Burger Night: 60+ Recipes for Date Nights, Lazy Nights and Party Nights, written by Deborah Kaloper, features a fun collection of meat, seafood, and vegetarian-based burgers and other sandwiches in a variety of styles. A few highlights include The Double Cowboy, Peri Peri Chicken, Italian Pork Meatball Sliders, The New England Lobster, and Sesame Tofu with Chilli Peanut Slaw. I will also be sharing her recipe for The Aussie Burger following the review.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from Smith Street Books in exchange for my honest review. All comments and opinions are my own.
Deborah Kaloper
Deborah Kaloper is a food stylist, prop stylist, and recipe developer. She is a former breakfast and pastry chef and now works with top photographers, chefs, food writers, brands, and has been a part of over 60 cookbook projects.
She grew up in California and is currently based in Melbourne, Australia. Deborah is also the author of Good Mornings and Taco 101.
If you want the full set, Burger Night matches Pasta Night and Pizza Night.
Burger Night
Deborah begins Burger Night with a short introduction before going over a few basics and foundation recipes to get started. The overview of notable ingredients and homemade sauces/condiments are especially helpful to build flavor every step of the way.
Chapters are divided according to the base: Basics; Condiments; Beef; Chicken, Turkey & Duck; Pork & Lamb; Seafood; and Vegetarian & Vegan.
Deborah also provides the food styling with photography by Emily Weaving. Every recipe is paired with a full-page photo of the finished burger or sandwich.
Measurements are listed in US Customary. Titles are written in English.
The Aussie Burger
To pair with this review, I made Deborah’s recipe for The Aussie! I had never actually tried an Aussie Burger before and was drawn to the incredible assortment of flavors.
This substantial burger pairs a ground beef patty with mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, beet slices, pineapple rings, bacon, onion, and finally a fried egg and barbecue sauce on top to finish.
Enjoy immediately after assembling while the patties are still warm. Make sure to have a napkin nearby. It can get quite messy.
A Few Aussie Burger Notes
I personally have a sensitivity to raw pineapple, so I briefly grilled the pineapple rings after frying the onions.
I used a store-bought mayonnaise, but Deborah has included a recipe for homemade mayonnaise in the Condiments chapter.
This recipe has a few different components, but everything moves quickly. Have all the ingredients out and ready before starting.
Make the beef patties slightly wider than the size of the buns. They will shrink a little as they cook. Pressing your thumb in the center to make a small indentation will help them stay an even thickness and retain their shape.
More Burgers/Accompaniments
I also made Crispy Fried Onion Rings, Philly Cheesesteak, The Big Breakfast, and Grilled Prawn Cocktail Sliders.
The Crispy Fried Onion Rings from the Condiments chapter are perfect for pairing with many of the included burgers. Sliced onions are soaked briefly in buttermilk, then coated in seasoned flour and fried until crisp and golden.
My son especially loved the Philly Cheesesteak. This burger not only has a ground beef patty, but also thinly sliced ribeye steak for double the fun. It is paired with bell peppers, provolone cheese, and garlic butter (recipe in book) for a fantastic blend of flavors.
The Big Breakfast is the first recipe in the Pork and Lamb chapter. Quite the incredible start to the day, this ground pork-based burger is arranged on toasted English muffins (or brioche buns) with spinach, hash browns, bacon, cheese, and a runny fried egg on top.
The Grilled Prawn Cocktail Sliders come together quickly for a refreshing light meal or appetizer. Prawns (shrimp) are briefly marinated in an olive oil lemon mixture, then grilled just until cooked. They are served on brioche slider buns with a homemade cocktail sauce, iceberg lettuce, avocado, dill, and chives.
Burger Night is a great pick for those interested in a variety of burger and sandwich recipes to make within the comforts of your own home. There are so many options and flavor combinations ranging from beef, lamb, and pork to chicken and vegetarian (cheese, vegetable, bean, or tofu-based). Even the sizes vary from small, delicate sliders to daunting arrangements piled with teetering layers.
Most of the ingredients can be found in larger American grocery stores. A few items may require further searching such as bird’s eye chillies, nigella seeds, tomatillos, gochujang, Kewpie mayonnaise, harissa paste, ground sumac, pomegranate molasses, sashimi-grade tuna, shichimi togarashi, and vegan sour cream.
Aussie Burger Recipe
Excerpt from Burger Night
Aussie Burger
Ingredients
- 600 grams (1 pound 5 ounces) minced (ground) beef sirloin (20% fat)
- sea salt and cracked black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 8 slices streaky bacon
- 4 free-range eggs
- 1 onion sliced into 5 millimeter (1/4 inch) rings
To Serve:
- 4 hamburger buns lightly toasted and buttered
- Mayonnaise
- handful of butter lettuce leaves
- 8 tomato slices about 5 millimeters (1/4 inch) thick
- 8 tinned beetroot slices pickled, drained
- 4 tinned pineapple rings drained
- barbecue sauce
Instructions
- Divide the beef into four equal portions and shape into patties just slightly larger than your buns.
- Use your thumb to make a small indentation in the centre of each patty, to help them retain their shape during cooking and prevent doming.
- Season both sides of the patties well with salt and pepper.
- Heat a cast-iron frying pan over medium-high heat.
- Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and cook the patties for 3-4 minutes on each side, until well seared with a caramelized crust, or until cooked to your liking.
- While the patties are cooking, set up another large frying pan over medium heat.
- Add 2 teaspoons of the remaining olive oil and fry the bacon until crispy. Remove from the pan and keep warm.
- Crack the eggs into the same pan and fry them in the bacon fat for a few minutes until cooked to your liking. Remove and keep warm.
- Add the final teaspoon of oil to the pan and fry the onion rings for a few minutes on each side until golden and charred.
- To build your burgers, slather the base buns with mayonnaise, then pile on the lettuce, tomato, beetroot and a beef patty.
- Add the pineapple, onion, bacon, a fried egg and a generous drizzle of barbecue sauce, and finish with the bun tops.
Leave a Reply