The McKev McBurger ! Be afraid fast food Corporate Chains be very afraid !

I love a good burger. It satisfies my savoury addiction in one swift gob full of meaty magic.
Add a lump of melted cheese onto its summit and the thing of beauty takes on another dimension. A bit of salad to aid digestion and a lightly toasted soft bun and wow what a fantastic lunchtime treat.
Why is then that if I go to a fast food chain or a supermarket my dreams are shattered. The ones in the takeaway tend to be dry with some limp lettuce and a chewy bun for company. The supermarket ones tend to be a bit better but for some reason tend to be quite peppery. Very sad.
Lets face it they are not difficult to put together so here's a little recipe I have often...probably a little too often.

Chicken Burger with a Mediterranean/USA/Geordie twist.

Makes a few depending on your size of burger and your belly ! (8)

1 kg Minced Chicken (either white breast meat or Ive used thigh meat as its cheaper)
1 Red Onion finely diced.
3 cloves of squashed garlic.
2 Knorr Chicken stock cubes.
6 Sun dried tomatoes finely chopped.
Half a bunch of Fresh Basil leaves.
150g of finely grated Parmesan Cheese.
tsp salt.

1 Geordie Stottie cake quartered or a soft bun.
Mixed leaves or Baby Gem lettuce.
3 slices of Tomato.

1 portion of cheats Cesar dressing.
2 Tbsp Hellman's Mayonnaise.
4 Tbsp Heinz Salad Cream.
4 Anchovy fillets. ( I love them. If you don't leave them out.)
1.5 Tbsp finely grated parmesan cheese.
dash of Worcester Sauce.
1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinger.


Lets start !

Sweat the Onions and garlic off together until soft.

Sprinkle the Knorr cubes into the Onion and Garlic mix and mash to a paste. Let it cool then add it to the Chicken Mince.

Grate the Parmesan and add to Mince.

Add the finely chopped Sun dried Tomatoes, the Basil , salt and one egg yolk. Then mash or squash the mix together combining all the ingredients well.

If the mix is a bit wet add some nice breadcrumbs to soak up some of the moisture. Do not use the golden ones you get in the cardboard packets. Not Nice. Then place into the fridge to chill.

The Burger Press.

As a cook I like gadgets. Anything that makes my life easier is more than welcome. Over the years I have collected a few useful gadgets and a few not so useful ones as well.
One of the best is this burger press I acquired from my butcher mate Mick when I was at the Moorhouse farm coffee shop in Stannington.
Mick was Welsh not a crime I know but he used to keep telling me he was in Northumberland doing missionary work and kepted telling me I was Scottish on account of Ashington being on the north side of Hadrian's Wall ! Funny guy.
I remember once sitting outside the kitchen at the Moorhouse farm shop enjoying my lunchtime sandwich which was delightfully prepared for me by the very tall and beautiful Debbie who worked in the cafe. (ahhhh those legs).
The kitchen and the butchery were in two separate buildings which before the place was converted into a farm shop was actually a part of a Mushroom farm and the Mushrooms were grown in the kitchen and the butchery before. Working in their didn't help me grow any taller though ! ha ha !
So I was sat their eating my sandwich minding my own business and then Mick appears out of the butchery heading home on a half day.
" See you tomorrow Jimmy ! " he shouted at me as he laughed.
I sat and watched him start his car and then reverse backwards and smack the back of my Audi TT with the Peugeot 306 body kit on it (ha ha !) with full force.
Now I think I should point out that their were 2 cars in the staff car park at the time mine and his. He got out of his car and said " I think I have hit your motor ".
I just had to laugh. I sat and watched him try and wipe the huge dent out of the back of my car with his jacket sleeve and then in true bloke style listen to him tell me " A bit of WD40 will sort that out".
Well it would not and his insurance would have to.
It then transpires that he told everyone who worked at the Farm shop that " I had parked like a woman " His words not mine ladies and I have his address in Consett if you and your baseball bat want to pay him a visit. Ha Ha !
I told him that it was a better idea for him in future to do his Tobacco Roll ups before he got into his car and not while reversing !
Anyway you can imagine in true kitchen banter style I milked this for all I could. The result of all this was Mick's insurance company were light of a few quid and Mick was light of one burger press as a pay off to shut me up !

If you don't have a burger press just shape with your hands. Don't make them too thick though as the outside will be a bit crispy by the time the middle has cooked. ( Not a problem if you use this recipe for a medium or rare cooked Beef burger but not advised for Chicken.)

Now heat the Oven to 180 degrees celsius. This is to finish off the burgers. To start with though heat a griddle pan until smoking and then place your burger patties on to it to give the burgers a nice bit of colour on both sides. Then put in the oven until cooked. (10-15 minutes depending on the size of the burgers.)

While the burgers cook make your cheats Caesar dressing. Basically place all the ingredients into a blender and blitz until the ingredients are all well combined.

Anchovies a vital ingredient in my cesar dressing. I love them but if you don't then just leave them out.

I use a stottie bun quartered for my burger. I lightly toast it on the griddle first then add my lettuce and tomato as the base. Place the burger majestically on top of the salad then dollop a lot of the dressing on top of it. Fantastic.

McKev Chicken burger.

Hope you enjoy !