Homemade burgers have already appeared on my blog, but like I mentioned before, I recently did some cleaning and I trashed that post (so it’s not only about looking/ admiring at my own posts eghm…). I didn’t like the pictures, and in general I didn’t think it was a good one. However, last week I decided to write it up once again. Last Friday I went to the famous Oberweis and I saw them! They had a new offer- burger buns! And these looked so pretty that I couldn’t help myself.
I knew we already had plans for Saturday evening, I sent a quick text to my boyfriend though, and asked if we were still on for Saturday or maybe… he would prefer my homemade burgers. The answer was “Homemade Burgers!”. How sneaky of me 😉 I will spare you all the details of my struggle when it came to the pictures part… Did you know that in most professional tutorials, books and I don’t know where else, people who really know how to photograph food say the burger is probably one of the most difficult ones. I remember Katie Quinn Davies saying in her book, that she went through around 17 burgers before she took the “hero” shot! Well, first of all I did NOT have 17 burgers. I had ONLY 4 right?! I also had a hungry man waiting for them- so include here the time pressure factor. Another thing, Katie has two assistants, a food stylist and another photographer in her team- I guess once you became famous things get a bit easier ha? So I had to get on with what I had- after the dinner I had 1 burger left… 1 burger… but it was all mine and I could do with it whatever I wanted! Yuupee! After the photo session I started reading a little bit more about burgers, just to see where these were coming from, as it seems to be a typical American dish, but the tradition says- and the Wikipedia too 😀 – that the story of a burger is more complicated. Not sure if you knew, that the burger was originated in Europe- it was known in XVIII century in Germany- in Hamburg- nomen omen hamburger! Apparently the colonists from Europe brought it to America, and the local bars in New York started serving burgers to remind the immigrants of their home in Europe- how thoughtful of them… Hamburg was one of the most popular ports, where all the ships were taking off for America.
And now I’m hoping to start a little debate here- is the burger a healthy meal? Don’t you think it’s such a pity that these days the burger has been considered as the main representative of the fast food industry, where if you think of it, it’s just a piece of meat- and good quality beef cannot be bad for you, a piece of bread- if it comes from a good bakery bring it on! and all the vegetables you put inside- lettuce and tomatoes- what’s wrong with that?? pickles – even better, and the cheese- and imagine here a nice piece of 24 months matured Comte- just saying… The truth is, if you use good quality ingredients, your burgers can be an enjoyable and healthy meal, perfect for Sunday picnics or garden parties. So I guess we should start thinking of our homemade burgers as proud representatives of slow food. I don’t make them very often, but when I do, I use only the top class meat from the butcher, yummy cheese and the veggies from the food market. And of course some bacon! Do you like burgers?? Because we do 🙂
Ingredients
Makes for 4 people, preparation time- not more than 30 min, time in the oven- 30 min, oven temperature- 180 C
- 400 g of ground meat- I mix beef and pork
- 8 slices of bacon/lard- 2 for each burger
- 1 onion- medium seized
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 egg
- some bread- I use it instead of bread crumbs, 2 slices without crust is enough, you need to soak it in the water, drain it and add it to the meat, if you prefer using bread crumbs it will be fine too
- salt, black pepper and sweet red pepper
- fresh thyme and rosemary- as much as you want
- 2 big tomatoes
- lettuce
- cheese- like I said above- get some good quality cheese, we like ship cheese for example
- burger buns- I got 4 of those
Method
In a glass bowl combine together the meat, finely chopped onions and garlic. Add the egg, bread (or some bread crumbs), thyme, rosemary and the spices. Mix all ingredients until incorporated evenly. Leave on a side for 10 min or so.
Now you are going to shape the meat in burgers. Look at the picture below. I tried to make them as roundy as possible, and I also tried to fit them to the size of the buns.
When the burgers are ready wrap each of them in two slices of bacon. I know that usually you should do it separately, but I always combine the bacon with burgers. They get this nice smoked kind of taste, and we really like it this way. Set the wrapped burgers on a baking sheet and place them in the oven for about 30 minutes.
And this is the sneak peak of your burgers… yummy…
So now the grand finale. This is the way I make our burgers. I slice the tomatoes, take some lettuce, and of course the cheese. On occasions I also fry some onions and mushrooms.
I place the lettuce as the first layer on the bun, then usually comes the burger, the tomatoe, the cheese and the bun again.
