The Festive Season is the time when we host ‘Die Kaapse Mense‘ – toys all over, late nights, even later mornings, great laughs and conversation. With hordes of people in the house, the Longhair and I never seem to get out of the kitchen – her to clean up and me to cook – what a partnership we have. Although I do clean up a bit and have the reputation of being a bit of a dictator if the dishwasher is incorrectly packed.
On the last teary night before ‘Die Kaapse Mense’ left for home we had a little bit of a braai and, faced with some Ostrich Mince, I whipped up some burgers – just to get rid of the meat as my squeamish family moan whenever I buy Ostrich.
Anyway – off “Die Kaapse Mense’ went to their stopover in Oudtshoorn and we proceeded to tidy and clean the house. A couple of days later I was the pleased recipient of this message from my Sister in Law:
So when we stayed in Oudsthoorn we ordered an ostrich burger at a restaurant that said it was their specialty. And it was not even half as good as yours. You could seriously sell yours – you would make loads of money.
Please could you just send me the recipe – will try make my own – hmmm…. not sure how they will turn out, but can only try.
Sister in Law has been known to burn water when heating a kettle!
Ingredients:
- 500 gram Ostrich Mince
- Half a red onion
- One third green pepper
- 2 slices brown bread
- Teaspoon minced garlic
- Teaspoon mild mustard
- One beaten egg
- A little milk
- Cheese Slices – Mozarella works well
Method:
- Place the brown bread in a bowl and wet the bread with the milk – soggy but not runny
- Finely slice the red onion and toss in bowl
- Put the green pepper in the oven on high (or under grill) until skin looks like paper – this makes the pepper sweet – remove skin from pepper and slice finely into bowl (Place a whole Red Pepper in the oven as well for garnish later)
- Add garlic and mustard
- Mash the stuff in the bowl
- Add egg
- Add ostrich meat and blend well
You can also add fresh chopped coriander for a nice taste or experiment and spice up with other herbs, salt and pepper.
Put in the fridge for an hour at least.
Olive oil on your hands helps when forming patties. I cooked them on a relatively slow fire in that flip over fish grill thingy which helped to keep the burgers intact. Then just placed sliced mozarella cheese on top in a slow oven to help keep the patties together.
If you are going to fry the patties then rub your hands and chopping board with flour and form the patties.
Halve and toast the inside of each bun and serve with caramelised onions, sliced red pepper that you also placed in the oven or under the grill, garnished with rocket and you have a burger fit for a king.
Feeds: 4
Time: 90 minutes (including 60 minutes in fridge)
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