The Good Stuff - Guest Post – Spicy Lamb Burgers on Cinnamon & Raisin Bagels!!

Visit the The Good Stuff site

http://goodfoodgoodbeer.files.wordpr...300&h=200
‘Burger Week’*(See Previous Posts) turned out to be a massive success – it seems that I’m not alone*in basking in the majesty of a good, good Burger. One person who really got into the spirit of things was Martin Jonson, an Edinburgh-based chap who writes The Bacon Bible (see link on the Blogroll). We got talking about one of his ideas; and seeing as though it wasn’t quite bacon-y enough for his blog, we thought we’d host it here. And I’m glad we did – Talk about tasty! Take it away, Martin….
‘…..In one of his ‘burger week’ posts, Leigh used a bagel as his burger bun – which I thought was an inspired move (Oh, please, you’re too kind *- Ed.). Seeing this lovely creation immediately brought to mind my favourite type of bagel – Cinnamon & Raisin – and that, in turn, made me ponder whether these, too, could be used as burger buns. I decided that they probably wouldn’t go too well with a beef or pork burger, but there is one meat that goes well with both cinnamon and raisins: Lamb! Indeed, if you read the post I’m referring to you may have noticed that I mentioned this suggestion in the comments.
A few days later my urge to make a lamb burger and serve it in a cinnamon bagel became too strong to deny – everything else seemed to lose importance, and I was soon fully consumed in thoughts of the perfect lamb burger/cinnamon bagel combination. Now, I’m not saying that what I’ve created is perfect (at least not publically; I reserve the main part of my arrogance for those who love me), but I will say that it ended up being pretty darn delicious!
http://goodfoodgoodbeer.files.wordpr...200&h=300Flavour Town.

If you want to try one of these bad boys out for yourself, the first thing you will need to do is get your hands on 500g of minced Lamb, which you slap in a large bowl. Next up you need to add 1 finely chopped red chilli (or more/less to taste, obviously) and half an onion, grate about 1½ tbsp fresh ginger, and finely grind ½tsp fenugreek seed (these are a*pain*to grind, but worth it) ½tsp fennel seed, 1½tsp cumin seed and mix with 1½tsp ground cinnamon and 1½tsp turmeric (be very very careful when handling turmeric, as it stains like a b….. and is incredibly sneaky). Mix it all thoroughly, and then form 4 burgers.
When the burgers are just about done (I grilled mine in a Foreman, but frying them is just fine), pop your (halved) bagel in the toaster. Once toasted, put a bit of lettuce on the bottom half, then your burger, and top with
a generous tablespoon or two of good quality mango chutney (I used Geeta’s). Serve with a cold, light beer. In order to do justice to Leigh’s beer matching excellence (which certainly wasn’t a mere justification to drink more), I tried three different beers with mine: Peroni Gran Riserva, St Mungo Pure Heavenly Lager, and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.
http://goodfoodgoodbeer.files.wordpr...192&h=300Starting with the worst, I found the St Mungo to be an incredibly disappointing lager – it lacked flavour and came across thin and watery – *next to the spicy burger it lost what little taste it had to begin with and faded into the background completely. The Peroni Gran Riserva fared better, with the malty biscuit flavours still breaking through despite the hot spiciness of the beer, and it did accompany the burger quite well; for the purpose I’d give if a 6/10. The winner, which really didn’t come as much of a surprise, was the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale; floral, citrussy and with a touch of malty sweetness to go with the hops, it managed to break through the spicy coating left in the mouth by the burger; a near perfect pairing, very refreshing.’
I think you’ll all agree, the food looks absoultely delicious. Please – DO try this at home!*

http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comme...ress.com/1925/ http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delic...ress.com/1925/ http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/faceb...ress.com/1925/ http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/twitt...ress.com/1925/ http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumb...ress.com/1925/ http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/...ress.com/1925/ http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddi...ress.com/1925/ http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?hos...er&ref=&feed=1

More...