Date Night Dinner's

10/25/2013 tringel 0 Comments

Tonight was burger night! We haven't had burgers in forever, and I was in the mood for something new. Sorry all of you meat lovers, these burgers had a bit of a spin on them - they were meatless and delicious. Brenden and I have experimented with some black bean burgers in the past and have grown very fond of the recipe we have tweaked into perfection for ourselves. But even the best recipes get bland after a while. So, when I came across this meatless burger recipe I was more then open to trying the new ingredients it incorporated and new flavors it was sure to bring. And excitedly, Brenden was ready to delve into the new burger experiment as well.

This burger called for kidney beans instead of our traditional black beans. It enhanced the flavor palate by adding a variety of ingredients besides just spices. And, it taught us a new way to go about making a bean burger. It only took me one bite to decide they were my new favorite; it totally blew our old black bean burger recipe out of the water (though both are good and recommended). But believe me, with this one, there were no leftovers. We ate every bite, and there were defiantly a lot of bites! I was quite full and satisfied after this meal.

We also had the bright (but maybe not so bright) idea to accompany our burgers with popovers. Good thing we decided to buy burger buns at the last minute in addition because I missed the part in the recipe where it said let the batter stand for one hour. So the pop over I was going to eat with my burger was still a puddle of liquid ingredients for about 40 minutes after I was done eating my burger. And, we can't forget the fact that once the popovers were done, they weren't actually popovers because they did not pop! So much for that good idea. Oh well, they still made a good doughy/biscuit treat to munch on as dessert while we lounged and watched a movie.

Spicy Bean Burger
Recipe adapted from skinnyms.com, Spicy Southwestern Burger

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1/2 cup red onions, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1-15.5 oz can kidney beans (we used dark red beans), rinsed and drained
• 1-4 oz can diced green chili peppers (we used mild), drained well
• 1 -8 oz can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 5 potato hamburger buns

Directions

1. In a large skillet add 1 Tbsp oil.
2. Over medium-low heat, saute onions until tender (about 5 minutes).
3. Add garlic and saute for another minute.
4. Add kidney beans, green chili peppers, and corn, continuing to saute until beans soften up (about 4 minutes).
5. Add oregano, chili powder, cumin, and cayenne pepper, stirring until thoroughly combined.
6. Mash the ingredients with a potato masher or fork until beans are well mashed.
7. In a large bowl, pour bean mixture, bread crumbs, and cheese, mixing until well combined.
8. Set aside, allowing to cool about ten minutes.
9. Once cooled enough to handle, make five burger shaped patties.
10. Add remaining Tbsp of oil to a non-stick skillet.
11. Over medium heat, cook patties until they are browned on both sides and heated all the way through (about 10-12 minutes).
12. Serve patties on buns and add desired toppings. (I added avocado, and would try some BBQ sauce next time, but it would mesh with a lot of other typical burger topics so feel free to go wild. Remember, it has a ton of flavor so it is great solo as well.)

Popovers
Recipe adapted from worldofaerin.aerin.com, Neimen Marcus Popovers

Ingredients

• 3.5 cups whole milk
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1.5 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 6 large eggs, room temperature
• Cooking spray

Directions

1. Warm milk in a saucepan over the stove or the microwave (about two minutes, until warm to touch).
2. In a large mixing bowl, sift flour, salt, and baking powder.
3. In a seperate bowl, crack eggs.
4. With a whisk, fork, or electric mixer, whisk eggs until foamy (about 3 minutes).
5. Mix in milk.
6. Gradually add in flour mixture and beat for 2 minutes.
7. Let batter rest at room temperature for about an hour.
8. Preheat over to 450 degrees.
9. Spray muffin pan generously with cooking spray.
10. Fill cups with batter, almost to top.
11. Place muffin pans on cookie sheets.
12. Place in oven and bake for 15 minutes (do not open oven to look during this period).
13. Turn oven down to 375 and back for 35-20 minutes (popovers should be a deep golden brown).
14. Remove and let cool.
15. Enjoy (as a popover or biscuit).