I live a pretty healthy life, foodwise  that is (I am a student after all, so my sleeping and/or drinking pattern isn’t always as healthy as it should be). Something I inherited from my parents, I guess. Fresh vegetables, preferably locally grown, free range meat and eggs, and as little with preservatives as possible. But every once in a while, like everyone else, I have a craving for fast food. This usually happens when I’m at a train station, and my train is delayed because of some construction work, technical difficulties, or some other bs our public transportation system is using as excuse as to why the trains are not arriving on time, or in some occasion, at all.

Thankfully, most stations are equipped with a number of shops and a diverse food court, so there’s always something to do (or eat). Among the diversity in the food court, there’s a number of fast food parlours and one of them in particular (which name I will not be mentioning, but I think you can imagine) disperses a quite pleasant smell of grilled burger. And when I need to wait at least another 45 minutes until there is a possibility of a train, it can be hard to resist the temptation of buying a burger. But, strong as I am, I usually can.

Because I opened the sterilized jar containing barbecue sauce for the sliders, I now have the very hard task of finishing the rest of the sauce before it goes bad. Obviously, I embraced this task with open arms.
This, combined with the fact that my power to resist the burger smells are weakening, inspired me for my dinner yesterday, as I made cheeseburgers with garlic/oregano fries. Naturally everything was home-made, except for the burger buns (I used sesame) and the mayonnaise (ok, ok, I’ll be honest. I didn’t brew the beer myself either.).

It’s all pretty easy: I made the burgers the same way as I made the sliders (check out my previous posts), I added a little jalapeño to it though, just to spice it up. I toasted the buns in the oven for a short while, as the oven was already on because of the fries. In a frying pan, I baked some bacon rashers until crispy, took them out, and them baked the burgers on medium heat in the bacon grease (not so healthy but oh so tasty!) for about 4 minutes each side (this way they’re still slightly pink in the centre). The last 2 minutes, I put a slice of cheddar on top of the burger and added a few onion ring and tomato slices to the pan. Spread some barbecue sauce on the bottom (once again: or whatever sauce you prefer), place the burger on top , then the onion rings/tomato slices, some slices of pickle, and the top half of the bun.

Now for the fries, you need to do a little more work. For 2 persons, use about 600 grams (2 pounds) baking potatoes, sliced into thin fries. Boil them for about 8 minutes, drain, cool and transfer them to a freezer/zip lock bag. In a small blender, blitz together 3 cloves of garlic, 3 tablespoons of finely chopped, fresh oregano and 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Add this marinade to the fries, along with a good amount of unground sea salt, seal the bag, and massage the marinade into the fries. Let this sit for about an hour (or longer, depending on how much time you’ve got), make sure to squeeze the bag every once in a while (as it will increase the flavour). Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 200°C (390°F) and put a baking paper sheet on your baking tray.

When marinated enough, transfer the fries to a baking tray, make sure they aren’t crowded, then they won’t crisp up properly. Now, to be honest, I didn’t check how long I left them in the oven, but I’m guessing, about 30 minutes. The last 5 minutes I turned on the grill (and placed the burgerbuns on an ovenrack above the fries) to make them extra crispy. Add the fries to your plate as well as the burger. Accompany with a green salad, and, most of all, enjoy!

Yummy in my tummy, and (semi-)healthy too!

Since we defrosted enough meat for four burgers, but were satisfied after two, and I don’t feel like eating burgers two nights in a row, I’ll be repeating this recipe tomorrow. So I will definitely fill my burger quota for this month..!
Dinner today is still a bit of a mystery, but I have narrowed it down to something with chicken, ricotta cheese, tagliatelle and oregano. Oh yes, I’m thinking pasta bake!

Check back later tonight for the (long awaited) post about Guinness cupcakes!