Making your own restaurant style beef burger is easier than you think. Once you try this you'll never go back to store bought burgers again.
Add the beef mince to a bowl along with the yolk of 1 egg and a good pinch of salt and pepper, and mix everything together with your hands until you have a large meatball.
Divide the meatball into 4 even pieces of a 1/4 lb (115 grams) each, roll into a ball, then press down with the palm of you hand to make the patty shape ) it should be around 1/2 inch thick). Place in the fridge until ready to use.
In a frying pan or griddle, add a little oil and fry your bacon until nice and crispy - the aim is to not just add flavour, but texture to the burger - once ready you can remove and place on a warm plate, or cover in foil to keep warm.
In the same frying pan, cook your onions until softened and caramelised and set aside, while you cook your burgers.
Heat a BBQ/grill/griddle, season both sides of the beef patties and place on the BBQ/grill/griddle. cook for around 4-5 minutes until nicely browned, then turn over, add the cheese slices on top and cook for a further 3-4 minutes until they reach an internal temperature of 70C/160F.
Remove from the heat and cover with foil to rest while you construct your burger.
First start by toasting the buns. Brush the inside of each bun with a little olive oil and toast on the bbq/grill or in a frying pan/griddle until lightly browned. You may need to do this in batches.
Now its time to construct your burger! Place bottom of each bun on a plate and add a little tomato ketchup, followed by a leaf from the gem lettuce, and a slice of tomato, then top with the onions. Carefully place the burger patty on top of the onions, then add a little more ketchup, followed by two rashers of straky bacon and the halved 4 halves of cornichons if using) then add the top of the bun, and place a skewer through the centre of each complete burger to keep everything together. Serve on its own, with fries or a side of your choice.