I saw an episode of Man VS Food a few months ago and they had a Jucy Lucy and ever since I have wanted one. Then, soon after at Burger King they started to do something called a "Melt N Middle" which was good and they had a few flavour options to choose from but not something I regularly get so I wanted to have a go at trying to make my own and a healthy version which I must say I have been pretty impressed with. I use low fat cheese, low fat mayo and 5% fat minced/ground beef steak to keep the fat and calories down as my boyfriend is on a healthy eating kick. Despite the low fat content mince by cooking the patties in the oven once they have been sealed in a hot pan it really keeps the juices in and keeps them incredibly moist.
I keep the seeds in the chilli's and use a hot chilli like green finger chilli's but feel free to de-seed, use a different kind of chilli or even omit altogether.
My only regret is not using a stronger cheese and perhaps slightly more cheese as really you can never have too much cheese!
Serves 4 burgers
Ingredients
500g minced/ground beef
1 slice of bread finely grated or blitz in a food processor
1 small finely diced onion
2 gloves garlic minced
3 green finger chilli finely diced
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
2 heaped teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 egg yolk
salt and pepper
40-60g cheese grated (cheddar, pepper jack, etc.)
4 buns
lettuce,tomatoes,onions,sauces to serve
Directions
Put all of the ingredients other than the cheese, buns and salad to serve in to a bowl. with your hands squash and mix until well combined and smooth in consistency.Divide in to 8 even portions around 75g each. roll each portion into a ball and then flatten into a disk around 5-6 inches and relatively thin.
Place one on a large piece of cling film/plastic wrap. Place roughly a quarter of the cheese in the centre and press to flatten - do not go too near the edge, place a second patty on top.
press together and then wrap in the cling film. Work around the edges of the burgers pressing together making sure that you seal the edges so the cheese can not escape. What you should be left with is almost a flying saucer type burger as shown below. Repeat with the remaining mixture.
Pre heat a heavy based sautee pan and also put the oven on to gas mark 7/220 degrees C/425 Fahrenheit. I use a little spray oil to ensure there is no sticking in the pan.
Once the pan is hot add the patties. Fry for around 2 minutes on each side to ensure they are sealed. Then lightly grease (again I just use a few spritzes of spray oil) a baking tray and transfer the patties to the oven. after 5-7 minutes turn over and cook for a further 5-7 minutes.
While the burgers are cooking toast yours buns and put some ketchup or bbq sauce on the bottom bun half and some mayo on the top half.
Ensure burgers are piping hot and sandwich between the buns with some salad and pickles and enjoy!
