Hamburger Heaven. Baby Wardrobes.


If you’ve read this blog since the early days, you might remember my 2010 confessions about my great love of Continental French Onion soup mix.  It’s been a grand romance since my childhood, when mum made lamb casseroles and apricot chicken for dinner.  The magic of seeing raw meat coated in dry soup mix come out of the oven as the ultimate comfort dinners is something that has stayed with me into my adult life.  As I got older, the responsibility for lamb casserole on a Thursday night got passed on to me.  When I moved out of home, one of the first meals I made was one of those lamb casseroles, with a few sprigs of rosemary from my new back garden to give my dinner a local touch.

If I had my way, I’d do away with the plain old foil packaging that Continental currently use and repackage this highly versatile ingredient in something that more accurately reflects its iconic status in my pantry.  Something like this orange and brown box from the good old house of H.

Last night, my relationship with French Onion got taken to a higher level.  I found a new recipe based on my favourite sachet and it’s pretty darn good if I do say so myself.  Would you believe me if I said that the humble hamburger is a food that greatly benefits from a dalliance with a soup mix?

That’s right, hamburgers.  I’m linking to the original recipe contributed by UNIVSTUDENT to allrecipes.com here.

I adapted the recipe a little and here is how I made my patties:

Best Hamburger Ever
(modified from a recipe by UNIVSTUDENT on allrecipes.com)


Ingredients:

  • 500 g minced beef (I used organic beef and it was worth the extra cost)
  • 1/2 onion, finely chopped (I used my Braun stick blender with the mini bowl attachment)
  • 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons or so of bread crumbs (I used White Wings Crumbies)
  • 1 (1 ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon dried parsley
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary
  • salt and pepper to taste

Method:

  1. Combine all the ingredients together and shape into 4 patties.
  2. Place on a plate lined with baking paper and refrigerate for an hour or two.  Remove from the fridge about 1/2 an hour before cooking.
  3. Fry about 5 minutes on each side or until cooked to desired doneness.
  4. Serve on a toasted bun with lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, ketchup and American mustard.  It has to be American mustard.  Though I don’t know why it’s called French’s….

www.dohguild.com

Thank you to everyone who took the time to comment and offer suggestions about Baby SSG’s clothing options on my previous posts.  I really value all your insights and personal experiences and I took it all on board today when I took full advantage of the sales at Pumpkin Patch and Mothercare.  I reckon Baby SSG is good for at least the first 3 months of his life.  His wardrobe has quadrupled between Thursday and today.  I have taken tentative steps away from navy, grey and cream and explored baby blue, splashes of primary colours and the odd red stripe.

He is, however, a long way off young Skyler Berman’s enviable walk in wardrobe.  I think when your mother is Rachel Zoe, it goes without saying that you will spend your infancy in Missoni.

And have a killer collection of shoes for all occasions.  I have been warned about the futility of shoes for newborns and will stick to socks alone.  I’m trying to exercise self restraint and going for comfort and function at the moment.  After all, I’ve got another 20 weeks or so of shopping to go and the all important baby bag is yet to be chosen.

I hope you’re having a lovely evening to ease yourself into the coming week.  Take care and talk to you soon.


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