NACHO BURGER

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 500 g good-quality lean beef mince
• 4 hamburger rolls
• 2 avocados
• salt and pepper 
• 1 lemon
• 2 tomatoes (chopped into small blocks)
• 1 red onion (finely chopped)
• 1 small chilli (chopped, optional)
• fresh coriander leaves (a bunch, chopped)
• 2 whole mielies (corn)
• sour cream
• 120 g Cheddar cheese (grated)
• 1 pack tortilla chips or corn chips (something like Doritos)

Method

1. Convert the 500 g lean beef mince into four equally sized, 100% pure-beef patties. Pure mince binds perfectly for a great patty – don’t add anything like onion, breadcrumbs, egg, spices, salt or pepper. Your two recently washed hands are entirely capable of forming patties from mince but a patty press makes the job even easier.
2. Make the guacamole: Mash the avocado with a fork, season with salt, pepper and lemon juice.
3. Make most of the salsa: Chop the tomatoes into small blocks, add the chopped onion and chopped chilli. Do not overdo the chilli – it’s there to lift out flavours, not to punish or torment your guests. Season with salt, pepper and lastly mix the freshly chopped coriander leaves in.
4. Braai the mielies on a braai grid at the same time as the patties, and grill on all sides. Braaied mielies have significantly more flavour than non-braaied mielies. Once charred a bit, remove from the fire and use a sharp knife to cut the kernels of the cob. Add the charred mielie kernels to the rest of the salsa and mix.
5. Braai the patties in a grid over very hot coals. Aim for 8 minutes’ braai time in total, only turning once. To avoid the patties getting stuck to the grid, you can use a combination of the following tactics: Use a grid with thicker rods; spray the grid with non-stick spray; gently lay the patties onto the grid so that you’re not squeezing them into the grid; braai over very hot coals so that the patties seal before sinking into the grid; move the patties slightly with your braai tongs or spatula just as they start to braai and seal, so that ever-so-slightly braaied meat (as opposed to completely raw meat) touches the grid. As the meat cooks, it naturally starts loosening from the grid. Now, only turn the patties once and do that gently. After the patties are turned, during the last few minutes of the braai, add the cheese on top so that the heat of the fire and patties can melt it.
6. Cut your rolls in half and assemble the burger: Roll, sour cream, guacamole, patty with cheese, salsa, nacho chips; lastly, spread sour cream on the inside of the top half of the roll and close it up.