Food

[skywatch]

Same here. A good vegetarian burgers do exist, but I have never yet bought one. We make a couple of versions ourselves.

I have tried making vegan patties once or twice, and found it very hard to get them to stick together. They tasted good, but became sort of a toasted vegetable-bean pile. Vegetarian non-vegan can be delicious. Egg as binder, black beans, lots of onion and fresh garlic, carrots, maybe some long shredded green bean or bell pepper, mushrooms, maybe shiro miso paste for more savory, cheese if desired, they can be every bit as good as meat. Just not these weird soybean-carrot-broccoli-gluten things they make... very bland and pasty.

[Henry Krinkle]

Bucatini is the one with the hole down the middle, isn't it? How do you pull that off?

It is. The Ankarsrum Assistent has an extruder attachment for he grinder. I can make bucatini, linguine or spaghettini with the extruder. If I want flat pasta though, I don't know why one would use that instead of the rollers.

The Kitchenaid extruder makes even more shapes including rotini, but it works like crap compared to the Ankarsrum.

[Henry Krinkle]

I have tried making vegan patties once or twice, and found it very hard to get them to stick together. They tasted good, but became sort of a toasted vegetable-bean pile. Vegetarian non-vegan can be delicious. Egg as binder, black beans, lots of onion and fresh garlic, carrots, maybe some long shredded green bean or bell pepper, mushrooms, maybe shiro miso paste for more savory, cheese if desired, they can be every bit as good as meat. Just not these weird soybean-carrot-broccoli-gluten things they make... very bland and pasty.

We have two generic types, both non-vegan. One is with black beans, which are sort of "meat like" and another with chick peas and everything under the sun. The chick pea ones are super delicious but once you've thrown corn, green and red pepper, onions, jalapenos and lord knows what else into a pile of ground and whole chick peas, mushrooms and egg you suddenly have enough vegetarian burgers to feed the cast of Jesus Christ Superstar.

[geoffbot]

I'm gonna make some vege burgers - the missus will like that.

[Henry Krinkle]

Bucatini is the one with the hole down the middle, isn't it? How do you pull that off?

The ends may collapse, especially since I was hacking them off with a little kitchen knife, but I let them them stand for about ten minutes and then trim the ends off.



I dried these ends and they may make a little bit of mac n cheese as a side for some BBQ later this week.

[skywatch]

I'm gonna make some vege burgers - the missus will like that.

Here's a recipe from my food website, for veggie cakes (the original has shredded dried lamb in it, so not veggie). I tweaked this for burgers instead of smaller patties. The main useful tricks here are 1) to salt the shredded vegetables and let them sit for an hour or so, then squeeze excess moisture out (the salt helps pull the moisture) and 2) using masa four and dried mushroom powder to help absorb additional moisture and create a binder that tastes good.

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This recipe serves two hungry people or three smaller appetites.

1 small zucchini
1 small eggplant (long thin types are easiest to shred, like Japanese)
1 medium onion
1 large carrot
1/2 cup powdered dried shiitake mushroom, or wild mushrooms
1/2 cup masa flour (corn flour for tortillas)
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp light olive oil
Garnish: shredded lettuce, green onion, cilantro, balsamic vinegar or lime juice.


Using a mandolin or the julienne blade of a food processor (or lots of time and a sharp knife) grate the zucchini, eggplant, onion and carrot into very thin long confetti. With a healthy pinch of salt, toss the grated vegetables together in a bowl with your hands, let sit for a few minutes, then squeeze out excess water from the mix (compress handfuls of it over the sink if needed.) In a blender or spice grinder, make about 1/2 cup of powder from dried shiitake mushrooms, or other dried savory wild mushrooms of your choice (morels or porcini would be excellent, perhaps in slightly lower quantities due to their strong flavor.) While loosening and tossing the squeezed vegetables again with your fingers or a fork, slowly add the mushroom powder and about 1/2 cup of masa flour to the blend, getting the dry ingredients between the cracks of the damp veggies to absorb moisture. Refrigerate for about one hour. During this time, the mushrooms and corn flour will soak up more moisture and become a binder.


Crack two eggs and whisk briefly. Remove the veggie mix from the refrigerator, and blend in the eggs with a fork, fluffing the vegetable shreds to coat all the ingredients with egg. Compress the contents again with a spatula. Heat a large nonstick frying pan to medium-high, then add a bit of light olive oil, spreading it out to make a film.

Make burger-sized patties and fry for about 4 minutes on a side, until golden brown.

[geoffbot]

That sounds good.

[Henry Krinkle]

Straccatto di manzo, mushroom ravioli and giardineira.



The sauce looks like gravy and while it does have beef stock and wine it is tomatoes, carrots, onions, mushrooms, celery and garlic blendered.

[Raza]

Same here. A good vegetarian burgers do exist, but I have never yet bought one. We make a couple of versions ourselves.

If forced to eat a vegetarian "burger", I would choose a portobello. If pescetarian options are on the list, I've had a few good salmon burgers, from places like Whole Foods. Bring them home, a couple minutes on the pan on each side, and you've got a fast, healthy meal.

[Henry Krinkle]

If forced to eat a vegetarian "burger", I would choose a portobello. If pescetarian options are on the list, I've had a few good salmon burgers, from places like Whole Foods. Bring them home, a couple minutes on the pan on each side, and you've got a fast, healthy meal.

I love a good salmon burger, but they always end up so pricey when I do them. I buy the best piece of salmon I can find and chop it myself. I am a long way from the ocean, so this isn't even really snobbishness on my part. Not this time, anyway.