Who doesn’t love a good burger?

So, I’m not a saint and I do eat and enjoy fast food. Burgers are not something I eat often but when I do, I choose well. The Lamb and mint burger at Royale Eatery is one of my favourites but when ones looking for that fast food feast I am a Steers girl all the way – their chicken and cheese burgers make me week at the knees not to mention their fries!

Friday was a burger day for me but I had friend I haven’t seen in months coming for lunch so I decided to make it a little special. A few days ago I had bought some gluten free rolls (made with soya flour and pumpkin seeds) from Wellness Warehouse and thought they would make the perfect gourmet burger bun. I tenderised some Elgin free range chicken breasts and marinaded them in olive oil, garlic, rosemary and basil. While they chilled for 10 minutes, I whipped up some home-made garlic and lemon mayo. See my post on tenderising chicken breasts (http://domesticgoddesses-sa.blogspot.com/2011/01/braaied-chicken-burgers.html)

I say whipped up lightly as it took me about 6 minutes and that was more because I was distracted while I chatted with my friend. The drip drip method of making mayonnaise is a horror story devoted to old fashioned people who can’t move with the times. Using a stick blender and blender jar you can make mayonnaise in a few minutes. See recipe below.

I took a few spoons of the mayo I had made (the rest went into the fridge for future enjoyment) added some of the basil and rosemary I had left over from making the marinade and added about a ¼ of a tea spoon of cayenne pepper. I had toasted the buns under the grill, seared the chicken in a scorching hot pan for two minutes on each side (also great on the braai), added some baby asian leaves from a PnP pillow pack, assembled the burger added a large dollop of mayo and sat down to enjoy my catch up session. It was tender, juicy, aromatic and great quality comfort food.

Home-made garlic and lemon mayo

Makes about a cup and half of mayo

1 jumbo egg

1 cup of sunflower oil

80ml of olive oil

1 clove of garlic

1 tsp of salt

Juice of half a lemon

Zest of a ¼ lemon

Break the egg into the long blender jar provided with your stick blender and add the oil. Place the stick blender at the bottom of the jar, on high speed pull it up slowly through the egg and oil. Once you reach the top the base of you mayo is made. Plunge the blender around the jar a bit to ensure that everything has been well combined. The mixture will also thicken a bit more if you blend it for a minute longer. Then add the remaining ingredients and blend until combined. Refrigerate in an airtight container.