Brioche burger buns, sticky & smoky pulled pork, and a fresh, crunchy lime & coriander slaw.  Jump to Recipe 

Studying and me do not go well together. I’ve got 2 weeks to go until the biggest exams so far in my degree, and case in point – I spent parts of my weekend making a tahini chocolate-chunk banana bread, seeing The Girl on the Train, going out for dinner, staying up late reading books that I couldn’t put down (and probably shouldn’t have started in the first place), researching an upcoming overseas trip, and generally avoiding any prolonged period at my desk at all costs. And writing this blog post today. Just in the last 24 hours, however, I’ve started to notice that little creep of anxiety, that subtle stomach twist when I think about all the topics and information I need to cover before those exams hit. It’s probably a good thing – nerves as motivation always works for me. The competitive streak comes out, let’s say.

All this time at home does mean more time for slow-cooked food, especially since Melbourne’s winter days seem to be hanging around long than usual. This beef cheek ragu was my favourite so far, all rich and intensely saucy, but we also loved Food52’s genius pork ragu last week, coating thick strands of parpadelle. And to be most impressive – this middle-eastern harissa lamb salad is something I could eat again and again. These pulled pork burgers with pineapple & avocado slaw are a close second. It’s an act of transformation: turning a cheap, tough and chewy piece of meat into a supple, tender, almost falling-apart roast. A form of chemistry, with enough heat and time to denature the collagen fibres of connective tissue into threads of silky gelatin. That’s why these cuts work best: maximum muscle and therefore collagen in the strong, working areas of cheek and shoulder – the same goes for brisket and short ribs.

Although it’s science, these transformations that occur when we cook are part of why I love it: that feeling of watching solid sugar gently melt into a golden, boiling syrup to form a caramel; of pulling a cake out of the oven, risen and set; whipping transparent egg whites into a thick, inflated, and pure white meringue; watching yeast transform bread dough into something alive and growing; seeing profiteroles puff up in the oven like a balloon being blown up, as if they might just take off. There’s something new every time, and something to learn from each.

In this slow cooked pulled pork, a caramelised crust develops on the top surface through initial searing and leaving the lid off for the first 20 minutes in the oven, while the cumin, paprika, oregano and hot sauce with apple cider add a rich, spicy smokiness to the finished product. It contrasts with the fresh crunch of slaw, dotted with chunks of sweet grilled pineapple and creamy avocado. Dressed with lime and coriander, of course – if you’re not a coriander person, I’m not sure we can be friends (is it really genetic, guys?!). Hot chipotle aioli binds it all together and takes it over into burger heaven. And don’t miss the brioche burger buns, if you have time – they’re the sort that will make you vow never to buy burger buns again (until it’s a weeknight and you realise you don’t have time for that, of course!).

It’s a hands on, messy deal, all sticky pork and dripping aioli – but that’s how burgers are meant to be eaten.

Cooks notes:

• My brioche burger bun recipe can be found here, or you can buy them. They need to be started a couple of hours before.
• This amount of pulled pork makes enough for 8-10 burgers. You can either freeze half for another time, or increase the slaw to serve more people (the current slaw recipe makes about 4 burgers)

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Spicy yogurt-marinated tandoori chicken, crunchy lime coriander slaw, fragrant pesto and buttery burger buns.  Jump to Recipe 

I’ve never been a cooking show person. Their rise in popularity over the last few years has been monumental – Masterchef and My Kitchen Rules are some of the most highly rated TV shows in Australia, and their judges are household names. It’s mainly the lack of time to sit down and watch the five new Masterchef episodes that churn out weekly that turns me off. And the fact that I get way too frustrated with the contestants, and just want to shout “but I could do that!” (mostly, anyway). But there is something else, too.

They turn the necessity of cooking into an artificial, contrived competition – removing the enjoyment and replacing it with stress, staged emotional conflict between contestants and booming reality TV theme songs. I read recently that during Masterchef, the entire pressurised tasting segment really involves cold plates of food, completed hours earlier and refrigerated while the judges go off to eat lunch first. Apparently if you have time, you make two of your dish – so the judges can try one during filming while it is still fresh. I get that this is probably unavoidable with the nature of  TV schedules etc etc…but doesn’t it make those exaggerated judge reactions, swallowing down mouthfuls of tepid food, seem a little bit fake? I’m not 100% against it. It has launched the successful careers of many now (with Nadia Lim being a prime example), and it’s entertaining – it’s just not my thing.

