Seasonal burgers can be enjoyed all year round, as Rebecca Shearer shows with this recipe using foraged ingredients.
Foraging is a great way to eat with the seasons, but it’s something that must be done responsibly as not everything you see can be eaten.
Andy Waugh, the chef-owner of Mac and Wild and a self-confessed forager, has created the following burger recipe to help you take advantage of what is grown on your doorstep.
Mushrooms are abundant in Scotland at the moment and there are a few easy ones to get to know.
Chanterelles tend to be found either in clusters or on their own around the bottom of beech, birch, pine and spruce trees.
As summer turns to autumn, the bright red berries of a rowan tree really make it stand out. They are often found near houses, farms and in churchyards.
Top tips for foraging them would be not to collect from trees too close to roads because of pollution and wait for the first frost to pick them.
Cut clusters of berries from trees and knock to remove insects, then wash and pick off stems.
If you’re ever uncertain, don’t risk it. All of the ingredients below can be shop-bought, too.
For more like this, take a look at the previous recipes in the series here.
Andy Waugh’s foraged Scotch Beef PGI burger
Serves 2
Ingredients
- 250g foraged mushrooms, cleaned (can substitute with button mushrooms)
- 25g unsalted butter or drizzle of oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic
- 200ml milk
- 3 stalks of thyme leaves
- 2 burger buns
- 1 tsp rowanberry jelly (can substitute with redcurrant jelly)
- 2 tsp French mustard
- Gherkin slices
- Handful iceberg lettuce, finely sliced
- 4 x 100g Scotch Beef PGI patties – 80:20 meat:fat
- 2 tbsp caramelised onion
- 4 slices American burger cheese
For the burger cloche:
- 30ml water
Method
- In a small saucepan, over a medium heat, brown the mushrooms in the unsalted butter or oil for two minutes.
- Remove eight of the mushrooms and keep to one side for the burger.
- Add the garlic and onion to the pan and cook until soft and translucent (about five minutes).
- Before the onions brown add in the milk and thyme leaves and cook until the liquid is reduced by half. Pass the sauce through a sieve. Blend the mushroom onion mix and slowly add the milk back in until you reach a nice consistency similar to custard. Season appropriately.
- Slice the buns in half and toast both sides either in a frying pan or a toaster.
- Once toasted, spread half a teaspoon of the jelly on the base, followed by the mustard, pickles and iceberg.
- Place a large dollop (about 2 tbsp) of the mushroom onion puree in the middle of the iceberg and add 4 of the sautéed mushrooms to each burger.
- Place the patties in a hot frying pan in a little oil and season. Flip them over and place the caramelised onions on two of the patties and top each with 2 slices of cheese.
- Place one patty on top of the other (I like to leave the onion one on the bottom for some reason) and the bun on top of that. Now cloche the burger cheese tower!
- Pour the water into the pan and cover the meat/cheese/bread tower with a tight-fitting lid or metal bowl.
- Leave it for 30 seconds then carefully place on top of the base.
- Leave it to sit for a couple of minutes for all the flavours to marry together and enjoy this messy beauty!