Crazy Ingredient Challenge November: Spice Burgers on Onion Rolls

This past month (year?) has been hard. My emotions, my life - they have all been on a rollercoaster. This month's CIC certainly did not make it any easier. Gingerbread spice and onions?! Say what?!! I came up with several ideas though. And decided to go with Guinness mini burgers served on onion rolls with onion rings and a Guinness spice barbecue sauce. It would have been great. Except for the fact that I don't like Guinness. Or onions (kinda). That Guinness spice barbecue sauce? Made it; hated it. Too much Guinness. The onion rings? Made them. Liked them. But I am just not an onion rings kinda girl. I was cloyed after 3 rings. I guess that's something that I'd remake for someone who loves onion rings because they were pretty good

I decided to make the burgers without Guinness and ditched it from the sauce too and had winners that went AMAZINGLY with these soft onion rolls. There's just enough onion to give them a little oomph (smells great too) but not enough to be overwhelmingly oniony. I apologise for not sharing the barbecue sauce. But for the life of me, I just could not remember how much vinegar and sugar I added to the winning combination and I did not have time to remake it.

Please accept these delicious burgers as token of my apologies. They definitely make up for the missing sauce on their own.

Onion Rolls                                                                   Print

Recipe by:    Kelster

Yield: 12 rolls

Ingredients 15 oz all purpose flour 0.25 oz active dry yeast 1 oz sugar 1 teaspoon of salt ½ cup onion, chopped 1 large egg, room temperature 2 oz butter, softened 1 oz sour cream 2 oz  of warm water 1 egg white

Directions Puree onion or finely chop. Combine yeast (see notes), flour, sugar, salt, egg, onion, butter and sour cream. Slowly add enough water to yield a soft, tacky but not sticky dough. Start with scant 2 oz of water and add additional water by the teaspoon, if needed. Knead for 5 minutes then cover and allow to rise at room temperature for approximately 1 – 2 hours or  until doubled. Gently degas the dough and divide dough into 12 equal pieces.  Allow to rest for 10 minutes. Form each piece into a tight ball and place on a baking sheet. Preheat oven to 375 F. Balls should be doubled in approximately 30 – 60 minutes.  When doubled, brush with egg white and bake for 15- 18 minutes or until golden and at an internal temperature of 200 F.

Notes The yeast that I use allows me to add my yeast directly to my ingredients and warm any liquids to 120 F. This may work for you too. However, if unsure, follow the proofing instructions on your yeast. You can use as little as ¼ cup of onion puree.

Spice Burgers                                                                 Print

Recipe by:    Kelster

Yield: 8 patties

Ingredients 1lb ground beef 2 cloves garlic, finely minced 1 teaspoon ground ginger ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg ¼ teaspoon ground cloves ¼ teaspoon allspice 1.5 * teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons black pepper Mozzarella cheese

Directions Gently flatten the ground beef. Sprinkle all the seasonings evenly across the surface. Gently fold the beef over on itself to combine the spices. Don’t overwork. Divide into 8 2oz pieces. Shape each piece into a flattened ball. Flatten the center of each ball a bit more as the patty will puff as it cooks. Place in refrigerator and allow to rest for 30 minutes. Preheat a lightly greased grill pan or skillet.  Cook burgers to desired doneness. Top the first cooked side with a slice of mozzarella cheese and allow to melt as the second side cooks. Slice the onions rolls in half, top with a cooked patty and your favourite burger fixings.

Notes  Some prefer to salt their patties after forming. Do what you think is best.