Famile Recipe: Hamburgers

Part of my Recipes to Disaster journal.

Been a while since I attempted to cook anything, what with all that computer gaming and all. This time around it's good old hamburgers - a variation on them anyway! :D

Ingredients:
500g ground beef
4 slices of white bread
Milk
Egg
Salt & Pepper
Soy Sauce
Tomato paste
1 onion (minced)

Directions: 
1. Remove edges of the bread.  Cut remainder into small squares (eg. Cube the bread :P)
Joe's note: I ended up smashing the remaining bread with a fork in step 2 anyway so don't worry about shape. Just make sure they are small. :P

2. Put a little bit of milk in a small desert bowl.  Put bread cubes into it.  There should be enough milk to soak the bread, but not enough that there is extra milk leftover in the bowl when the
bread is removed. 
Jim’s note:  This step (bread & milk) makes a massive difference in the taste of the  final hamburger – and is the actual ‘secret’ to why mom’s hamburger’s taste fantastic.  Don’t skip it.

3. In a mixing bowl: 
a. mix ground beef with minced onion and the milk-soaked bread
b. Salt & Pepper (tancha) 
c. break in an egg
d. Add 3 cooking tablespoons of tomato paste or ketsup
e. Add 1 cooking tablespoon of soy sauce
Jim’s note:  mix this really well – takes 10-15mins of manual mixing with a fork. 
Joe's note:  I mixed mine for 10 minutes. Failed to read the "with a fork" bit though. Just got in with both (clean) hands and massaged it all together!

4. Form the hamburger patties from the mixture.   You should be able to get 12 big hamburgers (or various combinations of smaller ones)
a. Use a knife to ensure hamburger is packed by lightly tapping lengthwise and crosswise on the patty.
Joe's note:  A dull table knife will suffice. Also use it to make them "burger" shape and fix up frayed edges.
Jim’s note:  You can freeze the patties at this point for serving another day.

5. Cook the hamburgers:
a. Heat up a little bit of oil in a skillet.
b. Put the patties in the skillet and cook 5-7 minutes to each side. 
Jim’s note:  will depend on how strong your fire is.  Again tancha.  

6. Serve. Joe's Note: I like these With ketchup, rice and canned pork & beans! :P

Joe's Result: 10 out of 10 (compared to mom's)! Om nom nom! Not bad for a novice! Helps that this was way simpler than the last thing I tried to cook.