Put You in Your Place Pilaf

In cooking school, one of the first things you learn about is mise en place. You learn all about a brunoise and a mirepoix and mincing and dicing and julienning. You learn about peeling and boning and filetting and all sorts of helpful techniques that will allow you to do your job in a more efficient, organized and, hopefully, flawless manner.

It is all very important, in a culinary sense, not so much in the getting along in the world sense. It is also widely thought to be mind numbing stupid work -not so creative, very monotonous and very time consuming. Secretly, I have always felt that there is no shame in wanting to julienne tomatoes or mince shallots for hours. I found myself, every now and then, envious of the dishwasher's fifty pound bag of potatoes and paring knife. It puts you in your place. You can think and chop and daydream and peel and pay attention to whatever is on the radio and slice and after, all is right in the world, or at least in your part of it.

The best, and in the weeds, the worst, thing about being alone in your kitchen, or galley, is that you have to do it all. There is no choice, unless you can corral an unsuspecting deckhand or small child into doing it for you when you don't have the time.

There is not a whole lot of mise en place that goes on in our kitchen. Meals are made on the fly with at least one chair getting drug across the kitchen floor on its way to 'help out' and at least two hands tugging at whatever cloth they can grab at knee height and the ever-loudening, 'up, up, up,' coming from the same area. Sometimes I like to pretend that I am more organized and that supper is a cooking-show-fabulous display of ramekins and tiny bowls with perfectly prepared ingredients being effortlessly thrown together to make something superb. I am sadly out of practice and easily distracted so what used to take five minutes now takes almost three full episodes of Pinky Dinky Doo, three, 'take that out of your mouth,' interventions (shoe, china tea pot lid and rubber band), a complete tidy up of all the chalk and the multicoloured drool on the floor from discovering that not one of the colours is delicious to eat, a rescue of the pile of 'precious artworks' being torn into tiny pieces and two trips over the contents of everything thigh level and below in our kitchen.

So, while I like to think that cooking like this is therapy, I am closer to needing therapy if I haven't saved the prep for nap time. It does make the witching hour easier though and supper has uniformly cooked pieces and looks a little prettier when you can manage it and, despite all the distraction, it still feels good to slice and dice and peel and chop everything into little bowls, even if it is in forty-five second intervals.

You can do all the prep work for this ahead of time, or as you go. You can then throw it all together, pop it in the oven and walk away for the better part of an hour.

The barley makes a great change from the usual rice and it is delicious. Little Daughter ate this for about three days. Big Daughter had seconds and asked for more a few days after it was all gone.

This makes enough for two adults and two children with a big salad as a main course. It might serve six people as a side dish and would be just fine with a roast chicken.

Barley Pilaf

1 finely chopped onion (3/4 cup)

1 large carrot finely chopped (1 cup)

2 ribs celery finely chopped (3/4 cup)

1 cup mushrooms finely chopped (1 cup)

1 large clove garlic minced 

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup pearl barley

3 cups stock (I used chicken stock because I had it, use whatever you have)

1 bay leaf

1 large sprig fresh thyme

Handful of chopped chives

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350º. Sauté onion, carrot, celery, mushrooms and garlic with olive oil over medium high heat in an oven proof pot with an oven proof lid, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent. Add barley and reduce heat to medium. Stirring occasionally, let the barley get ever so lightly toasted. Don't let it burn. Add stock, bay leaves and thyme and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and place it in the oven for forty-five minutes. Remove the lid and leave in the oven for fifteen minutes more. Remove from the oven and check the seasoning, stir the chives through and serve.

Warm Toasted Garlic and Lemon Vinaigrette and Some of Its Many Uses

Every now and then you realize that you have stumbled upon a culinary workhorse. It may, like in this case, be something that you have been using since the dawn of time. Or, at least since the dawn of your culinary exploration. It may be something that someone shows you and you suddenly realize that it has a multitude of uses.

It will most likely be simple. And, it should be made of things you would normally have on hand. Otherwise, what’s the use if you can’t just whip it up whenever you need it.

I have been using this warm, and impossibly simple, vinaigrette since I discovered the bounty of Provençal markets. It is perfect drizzled over a plate of sliced market fresh vegetables in any season. 

