Recipe Shed: Heston Blumenthal’s Ultimate Beef Burger with Parmesan Mushrooms

I’ve made some fine burgers in my time but while out shopping the other day the words ‘Ultimate Beef Burger’ caught my eye, not least because it was preceded by the words ‘Heston Blumenthal’. Can a supermarket-bought burger really be better than homemade? I had to know. 

The secret to Heston’s concoction, he says, is that the meat fibres all run in one direction, and then the individual burgers are cut across the grain. This makes the burger’s texture more open and juicy. And do you know what? The great man is spot on. I’ve rarely eaten a burger with such fantastic mouth-feel.

But this wouldn’t be the Recipe Shed without a little something to take a mere burger (even Heston’s) to a higher level and so I’ve added some extra Umami (that’s the fifth taste – savoury) by combining some glorious wild mushrooms (I’ve used ceps and girolles, sourced from one of my favourite suppliers, Fine Food Specialist) with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

All served with Nigella Lawson’s glorious Cold-Oil Chips.

Serves 2

2 Heston Blumenthal Ultimate Beef Burgers
1 knob butter
1 tbsp olive oil
4 porcini mushrooms, scraped clean and roughly chopped
6-8 girolle mushrooms, wiped clean and roughly chopped
25g freshly grated Parmesan
2 ciabatta rolls

1. Heat a large frying pan to a medium heat. Oil the burgers and place in the hot pan. Turn every 15 seconds until your desired doneness. For me, this was about 2 mins each side.

2.  Add the butter and olive oil to a small saucepan and melt until it foams. Add the mushrooms and cook for 2-3 mins, until they sizzle, which means the water has been driven out of them. Take off the heat and stir in the Parmesan.

3. Meanwhile, lightly toast the ciabatta rolls under the grill.

4. Serve the burgers on the rolls with the Umami mushrooms piled on top. Serve with Nigella’s Cold-Oil Chips.