Recipe Month: Home made Spice Burger with celeriac potato mash

Comfort food for rainy days


Summer is slowly leaving the country. The dull and grey autumn wheater makes us crave for comfort food. Easy to prepare and savoury food to warm us. Making fresh hamburgers is not a great deal of work and a lot tastier than the regular frozen hamburgers. And you really do not want to know what's in these burgers...

Have the Reservoir Dogs soundtrack dusted off and let's go to work!



Ingredients


Celeriac Potatoe mash

  • 1/2 kg starchy potatoes
  • 1/2 celeriac
  • 4 cloves
  • 150 gr butter
  • 1 egg
  • pepper, salt, nutmeg

Spice

  • 400 gr. pork and beef mince
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 2 shallots
  • 2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 2 tsp coriander powder
  • 2 tsp garam masala
  • 2 tsp smoked paprika powder
  • 2 tsp dried and chopped red chili peppers
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 slices of (white) bread
  • 4 tbs Springbank 10 year
  • 8 strips of smoked bacon


Preparation



Celeriac Potatoe mash

Peel the potatoes and cut them in parts. Cook them ready in 20 minutes in slightly salted water.
Clean the celeriac and cut it in cubes. Stew in butter with cloves on low heat. Stir regularly until it's soft.

Drain the potatoes when they're ready and add them to the celeriac. Use a potato masher to mash until smooth. Add the butter and season with a mixture of salt, pepper and nutmeg. The secret to unctuous mashed potatoes is butter. Lots of it! You could also use a food mill for an even smoother result.


Spice burger

Cut the crust from the bread and slice it in cubes. Put them in a bowl and sprinkle the Springbank whisky onto it. Let it rest a bit.
Shred the onion and garlic and add them to the minced meat with all the spices: cumin, coriander, garam masala, smoked paprika powder and chili. Add Worcestershire sauce and crack in two eggs and the whisky-soaked bread. If the mixture's is too wet you may need some more bread.

Form 4 large burgers from the mixture. Wrap them in bacon and fix the strips with a few toothpicks.



Bake the spice burger in a mixture of butter and olive oil. Sear the burgers on both sides and reduce the heat. Cook the burgers further and dry them with a paper towel. Remove the toothpicks and you are ready to serve.



Pairing it with a Springbank 10 would be the logical choice. I've chosen a Highland Park 18. This full-grown Orkney whisky with it's sweet and smoky flavours is an excellent companion for this burger



Next week's dessert: Big peaty white chocolate mousse with mango compote and mint.

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