I was recently approached by Serious PR to create my own burger to feature on Tesco's new online magazine. They challenged me with creating my own Burger The Hogie Burger - it was BBQ week after all! So TESCO sent me some burgers from their Finest Range - I picked the TESCO Finest 6oz Beef Burger - I liked the idea of just having a plain burger that I could elevate with some of my favourite local products! That's the beauty of building your own burger - you can be as creative as you want!
Anyway the star attraction of any burger is the burger itself! And to be honest there are factors to take into account; origin, thickness, flavour etc... My burgers were from the Meat Firm Doherty and Gray who have just signed a deal to supply TESCO with a range of burgers - the Ballymena firm have pulled off a massive coup, landing a deal worth an initial £350,000, so the burgers must be good! Right? Well let's find out!
So after a quick trip to TESCO Lisburn I picked up the following local products;
- 2 TESCO Finest Burgers - from Doherty & Gray in Ballymena
- 4 Genesis Crafty Brioche Rolls - from McErlain's Bakery in Magherafelt
- Ballymaloe Relish original flavour
- A Round Lettuce - Sourced in NI
- Coleraine Cheddar Slices
So having gathered my array of local treasures I was set the challenge of creating The Hogie. The burgers were cooked in a fan oven at 190 -200 degrees for 22 minutes and then I transferred them to the pan to get a more BBQ like taste (it's Ireland so obviously it was raining) This was a great idea, not only did it give the burgers more depth in flavour it also gave them a great shine! See pics below!!!
While the burger was in the oven I got to prepping the rest, I sliced the Brioche bun in half, added a generous dollop of Ballymaloe Relish and topped this with some roughly torn lettuce leafs - tear your lettuce people, it's more rustic. After transferring the burger to the pan and cooking for a further 2-3 minutes I placed my cheese slice on top on the lettuce - topped this with the burger for some cheese melting action, added a little more Ballymaloe for luck and topped my burger off with my shiny Brioche!
What was it like? Well the first thing I noticed was that the burger didn't shrink like some others do, and it was well proportioned, it fitted nicely in the bap and wasn't too thick that you needed to use a knife and fork to eat it (if you have to cut a burger...you're not having a burger folks)
The first bite, juicy, tasty, melted cheese, the sharp Ballymaloe and wee crunch from the lettuce - rest assured, this was one hell of a burger. The burger itself was already seasoned so no need to add any extra, it was extremely juicy and it was most definitely filling. I will be buying these again in the near future, hopefully we get some good weather because these would be perfect on the BBQ and that Charcoal finish would bring this burger to the next level.
I slightly changed the name of my burger to The Local Hogie as I used 100% local ingredients - let's face it, we have the best food in the world so local for me is the only way to go. On the topic of local I think it's important to add that TESCO are great supporters of local businesses, brands and produce - in-fact last year alone they spent £590 million on local products, stocks over 1,200 local products produced by 90 suppliers who work with 6000 farmers - for such a huge company this is admirable that they continue to support and invest in the local economy, bravo!
Here it is!
