Flashback Friday - Where There's Smoke...

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on August 6, 2012
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Some time ago, my brother bought us a stovetop smoker. This one, to be exact. We used it exactly once, to smoke some pork tenderloins. We neither burned the house down nor filled it with smoke, so I suppose the first experiment was largely successful. Except that the meat didn't taste particularly smoky. Recently, I got it in my head that I should put the smoker to use again, this time smoking some vegetables. The Fourth of July was coming up, and on that day we'd be eating beef burgers flavored with the smoke from the grill. Portobello mushrooms make pretty good burger substitutes and I wondered if they'd be even better when smoked.

Mushrooms, buns, and poblano peppers were purchased during our usual weekly trip to the grocery store and hung around in the fridge awaiting the weekend. And then Mother Nature struck, knocking out our power for four days. The mushrooms got packed up with the rest of the contents of fridge and freezer and were transported to Dad's place, where we lived until BGE got the electricity up and running (I think they saved our neighborhood for last). Rather than let the mushrooms dry out and go to waste, I chopped them up and used them to stretch a bit of frozen pasta sauce from our freezer (a bonus - doing so made for two fewer things to carry home later).

Once we were back in our own digs, I was determined to make the smoked mushrooms, come hell or high water. (The temperatures around here sure did feel like hell.) I also smoked some thickly sliced onion that became a sweet and tangy jam for topping the mushroom burgers. I was pretty pleased with the results. While the smoked mushrooms would never fool a carnivore, they made for a fine meatless supper.

Smoked Portobello Burgers with Smoked Onion Jam

4 large or 8 small portobello mushroom caps
1/2 onion, sliced thickly

Place mushrooms and onion in a stovetop smoker and smoke according to manufacturer's directions for about 15 minutes. Allow to cool inside smoker. When cool, remove mushrooms and set aside. Place onions in a saucepan to make the jam.

Onion Jam

smoked onion
olive oil
pinch salt
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)

Add a teaspoon or so of olive oil and a pinch of salt to the saucepan of smoked onions. Cook on medium heat, stirring often, until the onions start to wilt and become translucent, about 10 minutes. Stir in brown sugar and vinegar, turn heat to low, cover, and simmer an additional 20-30 minutes, until onions are very soft and have caramelized. If there's too much liquid left in the pot, raise the temperature and cook, uncovered, until the juices thicken. If the onions aren't smoky enough, stir in the smoked paprika.

To serve:
olive oil
sliced cheese (optional)
Hamburger buns
mayonnaise
roasted poblano or red bell pepper, seeded and sliced into strips
avocado slices

Heat a bit of olive oil in a large skillet and add mushrooms. Cook on both sides for a couple of minutes to heat through. Top with cheese in the last minute or so of cooking, if desired, and cover pan.

Spread a bit of mayo on each side of a hamburger bun and add a few strips of pepper. Place one large or two small portobello caps onto the peppers. Top with avocado (tomato is nice, too) and a spoonful of onions.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Black Bean Burgers

The last time I made black bean burgers, I had chopped both the beans and the mushrooms too finely, resulting in a patty that was too soft, albeit very flavorful. This time, I left the mushrooms in larger pieces and simply broke the beans up into smaller bits. A bit of oatmeal added still more structure. While the patties were still on the soft side, they held up much better to the crisply toasted bun.

I seasoned the patties with a sprig of fresh Greek oregano, chopped finely. It really didn't need much more than that, but you can add some garlic too if you'd like. I also stirred some chopped cilantro and preserved lemon into a few tablespoons of Kewpie mayo, and topped the burger with a bit of truffle-flavored goat cheese. The resulting combination was rather scrumptious, if I do say so myself.

Simple Black Bean Burgers

1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped onion
pinch salt
olive oil
1 15oz can black beans, drained
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 egg
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh oregano (or a large pinch of dried oregano)
salt and pepper to taste
vegetable oil for frying
cheese, if desired

Saute the mushrooms and onion with a pinch of salt and a tablespoon or so of olive oil until the mushrooms have given up all of their liquid and the onions have softened.

Roughly chop the black beans in a food processor, or mash with a potato masher. Add the mushroom and onions, the oats, the egg, and oregano, and mix well. Add a bit of salt and pepper to taste.

Form into 4-6 patties and refrigerate for an hour or so to firm up.

When ready to cook, heat a large skillet and add a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil. Add the burgers and fry over medium high heat until the bottoms are browned and crispy, about 5 minutes. Flip burgers and cook an additional 3-5 minutes. Top with cheese during last few minutes of cooking.

Serve on rolls with your favorite condiments.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Where There's Smoke...

Some time ago, my brother bought us a stovetop smoker. This one, to be exact. We used it exactly once, to smoke some pork tenderloins. We neither burned the house down nor filled it with smoke, so I suppose the first experiment was largely successful. Except that the meat didn't taste particularly smoky. Recently, I got it in my head that I should put the smoker to use again, this time smoking some vegetables. The Fourth of July was coming up, and on that day we'd be eating beef burgers flavored with the smoke from the grill. Portobello mushrooms make pretty good burger substitutes and I wondered if they'd be even better when smoked.

