Modernist cuisine take on veggie burgers

[jcg]

I've made veggie burgers before and they are good but normally they are bean based and quite mushy, and are difficult to grill without them falling apart. I'm wondering if there is a modernist cuisine take on them? Something that will make them more like the consistency of a garden burger that can eaily be put on the grill?

jcg

[markdub]

The best tasting recipe (although I still prefer the real deal) I've come across so far is the one reported on from the BGR restaurants. Note the consistency varies greatly depending on whether you bake these before grilling or finishing in a pan. They are not quite as firm as a garden burger, but they don't usually fall apart as long as you heat them through first. http://www.washingtonpost.com/pb/recipes/bgr-veggie-burgers/12648/

[jcg]

Seems like baking them first could definitely make them sturdier. I was also thinking there might be an ingredient I could add that would help them stand up to grilling, so I thought maybe vital wheat gluten could do the trick. I googled recipes with that wheat gluten in them, and a few showed up. Anyone here have a recipe they have tested that uses wheat gluten?

jcg

[jcg]

OK, well I finally got around to testing out a recipe that uses vital wheat gluten to make a sturdy veggie patty. I'm amazed at how good the first attempt was and only have a few modifications that I will try next time. Here is the recipe which makes 4 good sized patties.

1 cup diced onion

1 cup diced mushrooms

1 clove garlic minced

1/3 cup diced walnuts

1/3 cup rolled oats (not quick cooking kind)

1 cup black beans

1/2 cup fresh corn

1t soy sauce (or liquid amino)

1t worcestershire

1t better than bouillon beef base

1t cumin

1t new mexican ground chili powder

1t salt

1/2t mexican oregano

1T flaxseed

1/2 cup vital wheat gluten

3/8 cup water

Cook the onions, mushrooms, corn and salt until all water is released and onions/mushrooms are starting to brown. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more. Remove the mixture from the stove and add to a bowl with all the other ingredients. Mix until everything is incorporated and then knead the mixture for 2-4 minutes to develop the gluten. Form into patties and cook in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes per side. Remove and then cook on the grill or in an oiled pan.

When these are removed from the oven and cooled you can hold the patty by one side and it will not break apart or bend. The changes I would make next time are increase rolled oats to 2/3 cup (this should make the patties even firmer), reduce corn to 1/4-1/3 cup, increase cumin to 1.5t, increase new mexican chili powder to 1.5t, and add 1t black pepper.

jcg

[pbear]

Interesting. I'll probably give that a try. (I have two veggie burger recipes, both baked, which use egg for binding.) Two comments. One, beef base seems wrong to me in a veggie burger. (Don't have the beef base but do have the chicken one and it's not vegetarian.) I'd use something else for the umani, e.g., veggie base or Marmite (use half as much). Second, I suspect you could get away with half as much gluten. How was the "bite" of these?

[jcg]

I used some beef base as real burgers taste like beef, so I figured what not try to replicate that. If you don't use it I doubt it would make that much difference. The bite was good but I wouldn't mind them being even sturdier/chewier (that's why I mentioned the changes (like increasing the rolled oats) I will make next time). Also we had these on pretzel buns which are not a very soft bun. Normally even with soft buns the veggie burger squishes out the back of the buns, but that didn't happen even with these hard pretzel buns.

[pbear]

Well, if you liked the bite, there's no reason for you to reduce the gluten. Based on your feedback, I'll try the recipe as written first and with less gluten second. As for rolls, I use a very soft roll for veggie burgers, basically a souffle batter baked into pancakes. Mind, all this is something I do to accommodate vegetarian friends, as I'm not a vegetarian myself. The objection to beef base was based on this alone. Obviously, if one isn't a vegetarian, this isn't an issue.

[jcg]

Note that "Better Than Buillon" makes a vegetarian version of their beef & chicken bases. Also note that worcestershire sauce contains anchovy, so you should omit that too if your friends are strict vegetarians. Omitting one of both of these won't materially change the texture / taste in my opinion. One other thing I thought I might do next time is add 1/4 cup chopped cilantro as it is a natural to go with black beans and corn. If you are going to follow the original I think you should at least add the 1/2t black pepper as I was going to add that but just forgot. Anyways if you make them let me know what you and your vegetarian friends think. I'll post my comments when I make the version with my minor additions, but since I had 2 leftover burgers I froze this probably won't be for 3-4 weeks from now.

For completeness sake here is the link of the recipe that inspired my version (it also uses vital wheat gluten).

http://www.nomeatathlete.com/cookout-veggie-burgers/

jcg

Edited February 19, 2014 by jcg (log)

[pbear]

Gotcha. And thanks for the link.