Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich. Photo: Patricia Niven
Husband and wife Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer have worked as chefs for 28 years. Following in the footsteps of the pioneering Claudia Roden and then Yotam Ottolenghi, they are part of a growing band who have popularised Middle Eastern food in the UK. Indeed, Itamar and Sarit – who were both born in Israel but have lived in London for over 20 years – cooked in an Ottolenghi kitchen before opening their own restaurant, Honey & Co, not far from Euston station, back in 2012.
Their first book, Honey & Co: The Cookbook, won the prestigious Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards book of the year in 2015, and their fifth – the seductively titled Honey & Co Daily: Easy Food for Your Everyday Pleasure – is coming out this month. The aim, they say, is to promote recipes that will “increase the joy in your day, whatever it throws at you” – and that the book will “inspire you to cook something that will make you, and the people around you, happy”.
Going into a UK bank holiday weekend which, if forecasts are correct, looks like being a scorcher, Honey & Co are sharing a simple, summery recipe for chicken burgers. Note that the recipe serves two and that if you are making the labaneh (thick yoghurt is an easier alternative), it needs to be started the day before.
Words by Jane Ferguson
Photographs by Patricia Niven
Itamar and Sarit’s herby chicken burgers
Serves 2
Ingredients
For the burgers
250g minced chicken
20g grated Parmesan
½ small bunch of dill, finely chopped (10g)
½ small bunch of basil, finely chopped (10g)
1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
3-4 spring onions, very finely sliced
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
1 tsp flaky sea salt
40g breadcrumbs
Olive oil, for shaping and frying
To serve
2 burger buns
2 tbsp labaneh (see below) or thick yogurt
2 tsp chilli jam (or sweet chilli sauce)
1 tomato, sliced
A little flaky sea salt
Method
Put all the burger ingredients in a large bowl and mix together really well. If you have a mincer at home, you could just put all the ingredients (including the chicken mince) through it to combine, in which case you wouldn’t need to chop the herbs or spring onion.
Rub your palms with a little olive oil, then use your hands to shape the mixture into two burgers, each about 180g. They should be about 8-9cm wide and about 2cm thick. Set in the fridge to chill for at least an hour. These can be made up to a day in advance of cooking.
Heat your oven to 220C/200C fan/Gas Mark 7.
Heat a little drizzle of olive oil in an ovenproof frying pan on a medium heat. Place the burgers in the pan and cook for 2 mins on each side, then pop the whole frying pan into the oven for 7 mins.
Cut the burger buns horizontally to split the top and bottom halves apart. Pop them into the oven to warm up for about a minute, then remove to serving plates.
Spread 1tbsp of labaneh or yoghurt over the cut surface of the base half of each bun, then spread with chilli jam. Put the hot burgers on top, finishing with slices of tomato and a sprinkle of sea salt. Place the burger bun tops on and serve hot.
For the labaneh
Makes about 200g
Ingredients
350g full fat yoghurt
100g sour cream
Juice of ½ lemon (about 2 tbsp)
1 tbsp olive oil
¼ tsp salt
1 small garlic clove, peeled and minced
Method
Mix all the ingredients together until well combined. Tip into a sieve lined with some muslin or a clean linen tea towel and set over a bowl to drain overnight at room temperature.
Once drained, carefully remove the labaneh from the cloth and transfer to an airtight container, then store in the fridge for up to two weeks.
Honey & Co Daily: Easy Food for Your Everyday Pleasure by Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer is published by Quadrille, £27