Herby beef cutlets

I've been checking out the Westin Gourmet's email offers for ages, but haven't ordered before. Last week the offer was too good to ignore it, as on top of all the beef products they added a whole corn-fed chicken, sliced ham and free postage. I am going to do a separate post on all the meals I have done with the hamper (and still plan to do), so if you are interested in finding out how it worked for us, keep an eye on my blog. I wanted to find out how many meals I will be able to cook and work out if it truly was a bargain. One of the items in the hamper was burgers, and as we don't have a proper BBQ, I decided to add more ingredients and use them as a base for my herby minced beef cutlets.

This recipe is inspired by my Mum, as she's the one who has been adding herbs and soaked stale bread to her cutlets for many years. For me the cutlets with mashed potatoes is the comfort food which takes me back to my childhood. Each time Mum comes to visit, I ask her to make them for me.

Herby beef cutlets (for about 10 cutlets)
Ingredients:
16oz minced beef
1 big chunk of stale sourdough bread, crusts removed, soaked in milk
1 onion, finely chopped
1 small to medium-sized leek, finely chopped
3tbsp olive oil
1 egg
a handful of rocket leaves, chopped
a handful of ground elder, chopped
about 6-7 basil leaves
salt, pepper

Start by soaking a stale chunk of bread in milk (first remove the crusts). Once the bread is soft, squeeze the milk out and break the bread into crumbs. Put the minced beef in a deep bowl with the soaked crumbs and mix well.
Slice the onion and leek finely and fry them with 1tbsp of olive oil for about 5 minutes. Let it cool and add to the beef mix.
Add one egg to the bowl, the chopped basil, rocket and basil, season well.
Using wet hands, roll the minced beef mixture into cutlets and fry in the frying pan with 2tbsp olive oil in two batches. Fry until well browned on both sides, add a bit of hot water, cover the pan with the lid and let it cook for about 10 minutes. They should be well done, as I really hate pink meat.

You can skip the ground elder, of course, and add the parsley or coriander, a bit of thyme works well too.
Serve hot with the mashed potatoes or rice and French/green beans.

I'm adding my herby recipe to Herbs on Saturday linky which is hosted this month by the inspiring foodie blog Delicieux and created by glorious Karen's blog Lavender and Lovage.