Cumin Lamb Burgers with Caramelized Onion Mayonnaise

Yield: 3 Large Patties
Serves: 2 with Leftovers

This recipe is pretty straight-forward, and OH, so delicious. If powdered green stevia feels odd, the asterisks offer an alternative of raw honey. In the pictures above, I placed the tomato on top of a slice of sourdough bread, which wasn’t included in the recipe below. If you like a bit of bread with your burger, open-faced is a nice option, or go with a full bun, which is delicious, too.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp butter
2 cups 1/4″ diced yellow onions (approx 1 large)
1 1/2 tsp + pinch sea salt, divided
3/4 tsp + pinch fresh cracked pepper, divided
1 tbsp minced garlic (approx 3 cloves)
1 lb grass-fed ground lamb
1 tbsp + 1 tsp Dijon mustard, divided
1 pastured egg yolk
3 tsp fresh-squeezed lemon juice, divided *
1 pinch lemon zest
2 tsp cumin
1 tbsp ghee
1/2 cup mayonnaise
pinch powdered green stevia **
1 large 1/2″ sliced tomato, for garnish
1 large 1/2″ sliced avocado, for garnish ***

Instructions:
In a large saute pan over medium heat, melt butter until foaming. Add onion, 1/2 tsp sea salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Slowly saute for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally; onions will have softened and caramelized. Add 1 tbsp garlic, stirring for 1 minute; garlic will be fragrant. Turn off heat. Remove 2 tbsp onion mixture and set aside in a small bowl for the Caramelized Onion Mayonnaise.

In a medium bowl, combine remaining onion mixture, ground lamb, 1 tbsp Dijon mustard, egg yolk, 2 tsp lemon juice, pinch lemon zest, cumin, 1 tsp sea salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. Using clean hands, gently mix. Avoid over-mixing, which can toughen the burgers. Divide the meat into three equal discs. Flatten the disc to about 1″ around the edges and 3/4″ in the center. Making the center of the burger slightly thinner than the edges prevents the burger from puffing up in the center, forming more of a baseball than a burger!

Heat a cast-iron skillet or heavy bottomed saute pan to medium-high heat. Add ghee and heat until fully melted. Tilt pan to cover bottom with ghee. Set the burgers into the hot pan, and immediately turn the heat down to medium. Allow burgers to cook for 3-minutes on each side for medium.

While burgers are cooking, in the small bowl reserved for the Caramelized Onion Mayonnaise, add mayonnaise, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 1 tsp lemon juice, pinch powdered green stevia, pinch sea salt and pinch pepper. Stir well with a spoon.

When the burgers are cooked, remove from heat and allow burgers to rest for 5 minutes. Plate each burger on top of a thick slice of tomato. On top of each burger, spoon 2 tbsp of caramelized onion mayonnaise and rest two slices of avocado.

* Make sure to zest the lemon before juicing. It is impossible the other way around! Also, organic becomes very important when using the zest of a fruit. A stronger concentration of pesticides is found on the skin.

** 1 tsp raw honey may be substituted.

*** Avocado will brown once sliced, unless an acidic medium is added to it. Either cut the avocado right before service, or squeeze a bit of lemon overtop to prevent browning.

xo – Organic Spark