"Garden" Burgers Again

     That recipe makes 6 burgers at a time.  We ate 2 and put the other 4 in the freezer.  Well, they are all gone now.  So my wife was insistent that we make more today.  This time she varied the recipe by putting Italian Seasonings and Garlic into the burgers.  Very tasty.  We ate 2 and put 4 into the freezer.  My wife tells me that as soon as those are gone, we WILL be making more. 
     I think that next time I want to try making the Chipotle Black Bean burgers.  Go for some variety with a little spiciness. 
     These lowfat, low cholesterol foods are going to be good for us ... besides, you know the Doctor is insisting that we do something about reducing cholesterol, triglycerides, etc.   It doesn't hurt that they taste good and are very filling.  They are 4 inches across and 3/4" thick.  Little hamburger buns just aren't big enough.  We are putting them between slices of bread (I like my bread toasted so it isn't so mushy).  Although I'd also like to try the burgers in pita bread with some Pico de Gaiyo (?) and some Bufalo chipotle hot sauce or something.
     We took Nannette shopping this morning.  I took meds for back pain and a little nap (until I heard the lawnmower).  The landlord mowed the yard this evening. The wife is back Indexing because she wants to break 62,000 today.  I did 1325 last month ... which is more than I did the entire last year.  Needless to say, I don't have a big total and we've run out of the 1940 Census.  That leaves strange things to work on ... sigh.

The "Garden" Burger

These things are at least 1/2 to 3/4 lb burgers that are 3/4" thick and don't shrink when cooked!

“Garden” Burgers

from Veggie Burgers Every Which Way, by Lukas Volger

Makes six 4-inch burgers

Ingredients:

1 medium zucchini, grated

1-1/4 tsp salt, divided

½ cup Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP)

½ cup hot water

3 TBL olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

8 cremini mushrooms (like the white ones which we used, only brownish colored), thinly sliced

1 TBL tomato paste

2 TBL balsamic vinegar

1-1/2 cups of cooked brown rice

2 eggs, beaten

1-1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (or dump garbanzo beans from can and rinse thoroughly)

2 TBL roughly chopped fresh parsley

¼ tsp ground black pepper

1 cup toasted bread crumbs (or rolled oats whizzed into 1 cup flour)

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 375°F

2.  Toss the zucchini and ½ tsp of the salt in a colander and let sit for 10 minutes.  Squeeze out as much liquid as possible.

3.  Combine the TVP and hot water in a small bowl.  Let stand for 10 minutes.

4.  In a medium skillet, heat 1 TBL of the oil over medium heat.  Add the onion and cook until it just begins to soften, about 5 minutes.  Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring periodically, until softened and browned, 8 to 10 minutes.  Add the tomato paste, quickly stirring to combine, and then the zucchini.  Cook until the zucchini is slightly softened and dried out, 3 to 5 minutes.  Add the vinegar and deglaze, scraping up browned bits with a wooden spoon or spatula.  Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.

5.  Combine the cooked vegetables, chickpeas, and eggs in a food processor and pulse until uniformly blitzed, though not completely puréed – you want the vegetables to be somewhat recognizable.  Transfer to a mixing bowl and fold in the reconstituted TVP, rice, parsley, pepper, and remaining ¾ tsp salt.  Fold in the bread crumbs (oat flour).  Adjust seasonings to taste.  Shape into 6 patties (you might want to slightly oil hands before making patties -- so it doesn't stick so much to you).

6.  In an oven safe skillet, heat the remaining oil over medium-high heat.  When hot, add the patties and cook until browned on both sides, 6 to 10 minutes total.  Transfer the pan to the oven (or place the patties on a cookie sheet lightly sprayed with oil), put it on the middle rack and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the burgers are firm and cooked through.  or ... These burgers could be grilled on the BBQ.

Prep and cooking time: 30 minutes (my wife says it was definitely longer than ½ hr, but faster than the previous veggie burgers we made.)

Next time we will make the Southwest Black Bean Burgers!  :-)

Thai Carrot Veggie Burgers

I got this inexpensive book for the Kindle today ... Veggie-Burgers-Every-Which-Way by Lukas Volger which motivated us to try making one of the recipes.  Arline decided we'd try the Thai Carrot Veggie Burger first.  We had everything but Tumeric.  So, a trip to WalMart ...

