What do you cook when Dan Pearce aka Eats Everything rocks up for dinner? What a DJ dilemna!

We know that after many foodie chats we have had with him over the years that his all time favourite dish is Beef Stroganoff (and cheese strings)…nooooo Dan! So it got me thinking of ways to incorporate Beef Stroganoff into a mouth-watering mammoth burger and in the process we would set a proper Eats Everything eating challenge.

This led to my deconstruction / reconstruction of the creamy rich Russian classic and transforming it into a burger – a totally super sized burger.

This isn’t your 15-minute thrown together burger, this burger takes time, love and patience as you will be marinating the meat for three hours, making a separate sauce and slow cooked caramelised shallots. But I promise it’s so well worth it!

The fundamentals of the perfect burger are the quality of the meat. I called upon my favourite local butcher Emilio (he supplies meat to the best chefs and finest restaurants in Ibiza), he even claims that the animals from where the meat is sourced are treated like rock stars, no hideous intensively farmed meat here, it’s the best of the best. Emilio recommended some incredible 60 day dry aged red rib-eye steak, he was pretty surprised that I wanted it to be minced but with some persuading he agreed that it would make the best burger on the planet.

The meat has a beautiful proportion of marbled fat – vital for making a tender succulent and highly flavoured burger, most of the fat will render off in the cooking process which is why its best chargrilled/barbecued (so the fat can drip through the grill). Before cooking the meat is marinated the same way as its classic counterpart with caramelised shallots and plenty of fresh parsley, dill and chives.

To top the burger I made a rich scrumptious sauce with garlicky sauté mushrooms, smoked paprika, a good quality beef stock, caramelised onions and sour cream – all the essential ingredients of a beef stroganoff. The burger is then it’s topped off with homemade dill pickles (another classic componant).

Yes it’s all there beef stroganoff style… oozing and delightful with melted mahon cheese as a homage to the dreaded cheese string!

For the bun part I called on my dear friends at la Paloma café to tailor make a bespoke artisan burger bun – with obligatory sesame seeds – perfecto.

When it came to the cooking of the burger I was a little nervous – especially due to its size – there was no way I could flip that on my little barbecue, so another favour was called upon…this time Tony Mari at Balafia – THE most well respected and infamous grill restaurants on the island.

I thought it was fitting to get the best grill chef on the island to give me a helping hand. He didn’t let me down, bless him.

Dan’s reaction was exactly what I had prayed for, he said “fair play Tess, that was THE best burger I have ever fucking eaten in his life – fact. And I have had a fair few in my time!”

But did he eat everything? Ermmm not quite, there were five of us to give him a helping hand as he claimed that it was not humanly possible,…but he gave it a damn good try!

Top tip! It’s supercool to serve your burger this big because you can cut it like a cake which makes it perfect for sharing…

Ingredients

(Serve a generous 4…or 1 hungry superstar DJ!!)

1 onion (or 4 shallots) finely chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 dry aged rib eye steaks approx. 2.5kg

60ml Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

teaspoon sea salt

teaspoon ground pepper

handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

handful finely chopped chives

handful finely chopped dill

For the Stroganoff sauce

25g butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 finely chopped shallots

200g portabella mushrooms (or chestnut) thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 tablespoon flour

60ml dry white wine

100ml good quality beef stock

150ml carton sour cream

handful of chopped flat leaf parsley

To serve with

good quality round bloomer (or 4 buns)

200g mahon cheese (or cheddar)

Dijon mustard mixed with mayonnaise

Baby gem lettuce with rocket

homemade dill pickled cucumbers (or good quality gherkins)

Method

1. Sauté the chopped onion for 5 minutes until cooked but not browned. In a bowl combine the minced steak with the smoked paprika, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper and fresh herbs. Add the cooked onion and marinade for at least 3 hours (or overnight). Shape into a giant burger or you can divide the mixture into 4 portions then form each portion into individual burgers.
2. Meanwhile, in a saucepan heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and butter over medium heat. Fry the onion in the butter for a few minutes until tender then stir in the garlic.
3. Add mushrooms and cook 7-8 minutes until brown. Stir in flour, cook 1 minute then pour in the wine and beef stock. Bring to a bubble, reduce the heat and let thicken. Take off the heat and stir in the soured cream, parsley and salt and pepper.
4. If you are using a barbecue wait until you have white hot coals then drizzle the burger(s) with olive and cook for 10 minutes for medium-rare and up to 16 minutes for medium-well, turning them only once halfway through. Grate the cheddar on the top a few minutes before serving – then rest the burger on a plate cover in tin foil. Now lightly toast the bloomer on the BBQ
5. Spread over the dijon mayonnaise on the bottom of the loaf them scatter over the baby gem and rocket. Top with the cheese-covered burger then spoon the incredible stroganoff sauce and finally garnish with the pickled gherkins. Big OMG