Poppy and I made a warm zucchini (courgette, for all you English folk) and summer squash slaw with some toasted almonds and tomatoes for lunch the other day and it was ‘exactly delicious’, as Poppy told me when asked how she thought it turned out.

Today, I was lucky enough to have five pounds of fresh scallops delivered to my door. I happened to mention it on Facebook and ceviche was suggested by Jason in reply. As today seemed to redefine grey, I thought that was a great idea to liven up the dreary moods moping around ours.

I was about to get into making it when I realized that I didn’t have any lime or any red onion or any fresh coriander/cilantro so I was going to have to wing it. 

I started to cut the scallops and decided to slice them very thinly instead. Then, as I was juicing the lemon, I remembered doing it the other day for the vinaigrette. All of a sudden I was digging a plate out and laying the scallops on it and getting everything ready to make the vinaigrette which was going to be drizzled over these scallops for a pretty decadent little rainy day lunch. Cue blue skies and sunshine.

Over the last few hours, I have decided that the possibilities for this little gem of a vinaigrette are almost endless - warm potato salad, drizzled over figs and goat cheese, a quick topping for a pasta. I think I could go on for a while here. I'd love to know if you find a use for it.

Warm Toasted Garlic and Lemon Vinaigrette

1 large clove of garlic julienned

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

In a pan, heat olive oil. Add garlic and cook until it just starts to brown. This will happen quickly. Be careful not to burn it. Pour in lemon juice and stand back. When mixture starts to boil, this will happen quickly, remove from heat. Immediately drizzle over whatever you are drizzling it over.

Zucchini and Summer Squash Slaw (makes enough for 4 as an ample side dish)

1 medium zucchini

1 medium summer squash

3 small tomatoes quartered, seeded and julienned

1/2 small red onion thinly sliced

Handful of parsley leaves

1/2 cup slivered almonds toasted

Warm Toasted Garlic and Lemon Vinaigrette

Maldon sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to serve

Julienne the zucchini and summer squash or, if you have one, you can use a julienne peeler.

Put the zucchini and squash, tomato, onion and parsley leaves on a large plate or in a salad bowl. Drizzle the warm vinaigrette over. Toss to mix. Sprinkle the almonds almonds and some Maldon sea salt and black pepper on top. Eat.

Fresh Scallop Carpaccio (enough for 4 as a light appetizer)

1/2 pound fresh scallops with the tough ‘catch muscle’ removed

Finely chopped parsley

Fresh ground black pepper

Maldon sea salt

1/2 recipe Warm Toasted Garlic and Lemon Vinaigrette

Slice the scallops in 2-3 mm slices. Arrange on a serving plate, or on individual plates. Drizzle the hot vinaigrette over the top of the scallops. Top with parsley, salt and black pepper. Eat.

Yes, I do realize that there are now three scallop recipes here, here and here now but, hey, this is supposed to be about cooking in Nova Scotia. So, enjoy the bounty before I have to go somewhere else.

Grilled Ratatouille

It is that time of year again. The time which some greet with excitement and as a sign of summer abundance. The time which anyone who has a garden or anyone who knows someone who has a garden or anyone who has left their car unlocked or doorstep unguarded at this time of year is all too familiar with. It is zucchini(courgette) time.

People here in Nova Scotia say it is the only time of year people lock their doors here. Guarding against the product of the glut that even one prolific plant can provide. Everyone seems to have about fourteen recipes to deal with the stuff in all its forms - long or round, forest green to speckled pale, almost blue green to bright yellow - yes, I lump summer squash in here too.

Eggplants (aubergines) are starting here as well, shiny and jewel-coloured. So, in combination with the zucchini, it kind of shouts out ratatouille. But, ratatouille? Yawn, yawn, yawn. 

I think ratatouille is great but it isn’t very exciting, is it? I have spent many a month in the south of France looking at various renditions of the stuff on every menu. None of them bad, but few of them jumping up and screaming, ‘Eat me!’ Consequently, my mission was to revitalize the ratatouille concept for, well, for my family, I guess.