And… tadaaa 😀
One thing on the tomato though. When I was looking at the pictures of burgers on Google Images I realized that the tomato goes actually after the lettuce 😀 So I changed it for the “official” pictures for this post! We simply like tomatoes and cheese together- you can say it’s more French 😉 I hope you will like it the way we have it. These burgers are delicious with a good ol’ cold beer!
Plate du Jour 
31 thoughts on “Homemade Burgers”
zetalicious
Show some mercy!!! Looks sooooo good!!! 👌👌👌
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platedujour
Haha well, just make one of these 😀 they are delicious true! I’m happy you like the post. Thank you for visiting 🙂
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Dana Fashina
Still drooling over this…
You take such great photos too!!
Phew!! That’s a good looking burger👍👍
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platedujour
ihihhiii exactly, it’s not the photographer, it’s the burger 😀
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nicole (thespicetrain.com)
Those are some mouthwatering photos, I love the vibrant colors and composition! Beautifully done, Marta!
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platedujour
Let’s be honest, I was starring at your photos of burgers, can’t deny it, and finally managed to come up with something! Thank you so much for saying this 🙂
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nicole (thespicetrain.com)
Hahaha! That’s what I often do too, I look at someone else’s photos and somehow that kicks my brain into gear. These guys really look great and I agree with you that it is a shame that burgers have gotten such a bad reputation!
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platedujour
Honestly you and Pang that’s my best inspiration these days. And I love that old chair you’ve been using, I’m looking for something similar!
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Pang @circahappy
These burgers look SO SCRUMPTIOUS, Marta. Bravo!!!
Love all the photos here. And the bacon wrapped patties are oh-so drool worthy 🙂
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platedujour
Thank you so much, you know you are my photo hero don’t you 🙂
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dedy oktavianus pardede
Now were talking, those massive burer bunsis a symbol of that could be loaded in a massive burger…..
your bacon wrapped burger is really had my attention!!!
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platedujour
It’s yummy, and I hope you can try it while you are not cooking any of those masterpieces I can admire on your blog 😀
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spiceinthecity
Absolutely agree when you use good ingredients in the right quantities burgers can be healthy 🙂 and you did a fabulous job of getting your hero shot with just 4 burgers. Gorgeous!!
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platedujour
Ha! In reality the quantity was dramatically decreasing while I was getting them ready to be eaten 😀 at first I photographed two of them together- I already gave one to my boyfriend to keep him busy for a while!! But in the end even I couldn’t resist and had one too haha then I had only this one left so there you go…always so nice to see you here Naina 🙂 xx
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Fooodpost
Looks so inviting! I need a good burger now 🙂
Flora
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platedujour
Thank you! Feel invited next time then 🙂
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lapetitepaniere
Everybody love burgers and your burgers looks so good Marta 🙂 Great recipe for summertime 😉
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platedujour
Thank you so much Linda, and I’m going for your calamari recipe in two weeks time 😀
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oceanviewkitchen
Like the addition of fresh herbs! And you can’t go wrong with bacon:) so good!
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platedujour
I hope I made you hungry this time, because it’s usually me being miserable in front of the pictures of all those yummy things you produce aha!
😀
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Tasty Eats Ronit Penso
Such good products and freshly made – how can anyone not consider this a healthy dinner?
The photos made me VERY hungry! 🙂
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platedujour
Oh thank you Ronit, that’s exactly what I think too, it’s the quality of ingredients that makes the difference doesn’t it!
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Traditionally Modern Food
Though I am a vegetarian being a big fan for your pics I came to see this post:-)
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platedujour
That is a precious compliment and thank you so much for saying this! There is more veggies coming very soon, I promise 🙂
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Ginger
Great story – from the misery of food photography to the (Ham)burgers! Loved it! My neighbour gave us some burgers the other day which he had seasoned with aniseed, as well as a range of other ‘Christmas’ spices. They were to die for! I’ll try and make them, sneakily stealing your bacon-wraps as well as your fantastic insights into photography 😉
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platedujour
Haha what a coincidence, I was just rummaging in your blog 😀 try the bacon, I suspect this is the reason why my boyfriend likes these burgers so much!!
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Ginger
…and there is all these women trying to look gorgeous to keep their men: give ’em some bacon, girls, and relax! 😉
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platedujour
I’m telling you girl, it’s all about bacon 😀
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radhikasethi
Looks scrumptious. Loved that you wrapped them in bacon. 🙂
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platedujour
Thank you 🙂 they are so yummy wrapped with bacon oh my!
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radhikasethi
🙂
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