mushroom and nut burgers
(vegetarian)

recipe by m-c

This recipe makes me laugh because when I was young we used to call vegetarians "nutburgers," little realizing how estimable the dish was that we maligned.

just the recipe

what I was looking for

A vegetarian burger to console Mark for my not making Margaret's vegan bean burger (which I promise I will make soon).

what I made

Mushroom nut burgers based on Mollie Katzen and Walter Willett's Mushroom-Barley Burgers in Eat, Drink, & Weigh Less, pages 212-213.

grades for my version

healthy	A	So very good for you.
fast	C	Not fast.
easy	A	My version's quite easy.
cheap	A	A steal.
delicious	A	Nutburgers rule.

yield

Serves two people two burgers each.

equipment

   a large frying pan (nonstick would be best)
   a toaster oven
   a nutchopper

the mushrooms

ingredients	M+W scaled	m-c	why?
olive oil	½ Tablespoon	1 Tablespoon	easier [1]
onion family	1 cup minced onion	1 cup chopped shallots	tastier [2]
mushrooms	¼ pound mushrooms, minced	¼ pound mushrooms, chopped rough	easier
salt	to taste	to taste	no change
garlic	1 Tablespoon minced	6 cloves, chopped rough	healthier
vinegar	1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar	1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar	cheaper [3]
Notes
[1]	I have only a small nonstick pan (must get a bigger one). I could have cooked the mushroom mixture in two batches in my small pan but elected to do them in one batch in my big ordinary frying pan, to slick whose bottom requires a Tablespoon of oil.
[2]	Tastier to me, not necessarily to you.
[3]	I can't afford balsamic vinegar that's good enough to make me want to use it instead of plain old red wine vinegar.

   Sauté the shallots till they begin to brown, about 6 minutes. Add the mushrooms and salt and cook the mushrooms dry, about 20 minutes. Add the garlic and cook it till you can start to smell it. Take the pan off the flame and add the vinegar. Let the pan cool enough so that you can rest your hand on the bottom indefinitely.

the bulkers

ingredients	M+W scaled	m-c	why?
grain	1 ½ cups cooked pearl barley	1 ½ cups cooked soft wheat berries	easier [1] + healthier [2]
nuts	¼ cup minced toasted walnuts	¼ cup chopped toasted pecans	easier [3]
Notes
[1]	A feature of my new "larder" plan is that I have a fully cooked whole grain available at all times. One grain can usually swap in for another, no problem. So here I had soft wheat berries already cooked and used them instead of barley.
[2]	It's not a big deal, but given the choice between a processed grain like pearl barley and an intact whole grain like wheat berries, choose the intact whole grain.
[3]	I happened to have pecans on hand, would have had to go to the store for walnuts.

   You'll need the toaster oven to toast the nuts
   and the nutchopper to chop them.

   When you've finished toasting the nuts, preheat the toaster oven to 400°.

Mix the wheat berries and the nuts into the mushroom mixture.

the binding

ingredients	M+W scaled	m-c	why?
eggs	2, beaten	1, beaten	seemed like plenty
mozzarella cheese	½ cup grated part-skim-milk	½ cup mashed whole-milk	tastier [1]
Notes
[1]	I think M+W are talking about the kind of mozzarella that comes ready-grated in a plastic bag. I far prefer the flavor of fresh whole-milk mozzarella and am willing to sacrifice some degree of healthfulness for flavor.

Stir the eggs and cheese into the mushroom mixture.

shaping and baking the burgers

Line a baking dish with parchment paper and grease the paper generously with olive oil. No, more generously than that. OK, puddle the darned stuff till every inch of the parchment is soaked through.

Form the mushroom mixture into four mounds of approximately equal size, flattening them to make a nice burgerish appearance.

Bake them at 400° for 10 minutes.

Now here's a place where I can tell my version has become quite different from the original version without knowing exactly why. M+W want me to flip the burgers and cook them for another 10 minutes. Mine would have been cooked to smithereens if I had done that. 10 minutes on one side was plenty for me. Perhaps it will be for you too.

Serve with buns or toast and whatever kinds of burgerish accoutrements you most enjoy.

Questions? Comments? Corrections?
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