July 5, 2012
Blogger Nick Rapps was brought up in Chew Valley. After becoming a butcher’s apprentice nine years ago, the 27-year-old is now head butcher of Sheepdrove Organic Farm’s butcher’s shop in Bristol.
In this wet land of ours one thing’s for sure – we appreciate the sun when it comes out. And nothing says the sun is back more than a barbecue.
We change our window display in summer – out goes the the roasting joints and in comes diced meat on kebab sticks.
We do organic pork, lamb or chicken kebabs and customise with our homemade seasonings, rubs and glazes, like sweet chilli, hickory barbecue and Chinese five spice. We can glaze while you wait or in advance.
We don’t use pre-made mixes, and buy all our organic ingredients singly from Essentials Trading Co-op so the sky’s the limit when it comes to flavour combinations.
For burgers on a budget, I tell people to buy the mince, add your own seasoning and bind with one egg – works out to about 90p a burger.
We love to get creative. For instance, the other day I made organic smoky beef and cheddar burgers with smoky bacon, organic cheddar and beef all minced together for a deep flavour. And we cure our own bacon.
Or you could go for chicken sausages, mixed with nutmeg, red onion and fresh sage. Or pork sausages with ginger and red chilli.
If you can’t get our Bristol butcher’s, you can buy our organic sausages and burgers online.
If you think you have got a better recipe, let us know and we will make it for you.
Here’s our perfect ratio:
Beef (a coarse meat for body) 50%
Pork (a fattier meat for smoothness) 30 %
Smoked bacon (for smoky depth) 10%
Fresh seasonings 10%
Grill for 10 minutes. Start burgers away from intense heat, and move to intense heat for the last few minutes for a char-grilled finish.
We love new recipe ideas so tell us: What ingredients would you like in your sausages and burgers?
Liz evans says: Your apple casserole recipe that you made for apple day at Marlborough does not seem to be with your recipes could you please email it to me
Thankyou liz
I like cumin and fresh herbs in hamburgers.
Also chopped raw ginger, crushed cardamom, and cinnamon go well with red meat, I think.