burger test #3.

I believe we have a winner, or at least an extremely solid Plan B. Zero complaints about the look/taste/feel of these, the only downsides would be: 1) they're the teeniest bit crumbly, more mayo might solve this, or maybe a couple more pulses with the food processor, or possibly a moister or more meltable cheese; 2) they're not vegan. Which......was kind of the point of everything.

But, they're great. So I can't say the search is over, nor was it right between?/before?/beside? my eyes, but this little dude met enough of the requirements for me to scribble down what it cost to make 8 of them: roughly 6 bucks.

Now we need a bun. And condiments. I'm thinking a swath of chipotle mayo; a dab of piccalilli; mashed, salted avocado; and some kind of tomato, fresh if it's summertime, oven-roasted if it's not. Maybe an optional spicy something. Or, do you go the inherently more juicy route of caramelized onions and Thousand Island with a pickle? As soon as I can stand to see another veggie burger we'll try and answer these questions.

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serious eats' black bean burgers, adapted.

530g cooked black beans
2 green Holland chiles
1 red Holland chile
3 cloves garlic
1 medium white onion
1 chipotle chile in adobo
3/4 cup (115g?) cashews, roasted
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup GF cracker crumbs (3 Wasa crackers' worth)
1 tsp salt
12 grinds from the black pepper grinder
1/2 cup feta, or technically, wittekaas, crumbled fine (maybe worth seeing how different feta works in terms of crumbliness)
2 tbsp mayo (this is the other thing I would experiment with, could maybe be 3 tbsp)

The directions for this burger are pretty critical to its success and worth sticking to, since they came out of The Food Lab and are are pretty carefully considered. Directly from the fridge, already cooked, these took 3.5 to 4 minutes to reheat in a covered skillet, flipping halfway through.

1. Adjust oven rack to center position and preheat oven to 160°C (talking about my own oven, Mr. Stoves, which runs a little hot). Spread black beans in a single layer on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Place in oven and roast until beans are mostly split open and outer skins are beginning to get crunchy, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.

2. While beans roast, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add onion and chiles and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add chipotle chile and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about a minute. Transfer mixture to a large bowl.

3. Place cashews in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until chopped into pieces no larger than 0.5 cm, about 12 short pulses. Add to bowl with onions and peppers.

4. When beans are slightly cooled, transfer to food processor. Add cheese. Pulse until beans are roughly chopped (the largest pieces should be about 1/3 of a full bean in size). Transfer to bowl with onion/pepper mixture. Add mayonnaise, egg, and cracker crumbs and season with salt and pepper. Fold together gently but thoroughly with hands. Patty mixture can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days at this stage.

5. Form bean mixture into 8 patties as wide as your burger buns. Set burgers on a rimmed baking sheet in a 170°C oven for 20 minutes, flipping halfway through.

6. Spread top and bottom buns with chipotle mayonnaise and piccalilli. Add tomato slice to top, mashed avocado to bottom? Onion? Place patties on bottom buns, close burgers, and serve immediately.

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