Vegetarian Black Bean Burgers and Homemade Buns

I had about 4 cups of black beans I'd cooked up and I wanted to find a use for some potatoes I had that were beginning to sprout, so I found a recipe on http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/06/spicy-black-bean-burgers-with-chipotle.html for Spicy Black Bean Burgers.  I changed it to include less spice (so Mia would eat it) and added potatoes/sweet potatoes.  Here's the Black Bean/Potato Burger recipe:

• 16 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 large baker potato and 1/2 large sweet potato baked and skinned
• 1/2 red bell pepper, cut into 2 inch pieces (I used jarred roasted red peppers I had in the fridge)
• 1/2 cup chopped scallions (I used onion)
• 3 tbsp chopped cilantro
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 jumbo egg
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup quick oats (more if mixture is too sticky)

First - Mash the black beans and potatoes together.
In a food processor, finely chop bell pepper, cilantro, onion, and garlic, then add oats, then eggs, ketchup and spices. Then stir into mashed bean/potato mixture.  Chill for 30 minutes in fridge, then form into 8 patties.  If the mixture is too wet, add more oats.  Place the patties on wax paper and freeze for 2 hours.  Keep frozen until you cook them. 

Once they are frozen, you can grill or cook on a skillet for about 7-8 minutes per side.  I placed a piece of colby jack cheese on top - more protein - and topped with strong mustard and some ketchup.

Here's the Homemade Buns recipe (Delicious!) from Smitten Kitchen- my current favorite food blog:

Light Brioche Burger Buns
Makes 8
3 tablespoons warm milk
1 cup warm water
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 1/2 tablespoons honey
1 large eggs
3 cups bread flour (1/2 cup whole wheat with 2.5 cups bread flour)
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
egg white, Sesame seeds (optional)
1. Combine warm water, the milk, yeast and honey. Let stand until foamy, about five minutes and add the egg.
2. In a large bowl, whisk flours with salt. Mix in the butter, then add yeast mixture.  I mixed this in the Kitchen-aid which took care of the kneading. The dough will be on the sticky side so it can be a bit messy, but keep in mind that the more flour you knead in, the tougher the buns will get. Try to leave them tackier than you would a round loaf.
3. Shape dough into a ball and return it to bowl coated with olive oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, one to two hours.
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using dough scraper, divide dough into 8 equal parts. Gently roll each into a ball and arrange two to three inches apart on baking sheet. Cover loosely with a piece of plastic wrap lightly coated in nonstick spray and let buns rise in a warm place for one to two hours. (I only needed one hour for the second rise)
5. Set a large shallow pan of water on oven floor. Preheat oven to 400 degrees with rack in center. Brush tops of buns with egg white and then sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake, turning sheet halfway through baking, until tops are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Sorry for the cruddy picture, I forgot to take one after I made it, so this is just before I ate it at lunch with the cheese over top. 

Sloppy Daddy

This is when you need a hamburger quick but all you have is frozen meat and you dont want to take 12 hours to defrost it.  No, no, no -- the microwave doesn't work to defrost it -- it cooks it partially and have you ever tried to make a burger if the meat is already cooked?  Fall-apart-sville. And you burn your hand!  Forget it.  I say, just lean into the fact that the beef is going to be all apart and sloppy.  But its not all blecky like a sloppy joe and all complicated.  Its just a disintegrated burger.

2 lbs ground beef
1 onion chopped
onion soup
good buns
cheese
ketchup

1. place frozen meat right in pan and fry it up
2. when meat is half done add onion and onion soup mixture and stir
3. cook until meat is done and onions are al dente
4. take a scoop and plop on bun.  
5. while hot, place cheese on ground beef mountain on bun
6. lightly place bun top on bun.
7. serve this way and the cheese will melt on top of mountain

add ketchup, and or whatever you usually put on a hamburger.  the ketchup kinda holds everything together tho.  enjoy.
-charlie

Lava Sandwaich

Charlie's note: To the general public, this recipe is absolutely disgusting. Nevertheless, for a few fragile years in the 15- to 18- year-old range, male youths consider this the height of culinary art. Do not attempt this recipe if you are NOT a teenage male, with many years of life ahead of you. I invented this sandwich at age 16. This sandwich--indeed, a wantonly bastardized version of the Philly Cheesesteak--was given its volcanic moniker by an accomplice, who noted with wonder its steaming, glowing (and most disturbingly) pinkish hue. It was a genuine hit among my friends, and (especially) my enemies. Yes, we were all idiots, weren't we?

Long Amoroso roll
Cheddar cheese, grated
American cheese, grated
Ricotta cheese, not grated, thoughI did try to
2 Boxes of Steak-umm
1 lb. Ground Beef
Onions, diced (in a half-hearted, ramble-on sort of way)
Miracle-Whip
Barbecue sauce
Mushrooms, diced (really halved)
Pepper
Horseradish sauce, prepared

In skillet, fry all vegetables until…whenever. Then, fry all Steak-umms, breaking up as per a cheesesteak. Add ground beef and brown. Add approximately 2 Tbsp of all condiments except Miracle Whip. Add liberal amounts of all cheeses, stirring constantly. Stop adding cheese when the cheese/meat mixture can do a Gillette Foamy "thick and rich enough" test off the stirring spoon indefinitely. Think intestinal glue. At this point, begin adding Miracle-Whip to the skillet mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the entire mixture achieves a slightly day-glo pinkish hue. Add pepper in liberal amounts, usually "I dare you to add this much pepper" sort of thing. Spoon the meat/cheese/condiment mixture onto a long roll. I recall garnishing this sandwich with ¼ cup parsley as a joke.
Enjoy with a sugary soft drink while playing Space Invaders. Serves 3-4

Charles McGloughlin, Jr.'s recipe