The days are still hot here and, as I far as I am concerned, it is never too late for another salad days recipe. This one is great hot or warm or cold. It travels well and is easy to eat with just a fork so ticks the ‘great for a picnic’ box as well. 

It is great on its own, with a hunk of feta and some olives and fresh bread but serves as a worthy side dish to any grilled meat or fish. Stephen and the girls had some grilled chicken with theirs’ and, at least in the girls’ case, the ratatouille disappeared first. I faintly recall Stephen declaring that it ‘wasn’t bad for aubergine’. I felt like I had done my job. 

‘Ratatouille renovated?’ 

‘Check.’  

I used garlic scape pesto in this but a clove of minced garlic would be just fine. The dressing uses the remaining mixture that you brush the vegetables with before grilling. 

I contemplated tomato for this. Had they been ready, as in ripe, I may have tried grilling some with the rest of the vegetables but, they weren’t. I then considered dicing some and adding to all the vegetables after grilling but we were eating this warm the first time around and I had a vision of tomato mush gluing the whole lot together. I did add some to the cold leftovers and it was a really good cooked/fresh contrast. So, if you are going to have this cold or when you re-purpose it, I would throw in a handful of chopped fresh tomatoes. I used some halved cherry tomatoes which I rescued from Poppy, who was about two-thirds of the way through the entire pint. 

I used summer squash here but any zucchini, summer, patty pan, etc. squash would do just fine. I also used some fennel fronds, because I have some growing but these are easily omitted.

Grilled Ratatouille

1 large eggplant (aubergine) sliced lengthwise in 1cm(ish) slices

3 medium summer squash sliced in half lengthwise

6 scallions (spring onions)

1 medium red onion sliced into 1cm rounds

2 red peppers tops, bottoms and seeds removed

Marinade

1/8 cup garlic scape pesto

1/8 cup olive oil

Dressing

1 tablespoon marinade from above

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1/4 teaspoon salt

Handful of chopped flat leaf parsley and fennel fronds (if you have fennel to hand)

Brush eggplant and zucchini slices with the marinade. Let sit while preparing other vegetables and heating the barbecue.

Grill over medium heat and in batches, if necessary, all of the vegetables until they are nicely marked and just cooked through. None should take more than a couple of minutes on each side. Remove from the barbecue.

Chop all of the grilled vegetables into bite-sized pieces and put in a mixing bowl.

Whisk all ingredients for the dressing together and pour over the vegetables. Toss to combine with the chopped herbs.

Serve warm or cold, with or without feta, on its own or as a side.

Kitchen Saviour - Garlic Scape Pesto

Sometimes you feel like you are doing everything you can just to keep the wheels on the bus. That is exactly where we have been lately. Not that I haven't been cooking. I have been. It just seems that by the time I think to take a picture whatever it is has been eaten or I have forgotten to measure exactly and write it all down. 

It all started with the return from Sint Maarten and Big Daughter's birthday party preparations which took the better part of every evening for a week. The birthday party was quickly followed by a weekend in Toronto which, while fun and exciting, didn't exactly help in our household/day-to-day organizational crisis. A steady stream of house guests and summer activities has kept me on my toes since then. 

I wouldn't change any of it, I love being busy and I love a house full of folk, but something has to give sometimes. I gave up on bathing the girls for a little while because that seems to take an age these days, but we started having people cover their noses around us, so I had to get back on top of that. I wanted to give up on taking the garbage out and sorting the recycling but that may have caused a health hazard. I tried to give up on laundry but then they came to fix our water issue. So, the rare moments to play around in the kitchen and try not to forget what I am cooking in the oven had to be put on the proverbial back burner while we just about managed to 'keep her between the mustard and the mayonnaise,' as my old friend Dana used to say. He was referring to motor vehicles, but it works for life with children too.

***

Every year, I excitedly buy garlic scapes, the curly green stems of the garlic, as soon as I start seeing them at the market and I take them home and I put them away and a week later there they are, looking out at me, asking to be given a warm supper time welcome. Don't get me wrong, I love them but I have two little eaters that aren't as keen on strong new flavours - the littlest still only has two teeth and the biggest is becoming skeptical of new flavours in her old age, although as I write she is devouring some stilton and crackers as a bedtime snack.

