Leftover Burger Wrap

One for Finn & Greg, my paleo pals (northerners, too ... northern English, that is) over at Modern Paleo Warfare - he's a great food blogger, cross-fitter (whatever one of those is) and a damn good read ... a damn good adult read, so put the kids to bed and enjoy an adult take on the paleo lifestyle!

Much respect, mate! Keep on cooking and keep it paleo!

Anyway ...

Last night I made up some more Aberdeen Angus burgers, this time with no onion - meat, just meat and nothing else. 100% beef, like McDonalds' do ... but with Burger King meat. This is the perfect burger!

Even cool, it's hot ...

Method? Erm ... take some minced Aberdeen Angus meat and squeeze it between your fingers a few times to break it up, soften it and get it ready for burgers.

Form the meat into burger patties and return to the fridge to re-harden.

Cook in a pre-heated frying pan with no fat, just the burgers, nothing else - a couple of minutes each side and then drop the heat to cook them through maybe 5 minutes on each side more.

Done!

Serve up however you do and enjoy - this is the best of all worlds and pretty much pure paleo!

Leftovers? Yeah ... just chuck 'em in the fridge and enjoy for breakfast.

How? It's a thick bit of meat, so cut it in half through the middle, place on a large lettuce leaf buttered with mayonnaise, sour cream or even natural yoghurt.

Fold up and cram in your mouth ... chew ... swallow ... feel awesome for the day to come!

Lamb & Aubergine Stuffed Peppers

Damn! What a terrible picture of a dish which was sooooo tasty.

Lamb and aubergine go together so well, the lamb softening potential bitterness while aubergine guards against overly fatty lamb. What a marrige!

Let's get matchmaking ...

In a saute pan, soften some finely chopped onions in some lard or butter. Add in a good few cloves of minced garlic.

Drop in the lamb mince, soften and brown.

Add a couple of plum tomatoes from a can, reserving the remainder of the can for an additional sauce. Pulp the tomatoes down and feel free to add a squirt of tomato puree to enhance the tomato.

Cube up an aubergine into centimetre cubes and toss into the pan.

Once the aubergine is slightly softened and has absorbed some of the residual fat, salt and pepper to taste and pour on some water.

Cook on a low heat on the hob for a couple of hours, topping up the water when necessary.

Meanwhile, make up a tomato sauce by pulping down the remainder of the can of plum tomatoes and cooking on a low heat to reduce the liquid.

Add in a chilli or two and quarter some small tomatoes for adding at the end.

When the meat is about ready, halve a couple of peppers and set them into an oven on a medium heat, say 150C, for 15 minutes or so to soften.

Toss the fresh tomatoes into the tomato sauce and build the plate.

Lay the peppers halves onto the plate and optionally place a few cubes of feta into each.

Spoon the meat into the pepper halves and top with the tomato sauce.

Enjoy!

Mozzarella Angus Burgers

Made from the raw milk of grass fed water buffalo, Mozzarella is a good, fatty cheese which tastes great cold and turns to a soft stringy texture when warmed.

The Aberdeen Angus breed is recognised throughout the world whose meat has a tender, rich flavour. As used by Burger King UK for their premium burgers, minced meat from this breed makes excellent burgers - alas, Burger King Angus burgers don't hit the spot for me and so after a disappointing burger that afternoon I set out to make some proper paleo burgers.

Take the cold meat out of the fridge and place into a mixing bowl. Cold meat is important for texture. One kilo will make four good sized half pounder burgers, or even six to eight quarter pounder burgers. Tenderise the meat by squeezing it through your fingers a few times - the result should be that the meat is softened, but not warmed.

Finely chop a small onion and mix into the meat.

Salt and pepper to taste, add in some herbs, chopped chillis for a little pep and any other flavours you want at this stage.

Cut up the mozzarella ball into a few slices, divide the meat into four and take one portion, forming into a burger shape. Now squash it down flatter and place a slice of mozzarella on, folding the meat back around. Reform into a thick burger shape. If you do not partake of dairy, just leave the mozzarella out.

Place the burgers back into the fridge for 15 minutes, or so, to firm up.

Pre-heat a flat pan or griddle pan and with a little oil patted onto the burger place them in the pan. Cook on one side on a high heat for a couple of minutes, flip and colour the other side for a couple of minutes.

Drop the heat, flip back over and cook through for 5 ish minutes each side until the mozarella can be seen to be soft and oozing from the burger. I like to add a little butter to sit on the top and soak in during this stage.

Meanwhile, prepare some large lettuce leaves - I like British Cos for the structure and slightly bitter flavour.

Make up some guacamole, maybe some chopped gherkin, tomatoes, chillis, your favourite paleo sauces ... whatever.

Build the burger by buttering the leaf with some guacamole or sauce, place the burger on, top with whatever you choose, fold up and chow down!

I'm lovin' it ...