Serving Jeff's Burgers

[VeggieSue]

In the DVD Jeff shows how these burgers of his can be served on Ezekial bread and rolls, pitas, or any whole grain bread. That's all well and good for his regular recipe, but what about the specialty ones? Is everyone just using the whole wheat rolls/bread they have on hand or have some of the bakers here developed some specialty dough recipes to make their own rolls out with to go with the curry, Southwest, or other highly flavored burgers?

Now that the cooler weather is here and I can light the oven again it'll be nice to try something new, but I really stink at developing my own recipes, especially for the bread machine.

[ETeSelle]

I usually don't eat bread anyway, but I think the key is choosing something that doesn't interfere w/ the burgers--just fairly bland so the burgers can shine. So I wouldn't try to make any special bread. Concentrate on condiments. An oil-free curry sauce would be great on the Indian ones--salsa on the Mexican/SW ones, etc.

[stoumi]

More recently I have been serving them in a lettuce bun. For my wife I will usually buy some Sara Lee brand thin buns, not compliant as they contain oil, but she enjoys them. If I opt for bread, I usually put them between two pieces of bread from Alvarado Street Bakery.

[VeggieSue]

I guess I'll stick with my Alvarado St. California bread then.

I don't like using Ezekial products because they only come frozen around here, and when defrosted they just crumble apart. I did try those sandwich thins for a while but finally read the label then tossed them after half a package sat in the freezer for a few months and iced over. My husband demands his on a bread product so wrapping them in lettuce won't do at all.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll stop in the store for a quick look in the Indian foods aisle to see what curry sauces they have to use instead of ketchup on the curry sweet potato burgers that are in the fridge right now.

[Potatohead]

I guess I'll stick with my Alvarado St. California bread then.

I don't like using Ezekial products because they only come frozen around here, and when defrosted they just crumble apart. I did try those sandwich thins for a while but finally read the label then tossed them after half a package sat in the freezer for a few months and iced over. My husband demands his on a bread product so wrapping them in lettuce won't do at all.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll stop in the store for a quick look in the Indian foods aisle to see what curry sauces they have to use instead of ketchup on the curry sweet potato burgers that are in the fridge right now.

Ezekiel bread products taste much better when toasted..they don't fall apart

[AlwaysAgnes]

I guess I'll stick with my Alvarado St. California bread then.

I don't like using Ezekial products because they only come frozen around here, and when defrosted they just crumble apart. I did try those sandwich thins for a while but finally read the label then tossed them after half a package sat in the freezer for a few months and iced over. My husband demands his on a bread product so wrapping them in lettuce won't do at all.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll stop in the store for a quick look in the Indian foods aisle to see what curry sauces they have to use instead of ketchup on the curry sweet potato burgers that are in the fridge right now.

I think I have a package of those sandwich thins that have been buried in my deep freeze for a few years. Guess I'm waiting for the freezer fairy to pitch them.

You could make a raita or chutney for your curry burgers. There are some recipes here: http://www.khanapakana.com/chutney-recipes/default.aspx You might also find a ready-made chutney at the store. Even regular grocery stores tend to have mango chutney.

For the curry burgers, you could also use chapati or roti or another Indian flatbread. Here's a video of a woman mixing chapati/roti dough: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71X4YKuh ... re=related

There are a few different kinds of bread recipes on my food blog: http://karicooks.blogspot.com/search/label/bread If you're in the mood to cook, you could experiment with some of those. The oatmeal roll would probably work good for a bun. (You can use any plant milk for the soy creamer, or just water.) For the crepe/pancake type flatbread, you can use most any kinds of flour.

Arepas might be a bun option for some burgers.

Arepas

1 cup yellow arepa flour (harina precocida)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups boiling water
Cooking spray

1. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Add 1 1/2 cups boiling water; stir with a wooden spoon until well combined and smooth (about 1 minute). Cover and let stand 5 minutes.
2. Scrape dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Shape dough into a 2-inch-thick disk. Cut dough into 6 equal portions. Working with one dough portion at a time, place dough portion between two sheets of plastic wrap; shape into a ball, and flatten with palm of hand into a 3-inch circle (about 1/2 inch thick); shape edges to smooth.
3. Preheat oven to 350°.
4. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add arepas to pan; cook 5 minutes on each side or until arepa begins to brown and a crust forms. Transfer arepas to a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until arepas sound hollow when lightly tapped.

Yield: 6 arepas (serving size: 1 arepa)

CALORIES 69 (9% from fat); FAT 0.7g (sat 0.1g,mono 0.2g,poly 0.3g); IRON 1.4mg; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 29mg; CARBOHYDRATE 14.5g; SODIUM 200mg; PROTEIN 1.8g; FIBER 1.8g

Cooking Light, JUNE 2008


Just some ideas.

[VeggieSue]

I think I have a package of those sandwich thins that have been buried in my deep freeze for a few years. Guess I'm waiting for the freezer fairy to pitch them.

One of the good things about a small refrigerator-freezer is that if something doesn't get used within a reasonable amount of time it *has* to go to make room for more veggies. No freezer fairy around here except for me. But hubby's aunt had one of those giant freezers and when she went into the nursing home last year and we had to empty it all out we found some packages of food frozen by her husband who had died 25 years ago!

Even regular grocery stores tend to have mango chutney.

I had a jar of that in my hands today and my husband decided he's rather stick with ketchup for tonight's curry burgers. He's not that adventurous, and getting him to eat the burgers and Jeff's sweet potato fries will be a challenge.

For the curry burgers, you could also use chapati or roti or another Indian flatbread.

I tried making my own a long time ago but they never puffed, just burnt. And the only naan in our grocery store has oil, so that's out. I wish we had a Trader Joe's closer than a $12 toll ride away - I know they have oil-free flatbreads.

There are a few different kinds of bread recipes on my food blog: http://karicooks.blogspot.com/search/label/bread If you're in the mood to cook, you could experiment with some of those. The oatmeal roll would probably work good for a bun.

That *does* look good. Too late for today but maybe next week. I like those swirly rolls, too, for soup and stew meals. Never thought to do that. "Fancy" here is me taking the Kaiser roll stamp from King Arthur's Baker's Catalog to press the swirls into my rolls.
[url]http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/kaiser-roll-stamp#6096#[/url]

Arepas might be a bun option for some burgers.

Never heard of these so I guess I better Google the term. Oh, cute little rolls, sorta like a corn flour version of those sandwich thins. It would go great with the Southwestern and Mexican burgers.

1 cup yellow arepa flour (harina precocida)

Never saw this in any store. I guess a trip to the newly remodeled Pathmark with its newly expanded "international food" department is in order. Too bad I can't substitute masa harina but I just read on one site to be sure *not* to do that. Shucks.

Thanks for the suggestions and recipes.

[Chile]

For the curry burgers, you can make your own naan, substituting soy yogurt for the yogurt. 'Course you can't do it in your bread machine...

I made them last week and found it was very similar to the process for making homemade flour tortillas: mix the dough, knead until smooth, let sit a couple of hours, cut into pieces, roll out (not as thin as tortillas), and cook on a hot skillet. They weren't the same as those in the Indian restaurant but that's probably because I didn't brush ghee on top after it was cooked.

Another alternative for the curry burgers might be to stuff them into pita pockets, if your husband is up for that adventure.

For the Southwest burgers, I'd probably serve them on Spanish rice with a salad on the side, topped with some guacamole or the fake guacamole (made with green peas or broccoli). To get your husband away from thinking of them as needing to be served as a "burger" perhaps you could call them something different. Patty? Mexican bean steak? LOL