Then, I saw it. The answer to my five day old garlic scape dilemma. Garlic Scape Pesto. It has made the past few weeks better in many ways. I have added it to sauces and dressings, substituted it for straight garlic, spread it on stuff and made the easiest and freshest spaghetti aglio olio there ever was. All devoured by young and old alike.

I am told that this will last for up to a year in your fridge as long as its covered with olive oil. I doubt you will need to worry as it won't last that long.

Garlic Scape Pesto (makes about one cup)

200 grams garlic scapes

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Remove the tops of the garlic scapes just below the seed pod and chop the bottom parts into 1-inch or so pieces. Put these into the bowl of the food processor and pulse until chopped.

Add olive oil, salt and lemon juice and puree until smooth.

Put pesto into a clean glass jar and refrigerate. Keep the pesto covered with olive oil.

Use the pesto to toss with pasta, to add mild garlic flavour to sauces, soups, dressings, toss it with bread cubes and toast for great croutons, add some extra oil and drizzle over tomatoes or grilled vegetables. Use it almost anywhere.

Roasted Potato Salad with Horseradish Dressing

A few weeks ago, I was visiting my friend and Big Daughter’s godmummy, Kirsty, in Toronto. We put our four girls to bed, with fewer tears and trips downstairs from the big daughters than expected. We breathed a big sigh of relief, poured some bubbly wine, probably too much bubbly wine, and went outside for a grown-up girl supper.

Kirsty had found a recipe, in The Globe and Mail I think, for potato salad. A recipe for potato salad? Is that really necessary? But, roasted potatoes and a horseradish dressing? Could there be any more perfect combination? How could you not want the recipe for this?

But, I didn’t write it down and I’m not organized enough to email and get it, or to follow it for that matter. So, I made one up, after being in the kitchen while Kirsty made her's, and this may just revolutionize your basic summer salads.

After I made this, I had to go to Toronto again to get more horseradish. I used the last and so the annual trip to Kozlik’s was necessary. Alright, I was doing other stuff too. But shopping for horseradish and mustard was very near the top of the to do list on Saturday. The only things above it were strong black coffee and peameal on a bun, to quell the effects of too much bubbly wine.

This would be really perfect with new potatoes and, if you are barbecuing, I would roast the potatoes on a grill tray on the barbecue. It is divine when it is warm but is also really delicious cold, so you could easily make it in advance.

I didn’t put as much horseradish in the dressing as I might have for two reasons. The first, I wasn’t making this for myself and I realize that not everyone thinks horseradish is as perfect a condiment as I do. And, the second, I didn’t have enough left.

Which brings us to the question, why didn’t I just go and get some more? Well, I have high horseradish standards and few jars will do. My favourite is not available here in Nova Scotia - yet, I'm told. I can’t abide any jar that has an ingredient list longer than: horseradish, vinegar, water, salt.

Fresh horseradish would have been good but, without spending two hours in the car with a teething nine month old and a stroppy four year old at supper time, there was none of that to be had either. Plus, it isn’t something that many people keep in their vegetable drawer, but they should.

I served the salad with some of Sheila's smoked salmon from our local and micro greens from the Friday market in Mahone Bay. It was a perfect summer supper. The salad would suit any grilled meat or fish. It would be great with burgers. It would make a nice little potluck dish as well.

Roasted Potato Salad with Horseradish Dressing  as inspired by Kirsty’s reproduction of a recipe from The Globe and Mail

2 pounds potatoes

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 tablespoons yogurt

3 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon good, hot horseradish (you might want less or more depending on your taste and your horseradish)

Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

1/4 red onion finely chopped

Handful of parsley and chives finely chopped

Preheat oven to 450º. Wash and cut the potatoes into bite size chunks. Toss then with the olive oil and some salt and pepper in a roasting pan. Put in the oven and roast for about twenty minutes for a convection oven, a little longer for traditional. They need to be completely cooked and getting golden and crisp. Remove from oven and cool just until they are warm. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.

Make the dressing by putting the yogurt, mayo, vinegar, horseradish and salt and pepper to season in a small bowl. whisk to combine. Pour over the roasted potatoes. Add the red onion, parsley and chives and toss to combine. 