Anyway, here's the recipe:

Thai Carrot Veggie Burger

Makes 4 Large burgers

Ingredients:
2 Tbl olive, grapeseed or Canola oil, divided in half

1 bunch scallions, sliced thinly, one inch into the dark green part

1/2 cup cilantro, rough chopped (ours was dead and slimy in the refrigerator door, so we used parsley instead)

3 cloves garlic, minced

2-inch piece fresh ginger, grated

1 Serrano pepper, chopped up finely, seeded or not, depending on your personal heat threshold
 (we didn’t put any seeds in and couldn’t taste the pepper)
4 cups grated carrots (from about 8 medium size carrots)

3/4 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp salt

juice of 1/2 lime
(maybe of a whole lime)
2 egg whites

2 Tbl natural peanut butter
(or three of regular peanut butter ... the heaping kind)
1/4 cup toasted bread crumbs (or rolled oats whizzed into flour)

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

NOW Cut up, grate, and measure everything first. 

THEN Heat a large frying pan (which has a lid) over medium heat.  Add 1 Tbl of the oil, and when hot, add the scallions. Cook for about two minutes, just until they begin to soften, and then add the garlic, ginger, and pepper. Stir for 30 seconds, until fragrant, and then stir in the carrots, spices, and salt. Cover and let cook for six or eight minutes, until soft but not mushy (stir and flip occasionally until not so orangish).  You want to soften the carrots but not turn them to mush.  But you want to retain their integrity so they will help tie things together. (kind of like straw in adobe)

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the egg whites (we used the whole eggs), peanut butter, and lime juice. Fold in the carrot mixture, making sure that everything is well combined, and then fold in the bread crumbs (or oat flour). Let sit for about ten minutes, allowing the bread crumbs to absorb some of the liquid. Adjust seasonings—particularly the salt and lime juice. Shape into 4 large patties, pressing them to compact and hold shape.

Heat remaining 1 Tbl of oil in an oven-safe skillet or frying pan over high heat. When hot, add the burgers, in batches if necessary, cooking until browned each side—it will only take a minute or a minute-and-a-half per side). Transfer the pan (we put them on a cookie sheet that we had sprayed with oil) into the oven for fifteen minutes, where the burgers will finish cooking.

The last minute or less, we topped them with a slice of cheese.

Make your dressing and fixings however you want.  We toasted two slices of bread, added Mayo, ketchup, raw onion slices (Vidalia), slices of dill pickle, and some lettuce.  DELICIOUS!

Fried Dill Pickles

I am told that they serve these in PoFolks Restaurant ... among other places. Breaded, fried, dill pickle slices. . Suddenly, dill pickle pies don't sound quite so strange .... There's a story about how this all started located here. . They say a Southerner will try frying anything at least once ... and if it don't taste too bad, they'll do it again. . Bet you just can't wait to try this ... go ahead ... cook some up, pass them around the family ... tell them it's fried zuchini ... :-)

What Do I Need?	.
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup ice water
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons dill pickle juice
• 4 cups drained dill pickle slices or equivalent amount of medium to large pickles, sliced 1/4-inch thick
• vegetable oil for frying
• a large bowl
• a wire whisk
• a deep fryer or large saucepan
• paper towels
What Do I Do?
1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center. All at once, add the water, egg yolk, and pickle juice. Stir the mixture with a wire whisk to make a smooth batter. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. In a deep fryer or large saucepan, heat at least 2 inches of oil to 375º F. In batches, dip pickle slices in the batter, lightly and evenly coating them. Without crowding, place coated slices in the hot oil. Fry until golden and crisp, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Drain on paper towels and serve immediately ... with your favorite Ranch dressing ... or a nice chipotle sauce.

Drew's Famous Onion Dill Bread

Not much left of this ... just made it this afternoon (bread machine).

Mix the folllowing together warm...
Liquids: 1-1/4 cup warm water, 3/4 cup sour cream, 3 Tblspns sugar, 3 Tblspns minced dried onion, 2 Tblspns whole dill seed, 1-1/2 Tblspns butter. After mixing (by hand), then plop in one unbeaten egg (room temperature).

Dry Stuff: 3-1/2 cups flour, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 1-1/2 tsp salt (or just put in 3-1/2 cups of self-rising flour). One package yeast (2 tsp) goes on top.

Set on White Bread, 1-1/2 lb loaf, medium crust ... and started it up.

Oh my gosh ... It looked alive! Some sticky amorphous mass pulsating in the center. My wife said it was good that there was extra moisture, because the onions would absorb a lot ... . I just couldn't stand it ... spatula in hand, I tossed in 2 handfuls of flour (while it was still mixing) ... scraping down the sides with the spatula. Trying to extricate sticky dough from spatula and fingers. I finally just shut the lid and walked away. After a bit it stopped mixing.

