fries on the side! I was half way through cooking some when the brother poked his head into the kitchen and asked if I was making fries too. Of course I was! However these wern't your average fries - some grated parmesan cheese and a few dribbles of some truffle oil and you have the most scrumptious fries ever! These were first encountered when Ryan and I went to try out Charlie & Co. Burgers at the new Westfield Sydney. Fries just arn't the same anymore without some parmesan and truffle oil!

        So my burger layers were: bun bottom, almost melted cheese (unfortunately the sibblings eat the plastic Kraft stuff, I forgot about the other cheeses I just bought in the fridge), lettuce, juicey beef patty, tomato, grilled fresh pineapple, bbq sauce and then bun top. The brother was wanting a burger with the lot so I had to fry up some bacon too, but then he skipped on the egg because he thought the burger would be too hectic to eat. The can of beetroot we had remained unopened. Seriously the best burger and fries I've ever had!