Mushrooms, buns, and poblano peppers were purchased during our usual weekly trip to the grocery store and hung around in the fridge awaiting the weekend. And then Mother Nature struck, knocking out our power for four days. The mushrooms got packed up with the rest of the contents of fridge and freezer and were transported to Dad's place, where we lived until BGE got the electricity up and running (I think they saved our neighborhood for last). Rather than let the mushrooms dry out and go to waste, I chopped them up and used them to stretch a bit of frozen pasta sauce from our freezer (a bonus - doing so made for two fewer things to carry home later).

Once we were back in our own digs, I was determined to make the smoked mushrooms, come hell or high water. (The temperatures around here sure did feel like hell.) I also smoked some thickly sliced onion that became a sweet and tangy jam for topping the mushroom burgers. I was pretty pleased with the results. While the smoked mushrooms would never fool a carnivore, they made for a fine meatless supper.

Smoked Portobello Burgers with Smoked Onion Jam

4 large or 8 small portobello mushroom caps
1/2 onion, sliced thickly

Place mushrooms and onion in a stovetop smoker and smoke according to manufacturer's directions for about 15 minutes. Allow to cool inside smoker. When cool, remove mushrooms and set aside. Place onions in a saucepan to make the jam.

Onion Jam

smoked onion
olive oil
pinch salt
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)

Add a teaspoon or so of olive oil and a pinch of salt to the saucepan of smoked onions. Cook on medium heat, stirring often, until the onions start to wilt and become translucent, about 10 minutes. Stir in brown sugar and vinegar, turn heat to low, cover, and simmer an additional 20-30 minutes, until onions are very soft and have caramelized. If there's too much liquid left in the pot, raise the temperature and cook, uncovered, until the juices thicken. If the onions aren't smoky enough, stir in the smoked paprika.

To serve:

olive oil
sliced cheese (optional)
Hamburger buns
mayonnaise
roasted poblano or red bell pepper, seeded and sliced into strips
avocado slices

Heat a bit of olive oil in a large skillet and add mushrooms. Cook on both sides for a couple of minutes to heat through. Top with cheese in the last minute or so of cooking, if desired, and cover pan.

Spread a bit of mayo on each side of a hamburger bun and add a few strips of pepper. Place one large or two small portobello caps onto the peppers. Top with avocado (tomato is nice, too) and a spoonful of onions.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Meatless Monday - Veggie Burgers

I never thought, when I started Minxeats, that I would end up posting very many vegetarian recipes. But now that meat has necessarily become an endangered species in our house, I've had to resort to making veggies and non-animal proteins the focus at dinnertime.

Veggie burgers are one of those things I think of as a vegetarian staple, but I haven't eaten very many. Once in a while we'd buy a box of Boca Burgers, but eventually the fake grill flavor started to remind me of the loathed Burger King, and I gave up on them. Then, sometime last year, I was asked by Baltimore Magazine to write a blurb on Banksy's Café on Falls Road. Their veggie burger is apparently based on a famous burger once served at Ratner's, a Kosher deli in New York, and was extremely soft, rather mashed-potatoey, but also very good. That made me realize that a veggie burger need only be burger-shaped and not really bear any other resemblance to something served up by clowns by the millions every day.

I did a little research on veggie burgers and found that a lot of them involve beans. Over the years, I've discovered that beans and I have a mutual dislike for each other, but occasionally black beans have found their way into my gullet without too much of a struggle. I thought I'd give them a try in burger form, bolstered by mushrooms for texture. Not too much texture though - instead of merely chopping the 'shrooms to allow them to lend their squeaky chew, I minced them in the food processor with some onion, essentially making a duxelles. When mixed with the beans (which also took a trip through the foodpro - hey, it was already dirty and taking up precious counter space), the mushrooms didn't exactly provide the texture I was seeking. However, the mixture, seasoned with a bit of garlic, smoked paprika, and green onion was darn tasty.

And wow - it kinda looked like a big ol' juicy burger, too.

I made my own rolls, using the soft sandwich bread recipe in Artisan Baking in Five Minutes a Day. They tasted fine, but were too crisp for the burgers, which were quite soft and squooshed out the sides at every bite. Mushroom Black Bean Burgers also seemed a bit too exotic for mere ketchup, mustard, or mayo, so I made a bit of basil mayo and some Cambodian lemongrass curry mayo, and a bit of corn relish.

I dare say I will make these again, perhaps adding some chia seed to help with the texture.

Mushroom and Black Bean Burgers

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup onion, finely minced
1 cup mushrooms, finely minced
pinch salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 13oz can black beans
2 tablespoons chopped green onion
1/2 - 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
salt and pepper to taste
plain dry bread crumbs
olive oil for frying

Sauté onions and mushrooms in olive oil over medium heat until most of their moisture has evaporated and they become pasty. about 15-20 minutes. Add garlic and cook another 2-3 minutes. Allow to cool.

I never said it would be pretty.

Puree beans in food processor. Place in bowl and add cooked mushrooms, green onion, paprika, and salt and pepper to taste. Form into cakes. Roll in bread crumbs.

Heat some canola or olive oil in a saute pan over high heat. Add burgers and cook until crisp and browned on bottom. Carefully turn burgers and brown on the other side.

Serve on soft buns with your favorite condiments. Makes 6 burgers.

Posted by theminx on Minxeats.com.