There's immense joy in cooking out in nature. It's fantastic to prepare the game meat close to where it was hunted and shot. It's also a wonderful challenge – to take only the gear you really need and start cooking over a campfire."
Danish TV chef and restaurant owner Adam Price has headed into the wild with his griddle to make an Oklahoma Onion Smash Burger from game he hunted himself. The burger is simple to prepare, incredibly flavourful and perfect for cooking outdoors.
Ingredients
Serves 4
Smash Burger
- 500 g minced venison (roe deer, sika, fallow or red deer)
- 200 g bacon
- 4–8 large onions in total. This recipe uses red onions, but other onions work well too – the traditional choice is American-style sweet white onions.
- Pickles – ideally American-style burger pickles
- American-style burger cheddar (processed cheddar slices)
Burger Dressing
- 3 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp skyr or Greek yoghurt
- 1 tbsp ketchup
- 1 tbsp barbecue sauce
- 1–2 tsp American mustard
- Salt and pepper
- Optional: a little finely chopped onion and finely chopped pickles
Instructions
Finely chop the bacon with a knife and mix it with the minced venison. Shape into 4 equally sized meatballs and set aside.
Peel the onions and slice them very thinly – ideally on a mandolin, or carefully with a knife. They should be almost paper-thin. Wrap them in a clean tea towel and squeeze out the excess liquid.
Heat your griddle or a large frying pan – preferably over an open fire, but any strong heat source works. Add a little oil to the surface and place the meatballs on it. Press them down quite thin with a burger press or spatula. Cook until they develop a nice crust, about 3–4 minutes. Pile a generous heap of onions onto the raw top of each patty, then flip them. Press down again so the onions almost cook into the meat. Top each patty with a slice of cheddar and cover with a small upturned pan or lid for about 30 seconds – the trapped steam melts the cheese beautifully.
Spread burger dressing on the bottom bun. Place the patty (with onions and cheese) on top, add a few pickle slices and finish with the top bun, also spread with dressing or ketchup. If you like a bit of heat, sprinkle the burger with chilli powder – I've left it out here, because I think it's important to taste the game itself. We really should be eating much more of it than we do. So if you know a hunter, or hunt yourself, it makes a lot of sense to swap out carbon-heavy beef for game.
Burger Buns (Potato Buns)
Ingredients
Makes 6 buns
- 1 sachet (7 g) dried yeast
- 250 ml lukewarm whole milk
- 420 g flour
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 125 g cooked, mashed floury potatoes
- 4 tbsp melted butter (+ extra for brushing)
Instructions
Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm milk and leave it to stand for 5–10 minutes, until it starts to bubble lightly.
Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add the egg, mashed potatoes, melted butter and the milk mixture. Knead with a stand mixer on low speed for about 5 minutes. The dough will be sticky – do not add more flour.
Place the dough in a greased bowl and let it rise for about an hour, until doubled in size.
Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and divide it into 6 equal pieces. Shape into buns and place them on a baking tray lined with a silicone mat or baking paper, leaving plenty of space between each one. Cover with a damp tea towel and let them prove for another 45 minutes.
Bake at 180 °C for 25–30 minutes, until golden. Transfer to a wire rack, brush with a little melted butter and let them cool covered with a tea towel.