I answered emails, looked at blogs ... then the mixer started again. I opened the lid and looked inside ... still way too sticky. I added and worked in 3 more handfuls of flour ... the whole mass was still extremely flexible ... but the outside surface had a little more body to it (wasn't so sticky). At this point I walked away again ... read the newspaper ... took a nap. It didn't overflow the top of the breadpan, didn't do a major collapse in the center, it just came out wonderful with a light flavorful texture (how can a texture be flavorful??) ... anyway, it tasted really good!

"It was good!" my wife says under her breath, with a smile.

Red Onion Pecan Bread

Made some Red Onion/Pecan Bread yesterday.
We have a Sunbeam breadmaker machine which my wife requested for her birthday a couple of years ago. AND, she stipulated that I had to make the bread ...
So this last week she has been saying that "we" need to make some Red Onion/Pecan Bread. "We" (keemosabeh) means me. If you enlarge the foto, you can see the faded red onion pieces as well as the chopped pecan nut pieces. Instead of visiting the store, I picked up some pecans from the yard and spent half an hour cracking and shelling them. Then I put them in the mechanical food processor and cranked it about 10 times to chop the nuts. This recipe makes a 1.5 lb loaf.

Pecan & Red Onion Bread

1 package yeast (I used 2 tsp)
3 cups bread flour
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup plus 1 Tablespoon warm milk
1/4 cup butter (melted)
1/2 cup chopped fresh red onion
3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

combine all ingredients in order given
(reverse that order for a bread machine)
use white bread setting

Well, that is the recipe ... and then there is reality ...

I was a little heavy-handed on both the red onion and the pecans ...

When the bread machine started twirling to mix everything, I noticed a few small balls of "dough" and a lot of granulated dry stuff sitting in the corners and on the sides ... so I grabbed a cup, loaded it with water, and headed for the bread machine ... I added a little water around the edges and pushed everything down and towards the center with my spatula ... while the machine was mixing. I'd add a little more water (sparingly), then push with the spatula ... eventually it all kind of glomped together to make a dough ball, while I was mashing down in the center to spread it out to catch any dry stuff ... until it looked a bit more than dry, not quite wet & sticky, but seemingly holding together. At this point I closed the lid on the bread machine and walked away. (adding too much water makes it rise really high and then fall down in the center) Either it would work or it wouldn't ... And I wouldn't know for sure until the beeper went off at the end.

In this case, it came out really good ... light and fluffy ... very flavorful.
While still warm, we cut the top off and slathered it with butter. YUM!

French Onion Soup

First take a LARGE onion and slice it across so you get all those rings and things ... then separate them into individual rings. Here they are being sautéed in butter (until brown = best flavor) and the drippings left from frying a couple of steaks.

Here, 4 cups of water have been added ... along with 3 beef bullion cubes (or 3 chicken & herb) ... and cooked to taste.

The onion soup from the frying pan has been placed in 2 large bowls. 2 Slices of French bread have been toasted and placed on top of each bowl.

Shredded mozzarella (or cojack) & cheddar cheese are sprinkled on top. At this point you can put it in the oven and heat it until the cheese melts and it's toasty on top (provided your bowls don't melt) ... We simply put each bowl into the microwave for a minute. Then sat back with a soup spoon and enjoyed!!

Kalamata Bread

I've been saying for weeks now that I was going to make some Kalamata bread ... Dan asked, "So when are you going to do it?" Well, I finally did it.
The reccipe I used made a lovely 2 lb. loaf in my Sunbeam bread machine that we got a couple of years ago from WalMart. Tastes really wonderful ... Dan & his mom agree!
I bought the pitted kalamata olives at World Market. Some recipes call for chopped rosemary or garlic in the bread ... maybe next time ... Here's the recipe I used:

Ingredients:

• 1/3 to 1/2 cup brine from olives
• Warm water, enough to make 1 1/2 cups when combined with brine
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cups bread flour
• 1 2/3 cups whole wheat flour ( heaping cup of wheat kernals freshly ground to flour in my Vita-Mix)
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt (I only used a slight teaspoon)
  
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried leaf basil (fresh chopped would be yummy too)
  
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1/2 to 2/3 cup finely chopped kalamata olives (about 2 dozen pitted olives)

Preparation:

Put brine in a 2-cup measure; add warm water to make 1 1/2 cups. Put all ingredients except for the olives in the bread machine according to your manufacturer's preferred order (mine is liquids first). Choose wheat setting; add olives at the beep.

After it is done ... a dip is made by putting a generous amount of olive oil in a fry pan, add chopped sun-dried tomatoes, chopped onion, chopped garlic ... and a little Italian Seasoning with salt & pepper to taste ... cooked until the onions are clarified ... pour into a bowl ... and dip chunks of fresh bread in it!!