All the Cool Kids are Doing It

So, it started with Smitten, while I was away. I thought about and thought the likelihood of getting really good reliable stuff in the Caribbean and thought, ‘No, not yet.‘ Then I was visiting my grandmother in Niagara Falls when I saw some top notch green. But, I was pretty sure she wouldn’t approve. Then, Feisty did it too. And, I started to think about it some more and then I saw some at the market on Friday which looked first class and I thought, ‘If everyone else is doing it, maybe I should too.’

I thought I was pretty cool, getting there early enough to score. Even if it was unintentional and I was really just hoping to bump into Wanda and a bag of her wonderful lettuce. But, there I was, Tilly in the sling, looking back, over my shoulder to make sure there was no one chasing me to my car. I had bought not just one but two. I was worried that if anyone unlucky enough to be too far back in the queue found out, they would be after me. After me and my asparagus.

We love asparagus, even Stephen, provided it has been drizzled with melted butter. Poppy has just developed a fondness for raw asparagus. And, all Tilly has eaten for a week and a half is asparagus and banana. Anything that lets us captures this has to be good.

SmittenKitchen’s was drop dead gorgeous, as pretty much anything she does is. Feisty Chef’s was local and she cooked it on the barbecue which has inspired me to experiment more with my barbecue, not today though. I was reluctant to put something out there that would draw such obvious comparison but it was just too damn delicious not too. 

I used my usual pizza dough recipe, but substituted spelt flour. This made the crust biscuity crisp. I don’t like doughy or bready pizza, so it was perfect. The best thing is, the dough rolls out so thinly and easily this way that we had enough to make some cheesy garlic pizza for a certain four year old.

I didn’t have any mozzarella and Poppy was shouting,‘Asiago, I only want asiago,’ but I wasn’t sold on the idea. I had some plain Foxhill quark which, I was pretty sure would just lend a creaminess without mucking about with the flavour of the asparagus.

I almost picked some sorrel because I thought it might add a little lemony zing, but, again, I just wanted to taste the asparagus so, much to Poppy’s delight, I decided on some roughly chopped fresh chives. 

The asparagus I had was really thin. It would be much easier to shave if it was a little bulkier and you probably won’t need as many spears. Smitten thinks you could do this with a mandolin. I can’t imagine that you would escape with all ten fingertips. The vegetable peeler is the way forward for me.

And then, we rushed to get it all done so we could watch our Stephen cross a continent while we ate.

Shaved Asparagus Pizza with Spelt Crust

7 grams (1 1/2 teaspoons) active dry yeast

1 tablespoon honey

125 ml (1/2 cup) warm water

240 grams (1 1/3 + 1/4 cup) spelt flour (or bread flour)*

1 teaspoon sea salt

3 tablespoons olive oil

22-24 spears skinny asparagus

225 grams ( a little under a cup) plain Foxhill quark (ricotta would be great)

Roughly chopped chives

Salt and Cracked Black Pepper

Shaved Parmesan

Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Put yeast, honey and water in a small bowl and let sit for 5-10 minutes, until yeast blooms.

Meanwhile, put flour and salt in the bowl of mixer with a dough hook attachment, or in a medium sized bowl with a wooden spoon

When yeast is ready, add it to the flour with the 3 tablespoons of olive oil.

Mix everything together. If you are using a stand mixer, knead for a few minutes, until it is smooth and elastic. If you are doing it by hand, you’ll have to knead a bit longer but your arm muscles will thank you.

Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl and cover. Let rise about an hour, until doubled in size.

While the dough rises, you can shave the asparagus in long strips, hold on to the tough end and run the peeler down the length.

After the dough has risen, preheat oven to 425º.

Punch down the dough.

Lightly oil a pizza pan or heat up a pizza stone.

Roll out the dough to a 12” circle, I didn’t need any flour, you may want to lightly dust your work surface with flour.  Put it on the pan or on a pizza peel if you are using a stone.

Spread the quark on top and season it with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the chives. Top with the shaved asparagus.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden around the edges and you can see the very edges of the asparagus just starting to brown.

