Essvergnügen Curry Wurst Burger
I was on a short vacation in Germany last summer and enjoyed some street food, especially the Curry Wurst. It is a German style sausage simply put on a bun with ketchup and curry powder sprinkled on top. This was my inspiration to create a hamburger that tastes similar to this street food. I opted for ground beef with just a hint of bacon or speck plus a glorified version of the simple ketchup. Curry is in there but it will not over power everything. The crunchy salad of apples and cucumber is another condiment I choose on my burger to enhance the pleasure of Essvergnügen, meaning the pleasure of eating.
Ingredients:
1 cup diced speck (or bacon)
1 cup diced onions
2 minced garlic cloves
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon crushed fennel seeds
4 roma/plum tomatoes
½ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup sour cream
¼ cup ketchup
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 ½ cup matchstick cut Granny Smith apples
1 ½ cup matchstick cut cucumber
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
2 ½ pounds ground beef chuck
2 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
6 Hoagie rolls, split
12 small Boston head lettuce leaves from the inner core
Instructions:
Preheat gas grill to medium-hot.
Place a fireproof skillet on grill and cook speck, onions and garlic until speck is glossy and rendered. Drain fat from pan. Add curry and fennel to pan and stir to combine. Remove from heat and let cool.
Cook tomatoes on grill over high heat about 5-7 minutes. Let cool and remove skin and seeds. Cut the rest into bite size pieces and drain excess juice. Combine tomatoes with, mayonnaise, sour cream, ketchup, curry and balsamic vinegar. Set aside.
Combine apple, cucumber, salt, wine vinegar and sugar in a bowl.
Mix ground beef with cooled speck mixture and salt and pepper. Form into 6 long patties to fit the rolls.
Place patties on greased grill and cook on medium high heat for 5-7 minutes. Flip over and cook until done, about 3-5 minutes longer or to desired doneness. Toast split hoagie rolls on grill for a few seconds. Spread cut sides of top and bottom bun with ketchup mixture.
Assemble burger with bottom bun, salad leaves, apple cucumber salad, beef patty, and top bun.
Makes 6 servings