Mammoth Burgers

Whilst the title of this post may sound like I am making burgers from (albeit extinct) mammoth meat, I assure you that no mammoths were harmed in the making of this meal!! The actual title of this dish from Jamie Oliver's The Naked Chef Takes Off, is a Botham burger. For those of you who did not grow up with an intimate knowledge of cricket, Ian Botham was a very famous English bowler and Jamie's dad invented this burger that he says is the size of a cricket ball. That is an understatement! This thing is huge...one might even say, mammoth!! But very delicious.

I served my Botham/mammoth burger on a bun with some melted cheddar, sliced locally grown tomato, sauteed onions, pickle, lettuce, ketchup (tomato sauce) and mustard.....yum! I also added some of my fresh CSA parsley and Italian rapa to the burger so that I could pump up the vitamin content and use up some of my greens.

I served the burger with a side salad made from my CSA heirloom lettuce, red onion, sliced pear, some raspberries, tomatoes, blue cheese and raspberry vinaigrette.

This was meant to be a great summer evening meal....until a huge thunderstorm rolled in and we could no longer eat out on the deck. At least the meal was still delicious.

Botham Burger
(makes 2)

1lb ground beef (preferably organic)
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
1 large egg
a handful of fresh breadcrumbs
1/2 tbs coriander seeds, crushed
small pinch of cumin seeds, crushed
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp fresh parsley
1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian Rapa
salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Pre-heat oven to 450F. Mix all ingredients in a bowl, then form into 2 giant patties. Place in the oven and roast for about 25 minutes, which should leave the middle slightly pink and the outside crispy.

2. Serve with whatever burger fixins' you like.