Remove from the oven, top with parmesan and extra virgin olive oil and serve.

*And, if anyone would like to take care of the math for me, it would be much appreciated.

Thai (Inspired) Slaw

I find that in the spring I get inspired by Thai flavours. Light and fresh and clean and well, just yummy really. 

At our house, we are also slaw heads. Well, Poppy and I are and we strive to turn Tilly into one and Stephen just eats what is put in front of him for the most part. So, vegetables and salads and slaws reign.

I had some leftover Red Lentil Veggie Burgers and some mango ‘ketchup’ to use up and we had a bunch of stuff that needed eating before we left and it was a beautifully warm spring day out and I really didn’t feel like doing anything inside and this just seemed to jump out of the fridge and cupboards. To boot, I had a very cranky almost four year old and she needed a project. So, I had a helper too.

I spent quite a while in Thailand pre-Poppy and I can be pretty particular about Thai food. But, I have no problem with Thai-inspired as long as it doesn’t try to pass it off as the real thing. So, this is unabashedly Thai-inspired. 

It should have loads of chilli but my main audience for this wasn’t yet four. I wouldn’t mind some sliced right in with the slaw but to make it a little milder, you could blend a little into the dressing. 

It should also have peanuts, not almonds but I was trying to use things up and I did think about going to get some but it was twenty minutes to supper and I wasn’t striving for authentic. 

And the tofu, well, did I mention I was trying to use things up? I wouldn’t normally put smoked tofu in a slaw but it worked here. You could leave it out completely but with it, this slaw becomes pretty much a meal in itself. And, you could use any firm tofu, it doesn’t have to be smoked and would likely be better if it wasn’t.

The dressing emulsifies beautifully with an immersion blender. It would in the jug of a regular blender as well. If you don’t have one, just mince the garlic and ginger. You can mix the ingredients together and strain after a couple of hours if you don’t want the bits in the dressing. You will have more dressing than you need which I don’t think is any hardship because you should find it pretty versatile. It would be pretty good on cold noodles or mixed greens for a quick salad.

This would also be a pretty good accompaniment to just about anything that comes off your barbecue this summer. 

Thai Slaw (serves 6 as a generous side dish)

2 cloves garlic chopped

1inch piece of ginger peeled and chopped

2 tablespoons brown sugar (unless you have palm sugar to hand)

1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce

4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar (use the unseasoned kind if you can)

4 tablespoons grapeseed oil (or another vegetable oil)

1/2 green cabbage finely sliced

1/3 red pepper (that was all I had)julienned

1/3 yellow pepper julienned

1/2 GIANT carrot (see photo, or 1 medium carrot)julienned

150 grams firm tofu (optional)cut into cubes

Handful sliced almonds (or if you have unsalted peanuts, even better)

Handful chopped cilantro/fresh coriander

Put garlic, ginger, brown sugar, fish sauce, vinegar and oil in a bowl, if you have an immersion blender, or in the blender jug and blend until smooth. 

Put all the veggies on a serving plate or bowl.

Gently saute the tofu, if you are using it, until it starts to crisp up on the outside.

Toast the almonds, or peanuts, if they aren’t already. You can do this in the oven, or in a dry pan on the stovetop.

Sprinkle the tofu, almonds and cilantro on top of the veggies.

Dress with half the vinaigrette. Toss and serve.

Veggie Burgers That Work

I love a veggie burger. Granted, I have been known to order it with cheese and bacon before, but it still counts in my book. I have had good ones and bad ones, ones that taste like bad hamburgers, which is wrong, and ones that taste like nothing. I have made them, rarely with a recipe, sometimes successfully, sometimes not so much.

I borrowed The Golden Door Cooks at Home by Dean Rucker with Marah Stets from the book bus. It reminded me of all the things I used to cook in really nice, hot tropical locales. The recipe for Red Lentil Veggie Burgers with Spicy Yam fries and Mango ‘Ketchup’ sang out for two reasons. The first, I really wanted a burger and the second, I decided I would follow the recipe to the letter. Could I do it?