Enter Chef’s Table, the Netflix documentary style series documenting the rise of professional chefs in  high-end restaurants worldwide. It’s the raw challenges – the 15, 16, 17 hour days, the lack of a life outside of the kitchen, the questioning of “is this even worth it?”, the bleeding fingers and extreme pressure to succeed – set against a backdrop of elegant visuals and artistic camera work. Though more focussed on the individual chef than the food, it is another case of living vicariously through the screen. We can imagine visiting that $300 per head restaurant and watch the behind-the-scenes footage of the kitchen plating ethereal dishes. Yes, it’s inspiring. Yes, it’s beautiful. Yes, I find it fascinating as a person fully interested in every aspect of the industry and its players. Yes, I’m sure I will end up watching the remaining episodes. But it’s not how 99.999% of the world cooks or eats.

This morning I listened to a Food52 podcast interview with Nigella Lawson. For her it is about love, and food, and relatability. It’s a change from the elaborate, complicated world of professional chefs and cooking competitions – as she says, “it’s not performance art cooking”.  She discusses the rhythm of the kitchen, the playfulness of changing up ingredients, the simplicity of a recipe made so many times it almost runs in your veins. But she acknowledges that “you don’t always feel like cooking”, and that it isn’t always enjoyable – which is a particularly human approach. She is a home cook, an eater. It’s the language of somebody who loves food, but doesn’t always have time to follow recipes, and knows food well enough to take the fridge contents and make something of it  – a skill I am trying to work on.

While cooking shows will remain popular, and Chef’s Table is a fascinating insight into the world of professional kitchens – it is Nigella’s perspective that stuck with me the most. Over here at The Brick Kitchen, I can’t see a particular philosophy, or theme, to these recipes  – it’s just what I love to eat. 

I’m not sure I’ve seem my brothers demolish burgers as fast as these tandoori chicken brioche sliders with coriander-cashew relish. It’s a soft, tender brioche bun, smeared with a nutty-herby relish that gives a gingery-coriander kick to the dish. Tenderised with greek yogurt and lemon juice, the grilled chicken thighs marinate in an easy spice mix, and it’s all layered together with a crunchy cabbage-cucumber salad and minty yogurt raita. If you’re enjoying summer barbecues in the US, or need a bit of heat in the Southern hemisphere winter – they’re for you.

The sliders were originally dreamt up by Sid Sahrawat, owner of restaurants Cassia and Sidart in Auckland (both of which I would highly recommend, if you are ever there) – and I’ve only made a few slight changes for ease of recipe-following, as well as the brioche bun addition. If the homemade brioche buns push them into the too-hard-basket for you, just buy them. I’m all for shortcuts when you are short on time. The brioche buns I made ended up being a bit big for a slider, and a bit small for a burger, so my family decided to rename them “slurgers”. Still not sure how I feel about that.

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Thai Fish Burgers with Green Mango & Papaya Slaw. Homemade fluffy brioche buns, fresh lime-fish sauce green papaya slaw, grilled fish & creamy sriracha aioli.  Jump to Recipe 

Meet my favourite burger ever.

Say hello to that warm, crispy edged, fluffy brioche bun. Enriched with just a hint of butter and egg, and much lighter than a true brioche, its slight sweetness and tender crumb are the ultimate counterpoint to the sharp sweet-sour contrast of the thai green mango & papaya salad. The classic lime, fish sauce and chilli dressing is bright and fresh, supplemented with liberal handfuls of thai basil and coriander, peanuts for crunch. An aioli-sriracha sauce delivers a creamy heat, and chunks of flaking grilled fish finish it off.

You have to try it.

I can sell it some more, if you want. It is healthy – unusual in the world of burgers – packed with fresh fish and without the cheese, processed meat and fats of takeaways. It is fast – you can make the slaw as far ahead as the day before, the fish takes a max of 5-10 minutes to cook, and you can make the buns ahead too (or buy them, even). The sriracha aioli is literally a mix of sriracha and aioli. It is like the best thai/vietnamese salad encased in soft, warm brioche bun and in finger food form.

My efforts to cut down on phone usage and reliance have been proved wrong, unfortunately. Though I still remain convinced that peering at a swiftly scrolling instagram or facebook feed multiple times a day isn’t conducive to efficiency and productivity, I will no longer drive somewhere without my phone.

Last week I went to a gym class only a few kilometres away, phone-less – it was almost flat, so I left it to charge. Notifications and emails could wait, right? After the class, I got in the car to go home, and had the immediate sense that sometime wasn’t quite right. I couldn’t put my finger on it. The harsh bumping sensation and slight tilt of the dashboard as I tried to pull out quickly answered the question – it was a flat tyre. Absolutely pancake flat, in fact.

