NATIONAL BURGER DAY: MUSTARD FRIED ONION BURGER

National Burger Day was created by Mr Hyde to celebrate one of the nation’s most popular meat dishes: the burger. Originally held on 27 August, these days it falls annually on the Thursday before the August Bank Holiday.

Naturally, this is a national day we can get behind.

In fact, by our entirely unscientific calculations, the 12-strong Turner & George team probably gets through somewhere in the region of 8,463 burgers a year.

That’s just over 705 burgers each. Or nearly two burgers a day, every day of the year.

Actually, that sounds about right.

So, in honour of National Burger Day, we’re digging into the archives and pulling out a recipe from Turner & George co-founder Richard H. Turner and his book PRIME: The Beef Cookbook.

Richard knows a thing or two about burgers. This particular version takes its inspiration from a trip to Los Angeles and the legendary In-N-Out Burger, swapping the charcoal grill for a smoking-hot griddle and frying the burger directly onto a layer of mustard.

Add onions cooked in bone marrow and you’ve got a very fine way to celebrate National Burger Day.

MUSTARD FRIED ONION BURGER

Serves 4

'I came across mustard frying at In-N-Out Burger in Los Angeles and tried it out in London. It must be done on a griddle or a plancha, so it’s the one burger I don’t charcoal grill. If you ever make it to an In-N-Out, it’s called “Animal Style” and is off-menu, though everyone orders it.' - RHT

Ingredients

200g sliced onions
Small knob of bone marrow
800g burger mince, blend of your choice
100g American mustard - French’s for preference
4 leaves Bibb (Butterhead) lettuce
4 burger buns, split and toasted
Maldon sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
1 whole Half Sour

Method

On a griddle, plancha or in a non-stick pan, fry the onions with the small knob of bone marrow until golden. Remove from the pan and reserve.

Blend together your choice of minced chuck steak, fat and bone marrow and form into four loose patties. Season with salt and pepper, then spread one side of each raw burger generously with mustard.

Heat a non-stick pan without oil until smoking hot and fry each burger mustard-side down. Cover the other side with the fried onions, then flip.

Press down firmly on the patty with a spatula, pushing the burger hard into the onions so they stick to the meat and begin to catch and burn a little.

Continue cooking until pink or done, depending on how you like your burger.

Place a lettuce leaf on each toasted bun base, top with the burger and finish with the bun lid.

Serve with extra mustard and a spear of Half Sour on the side.

That’s National Burger Day sorted.

Recipe extracted from PRIME: The Beef Cookbook by Richard H. Turner, published by Mitchell Beazley, an imprint of Octopus Publishing Group. Photography courtesy of Paul Winch-Furness.