"There is immense joy in cooking out in nature. It's fantastic to prepare the game meat close to where it was hunted and shot. It also presents a wonderful challenge—to take just the gear you need and start cooking over a campfire."
Danish tv chef and restaurant owner Adam Price has ventured into the wild with his griddle, making an Oklahoma Onion Smash Burger using wild game meat he hunted himself. The burger is simple in its preparation, incredibly flavourful, and perfect for cooking outdoors.
Ingredients:
For 4 people
Smash Burger:
500 grams minced venison (could be roe deer, sika, fallow, or red deer)
200 grams bacon
1-2 large onions per person. This recipe uses red onions, but other onions can be used. The traditional choice is white, American salad onions.
Pickles – use American burger pickles.
American cheddar for the burger
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
You can optionally add some finely chopped onion and finely chopped pickles.
Instructions:
Finely chop the bacon with a knife and mix it with the venison. Divide into 4 equally sized round meatballs. Set aside.
Peel the onions. Slice them very thinly—either with a knife or preferably with a mandolin. They should be paper-thin. Squeeze the liquid out of them using a tea towel.
Heat your griddle or a large pan. Preferably over a fire, or another heat source. Add a little oil to the griddle and place the meatballs on it. Flatten them relatively thinly with a burger press or spatula. Cook until they develop a nice crust—about 3-4 minutes. Add onions to the uncooked top of the burger patties and flip them. Press again so the onions almost cook into the meat. Add a slice of cheddar to each and cover each burger patty with a small pan or lid for 30 seconds. The steam around the patty will help melt the cheese much better.
Spread burger dressing on the bottom bun. Place the patty with onions and cheese on top. Add some slices of pickles on top—and finish with the top bun, also spread with dressing or ketchup. For those who like a spicy burger, you can sprinkle it with chilli powder, but I've omitted it here because I think it's important to taste the wild game meat. We should eat much more of it than we do. So if you know a hunter or hunt yourself, it makes sense to swap out carbon-heavy beef for game.
Burger Buns (Potato Buns)
Ingredients:
For 6 buns
1 packet dry yeast
2 ½ dl lukewarm whole milk
420 g flour
3 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp salt
1 egg
125 g cooked, mashed potatoes (floury)
4 tbsp melted butter (+ extra butter for brushing)
Instructions:
Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm milk. Let it stand for 5-10 minutes until it lightly bubbles.
Mix the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add the egg, mashed potatoes, melted butter, and milk. Knead the dough in the mixer on low speed for 5 minutes. It will be a sticky dough, but do not add more flour.
Place the dough in a greased bowl and let it rise for an hour until doubled in size.
Transfer the dough to a floured work surface. Divide the dough into 6 equally sized pieces. Shape them into buns. Place them on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or baking paper with plenty of space between each. Let them rise under a damp tea towel for three-quarters of an hour.
Bake at 180 degrees for 25-30 minutes until golden. Transfer to a wire rack and brush with a little melted butter. Let them cool covered with a tea towel.
