Monday, January 18, 2010

Mom Burgers

Having previously worked in a kitchen that catered to customers with special dietary needs, mainly those with food allergies, as well as having lived with a mother dealing with Candida issues and other food allergies, sitting at home on my day off leaves me with ample time to be bored, missing the kitchen, and in need of a challenge. My challenge today was to create a burger that was gluten, soy, nut, and carrot free.

I really wanted to make a burger that still resembled the "real" thing, and tasted bombnation. For any burger, you need a protein base. My choice was adzuki beans for their color and quick cooking time. I also cooked up some sushi rice. After standing at the counter with these two ingredients cooked, I pondered, and realized one needs a binder. Fleggs to the rescue! For those who have never worked with this wonder, fleggs are 1 tablespoon of flaxmeal combined with 3 tablespoons of hot water and allowed to stand for 5 min or so. After mixing in the fleggs, I seasoned with garlic granules, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire. The mix was still rather goopy, so I called my mom to double check and see if she could eat corn. Bingo! A couple handfuls of cornmeal and my mix was beginning to thicken up.

With everything thoroughly mixed, the pups were pattied up, slapped on a baking sheet, and tossed in the oven on 350 degrees for about 10-15 minutes (I'm really bad at measuring things... like time). I pulled the babiest one out and seared it in a frypan to give it some extra crisp. Z0MG! Totally rockin! While the taste was where I wanted it, I'm still not pleased with the entire shebang, so I think I will return to this idea again. The burger was tasty, but texture is a big deal to me. It was firm, but needed bite-ability. I think the next time I try this I may add chopped sunflower seeds or use almond butter instead of or in addition to fleggs.

Any suggestions?

Dreamcake


When you spend 75% of your life in a kitchen, it starts seeping into the other percent, and eventually like anything you spend a lot of time doing, you dream about. I've been trying to kick the Christmas sweet tooth, you know, that gnawing desire for anything sweet that lingers even after the holidays have passed and you know its time to reset your eating habits. A few nights ago, I dreamed about a green tea cake with a potent gingery icing... so I had to make it, because if you've ever dreampt a food before, you know that dreamfood ALWAYS comes out amazing. What else could be better than your subconscious making recipes for you? So I found a skeleton cake recipe, messed with the ingredients a bit, and voila! (Vegan) Green Tea cake with Crystalized Ginger icing. The perfect partner for sushi... mmm...