Now, I don’t know much about cars. I know it is apparently a life skill, but I have never seen a tyre changed in my life. The next realisation was that lacking my phone, I couldn’t contact anybody. At all. I managed to get back to the gym and call the roadside service, but they were at least another hour away. In the meantime, I was meant to be meeting a friend to go to uni, my lectures started in 45 minutes, and my phone sat helplessly on my desk, utterly useless to me and buzzing frequently with missed calls and texts from my housemates. I realised I didn’t even know their phone numbers or emails – they were all stored on my phone too. Being so completely stuck is not a familiar feeling!

It reminded me of how we are constantly connected to each other and the world in a way that no other generation has been before. I just can’t imagine going to look up a question in the encyclopedia, or not being able to get instantaneous directions to wherever I’m going. Being phoneless or wifi-less almost inspires a vague sense of panic, the disorientating sensation that something is not quite right whenever that device is not in the near vicinity. It is by most of our sides 24/7, scrolled through before bed and on waking up, and picked up at any moment of slight boredom or procrastination. I know I’m not the only one – in a Time Magazine survey of 5000 people, 84% said they could not go a single day without their cellphones.

Crazy, right?

In the meantime, use your phones to get the recipe for these Thai fish burgers with green mango & papaya slaw. They’re worth it.

Cooks Notes:

• The salad can be made up to 1 day ahead, and should ideally be made at least 4 hours ahead of time to allow the flavours to combine. Just whiz up the dressing, julienne the mango & papaya, toss it together and store covered in the fridge.
• The brioche buns are worth a try and not hard (but if you are short on time, feel free to buy some!).   Any extras can easily be wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen for another burger night. Make them when you have an afternoon at home – the timetable is:
  • Make dough, knead (15 min)
  • Rest for 1-2 hours in bowl
  • Divide, shape into balls (10 minutes)
  • Rest for 1 hour
  • Bake 15-20 minutes.

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Vietnamese grilled chicken burgers – green mango slaw, avocado, and crispy edged grilled chicken on toasted ciabatta buns.  Jump to Recipe 

Healthy winter burgers.

Yes, you read that correctly. Right now, that statement may seem a little dubious, with burgers being pretty strongly associated either with fried fat, processed meat and late night Macca’s trips or with summer barbecues and warm evenings with build-your-own burger construction lines – but these burgers are here to prove that wrong.

So, I present: Vietnamese Grilled Chicken Burgers with Slaw. Delicately constructed with toasted ciabatta buns, a layer of avocado, heapings of mango-capsicum-mint-coriander-basil-cabbage vietnamese slaw and slices of the easiest, amazingly tender grilled chicken, this is a winner. And yes, it is winter. And yes, you can still make these burgers. They are so NOT a summer-only deal. (In saying this, for all you lucky people in the Northern hemisphere going into summer: please make these too – also still perfect for a summer barbecue.)

PLUS they are healthy – burgers do tend to have a bad rep in that department. Without cheese, heavy mayo, sugary tomato sauce, or anything fried at all, these Vietnamese inspired burgers are just full of colourful veges, the healthy fats of avocado, and the good quality protein of grilled chicken thighs. Don’t take that to mean the flavour can’t pack a punch, however – the intensity of fish sauce, sharp fresh tones of coriander and mint, tangy lime and fiery chili, balanced by the sweet notes in the chicken, mango and smooth, rich avocado results in complex layers of texture and flavour.

Also vital to these Vietnamese burgers is that they are quick: exactly what you need on days when you get home from work late, or have just been flat-out with uni, or, like me, have had minimal sleep the night before and are struggling to muster energy to cook dinner. Last night was our college ball: a great night in Southbank which has left me a little bleary-eyed and ready to hop back into bed (and it is only 10am). The only pain was that it was freezing cold and raining (thank you, Melbourne) but there was no cloakroom at the venue, making for a particularly unpleasant trip there and back (not to mention the stress over my straightened hair – it was the first time I had bothered to straighten it in almost two years, so I was not keen for it to frizz up before we even got there!!). Anyway, I survived, and so did my hair, but if at home, I think I would head straight for this burger recipe for dinner. So easy, but also won’t leave you in a sugar-fat induced food coma. (Although, to be perfectly honest, I would probably follow it up with a big hunk of brownie or chocolate self-saucing pudding with ice cream….my self-control does not extend quite that far!).

Anyway, back to this recipe: I first constructed them in the easter holidays, inspired by Vietnamese banh mi and needing quick and easy holiday-house recipes, and just KNOW that they will be a staple for me in future. Winter, summer, autumn or spring, for a crowd or just for a few, both impressive and simple, these colourful grilled chicken burgers will always hit the spot.

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