Have a weekly hamburger night in your house? Then this is the perfect opportunity for you to (literally) spice up your dinner. Top off your burger with a bit of homemade chilli jam and you won’t be able to resist going back for more.
Homemade chilli jam
Even though chilli might seem a bit strange in a jam form, it’s definitely one of our favourite condiments. If you make a large enough batch you can always have a bit of chilli jam with a salty cracker as a snack, or perhaps even with your eggs for breakfast.
And for this chilli jam recipe, you will only be needing four ingredients:
- Tomatoes
- Sugar
- Xanthan gum
- Chilli
The tomatoes add a sweet acidity to the jam that gets enhanced as more sweetener is added. And together with the spiciness of the chilli, you’ll be left with a sweet-chilli type of taste and texture.
Xanthan gum is a popular food additive that acts as a thickening agent or stabilizer. However, if you do not have xanthan, try using cornstarch instead. It has a similar texture and is highly absorbent, making it a great thickener.
Perfectly cooked steak
The secret to a great hamburger is of course a perfectly cooked steak/pattie. And for this recipe, we will be searing the steak in a hot pan so that a delicious caramelised crust forms on the outside of the meat. If you want to enhance that crust, make sure to pat the steaks dry before searing them. Any moisture left on the outside of the meat will hinder the searing process, thus not allowing the natural sugars of the meat to caramelise properly.
Hamburgers With Tomato Chilli Jam
Ingredients
Chilli Jam
- 410 g peeled and diced tomatoes
- 4 tbsp sugar or you may use a sweetener of your choice.
- 1 tbsp xanthan gum to thicken the sauce
- Chilli
Hamburger
- Rump Steak, Club Steak, or Tenderised Steak
- 2 large onions, thinly sliced
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp butter
- gherkins for garnishing the steaks.
- hamburger rolls of your choice
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
Chilli Jam
- Pour the tinned tomatoes into a saucepan on medium heat, bring to the boil
- add the sugar and stir until dissolved.
- When sugar is dissolved, add the xanthan gum and stir well. Set aside to cool
Hamburger
- Pat the steak dry.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, heat oil. add the steak and sear on both sides until golden and cooked through, or if you prefer medium steak, cook for less, normally it is 6 to 8 minutes per side for a well-done steak. Remove from skillet and set aside but keep warm.
- To the same pan, melt butter. Add onions and cook until softened, 5 minutes. They should be caramelized. Season with salt and pepper.
- Return steaks to skillet and spoon the sauce of the onions over. Heat until warmed through.
- Slice the steaks, (Optional) and start making your delicious Hamburger just the way YOU like it.
- * Serve hamburgers with oven-baked chips.
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