The thought of veggie burgers made me think of a time, not so long ago, when I was somewhere between three and four months pregnant with Tilly. I really needed to have a veggie burger, I have no idea why. We were living in Alaro in Mallorca and there wasn’t a chance we would be getting one there. I decided that Poppy and I would pick Stephen up from work in Palma and, prepare for shameful confession here, we would go to The Hard Rock Cafe where surely, in a land of amazing and fresh and beautiful food, we would be able to get a veggie burger, maybe even with cheese and bacon. Off we went, and what arrived on my plate, I was pleased to see, was not an imitation beef burger. It appeared to be made of lentils and rice and good things. Then I took a bite and realized that no, it was made of sawdust and Elmer’s glue. I didn’t go back to The Hard Rock Cafe after that, I had learned my lesson and I would stick to the local amazing and fresh and beautiful food offered everywhere else.

Or, I would make the veggie burgers myself. It didn’t happen in Alaro. In fact, it only happened a couple of weeks ago, inspired and spurred on by The Golden Door.

These are really tasty. The have a great texture and a little kick from the curry powder. The veggies give a really nice crunch. You could put them in a bun but that would be pretty heavy. The burgers are really nice with the Thai Slaw, not the dandelion salad in the photo which was good but not as good as Thai Slaw which will be up on here soon, and the mango ‘ketchup’ which is really just a quick fruity salsa.

And, I followed the recipe exactly, almost. I didn’t make the fries. I didn’t have any edamame so I substituted frozen limas. I also substituted cremini mushrooms for shitake which, unsurprisingly, I couldn’t find round these here parts. I doubled the recipe because it is a bit heavy on prep. I froze the extra burgers on a parchment lined baking sheet and then, when they were fully frozen, transferred them to a freezer bag figuring that they would cook well from frozen, which they do. You just need to lengthen the cooking times a bit. The recipe calls for cooking spray which I don’t use so I just used grapeseed oil where it called for that. Other than that, I was so serious about being exact here that I even used measuring cups.

Red Lentil Burgers with Mango ‘Ketchup’ adapted, ever so slightly, from The Golden Door Cooks at Home by Dean Rucker with Marah Stets (makes 8 pretty big burgers)

1/2 cup brown rice and 1 cup water

1 cup red lentils and 2 cups water

1/2 cup finely diced onion (about 1/2 medium)

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 1/2 cups finely chopped broccoli florets and peeled stems (about 5 ounces, if you care to weigh it out)

1 cup finely chopped carrots (about 2 medium)

2 cups peeled, grated and squeezed to remove excess liquid potatoes

1 cup finely chopped cremini mushrooms 

1/2 cup frozen limas, thawed and finely chopped (about 2 ounces)

1 1/2 teaspoons yellow curry powder

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup cornmeal

Grapeseed oil (or any vegetable oil you use)

Cook and cool the rice and lentils, separately. Cool and transfer to a large mixing bowl.

Saute the onion and garlic with a teaspoon of oil until translucent. Add the vegetables and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are cooked but still crunchy, about 5 minutes. Stir in curry powder and season.

Preheat the oven to 400º.

Mix the vegetables into the rice and lentils.

Using about 1/2 cup of the mixture for each, form into eight patties.

Put the cornmeal on a plate and dredge each of the patties in the cornmeal.

Put 1/2 tablespoon of oil on a skillet and sear the burgers for about 2-3 minutes on each side over medium heat until golden. Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet and finish in the oven for about 12 minutes.

Serve with Mango ‘ Ketchup.’

Here is where I really have screwed this up. I can not find the notes I made on the ‘ketchup’. I thought I had brought them with me but, unless they have become a piece of  almost four year old’s artwork in the last week, I have lost my mind. I can remember what I put in, because I strayed from the recipe here, but not exactly. So, I am going to tell you roughly, and you can play with it if you want to. Really, it is easy.

Take some mango, I used 2 cups of previously frozen and thawed chunks, if I recall. You can use fresh if you have it. Whizz some of it up in the food processor and chop the rest. Add some finely diced red onion or shallot, some finely diced red pepper or chilli, if your main audience isn't an almost four year old, some lime juice, some salt and pepper and some chopped fresh coriander/cilantro. And, that, I think, is about it.