Budget Recipe: Burgers

Today I walked to the grocery as I usually do, to see what was on sale. I love buying ingredients that are on sale and since it is a Monday, the store I frequent restocks after lunch and has new promos going on for the week. I wasn't disappointed. Lots of items on sale to include the ground beef and the onions which are in season and cheap.

Budget cooking means that one must get good quality ingredients and plan the menu. I got less than a kilo of ground beef, half a kilo each of white and red onions, butter-flavored margarine, 200 grams of macaroni, beef cubes and bread. These ingredients are to be used to make two meals.

I have stocked up on the ingredients I use often such as salt, pepper, and condiments. I hardly ever buy cooking oil, opting to use butter-flavored margarine to cook as it is more flavorful and I do use that for baking unless the recipe requires oil. I make oil from the fat that I have removed from pork, beef, ham, and even chicken skin and fat by adding enough water to these and boiling it down, so that the oil is extracted and I use this to cook fried rice and other dishes such as pork steak.

I typically grill food using the stove top grill pan that I won a year ago when I joined the video recipe contest of Ajinomoto Aji-ginisa with an original and easy recipe for lemon-pineapple chicken.   

Now on to the budget recipe for burgers and onions. This burger recipe can be used to for shallow pan frying also and the burger may also be cooked in an oven or microwave. As you will see, while the burgers are grilling, the natural oils of the meat come out, making it have a more distinct flavor, reducing the fat content of the burger itself and resulting in a juicier, tastier burger. 

To make these grilled burgers, you'll need:

600 grams ground beef
1 piece of bread, torn into minute pieces to make into bread crumbs
1 beef cube (optional)
1 teaspoon of mustard
1 teaspoon of a sauce of your choice (A1, Worcestershire, liquid seasoning)
water or milk
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1 teaspoon finely ground black pepper

How to make budget burgers

To the bread crumbs, add enough water or milk to make it soak then add the beef cube and smash it, mixing it well so the flavoring cube disintegrates. The addition of bread crumbs to the burgers works as an extender, binder, and makes it softer. 

Add in all ingredients, making sure to sprinkle on and distribute evenly on top of the other ingredients the salt and pepper so you don't get some parts that has more. Mix very well and form into patties or use a large shallow scoop to measure it and flatten the mix before sliding onto the grill. 

Heat the grill pan over medium heat. Test the grill pan to check if it is hot enough by placing your hand with palm facing down around four to five inches above the grill pan and if you feel the heat, it is ready. Place the burgers in the pan and let one side cook, to flip it when it no longer sticks to the pan and cook the other side. Burgers should only be flipped once and if you want grill marks, make it cook longer on one side before flipping it. Place the cooked burgers on plate or buns after these are done. To make grilled onions, slice these and grill with the addition of butter. Onions are done when slightly transparent and lightly browned. Pile the cooked grilled onions on top of the burgers. 

The addition of the mustard to these burger give it a slight tangy taste and placing in the sauce of your choice greatly aids in adding a dimension of flavor that bursts in your mouth. This budget recipe for burgers yield 7 medium sized patties that are about a fourth of an inch thick. It may be made to larger patties yet smaller and thinner ones saves on fuel as the cooking time is reduced. To make this budget recipe of burgers, it cost me 120 pesos. Delicious, first-class, and cheap and we ate this for dinner and still have leftover to reheat. Try this budget recipe and enjoy!

From my kitchen to your kithen with love,
Cindy