Accounting for Taste

Burgers are such a versatile meal. Be it beef, turkey mushroom, pork, vegetarian, the options are endless, as are the toppings. This one is “Going to the Greek” and takes you in a different direction.

The instructions indicate to create 4 burger patties from the meat and mushroom mixture. We felt that they were too large, so we divided the mixture into 5 equal portions. That’s why under assembly the amounts show 4 or 5 of the lettuce, buns, etc. Our large nonstick skillet wasn’t quite large enough for the 5 patties without them touching each other so we used our griddle atop the stove.

Make sure to have enough napkins because it was quite a challenge to eat the assembled burger due to height, and therefore can be a bit messy. We wondered if perhaps instead of a bun, that a pita pocket might be a better bet. A side oven-baked onion rings complimented the burgers.

Sluovaki-Inspired Blended Burger

Servings: 4-5
Time: 40 min
Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

Tzatziki Sauce:

2/3 cup plain Greek yogurt (with at least 2% milk fat; do not use non-fat)
1/3 cup grated seedless English cucumber, patted dry with paper towels
2 tsp. chopped fresh dill fronds
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 small clove garlic, minced

Burgers:

16 oz. ground pork
8 oz. white button mushrooms, finely chopped (use a mini food processor for this task)
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. cracked black pepper
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Assembly:

4-5 butter lettuce leaves
4-5 soft white hamburger buns, split
4-5 sliced rings red onion
2 Tbsp. crumbled feta cheese
16-20 thin slices seedless English cucumber
8-10 slices Roma tomato

Directions

For the tzatziki sauce: Combine the yogurt, cucumber, dill, lemon juice, salt and garlic in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
For the burgers: Combine the pork, mushrooms, lemon zest, oregano, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Form into 4 equal-size patties. Pour the lemon juice and olive oil into separate shallow bowls. Dip both sides of each patty into the lemon juice, then into the olive oil to coat.
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook the patties in the hot skillet, flipping once, until the pork is just cooked through, 4 to 6 minutes per side.
For the assembly: Put 1 lettuce leaf on each bottom bun. Dollop each leaf with about 2 tablespoons tzatziki sauce (reserve the remaining sauce), then top with 1 patty and 1 red onion slice. Mix the feta into the reserved tzatziki sauce and spoon 1 to 2 teaspoons onto each burger, followed by 4 cucumber slices and 2 tomato slices. Close the burgers with the top buns. Serve immediately.

http://www.lynnandruss.com

Recipe adapted from Sarah Meuser, 2022 Blended Burger Contest Winner

An Egyptian street food, hawawshi (pronounced ha-WOW-shi) is a riff on the hamburger, if you will. It is basically dough (or pita in this case) stuffed with a mixture of ground meat—lamb or beef—that is seasoned with tantalizing warm spices, onions, garlic, hot peppers and fresh herbs.

There are three components to making these hawawshi patty sandwiches: the seasonings, the meat mixture, and pita pockets—we used the multi-grain variety. This satisfying sandwich is typically served hot without much else to accompany it, although we both felt it needed a sauce of some sort, such as tahini or tzatziki, neither of which we had. Instead, we made a quick mixture of mayo and Sriracha and spread it in the pocket. And it’s never a bad idea to add a side salad…

Since the original recipe (shown below) made 12 sandwiches, we cut it in half, which also gave us a few leftover for lunches.

Egyptian Hawawshi

Servings: 12 pockets
Time: 30 min
Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

1 large yellow onion quartered
2 garlic cloves
1 green bell pepper, cored and cut into large chunks
1 jalapeno, halved and seeded (leave some of the seed if you like heat)
½ oz. fresh parsley stems, trimmed
2 lbs. lean ground lamb or beef
3 Tbsp. tomato paste
Kosher salt
Extra virgin olive oil
6 pita pockets

For the Hawawshi Seasoning (Spice Mixture)

1 tsp. coriander
1 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. black pepper
½ tsp. cumin
¾ tsp. cardamom
¼ tsp. cinnamon

Directions

Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
In a small bowl, add the spices and mix to combine.
Put the onion, garlic, bell pepper, jalapeno, and parsley in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade, pulse a few times until finely chopped. Transfer the mixture to a sieve to drain excess liquid (it helps to push with the back of a spoon).
Transfer the onion mixture to a large mixing bowl. Add the ground beef and tomato paste. Mix to combine. Add the spice mixture and a dash of kosher salt. Mix again until the mixture is well combined and the spices are well distributed within the meat mixture.
Cut the pita loafs in halves to create 12 pita pockets.
Prepare a large sheet pan brushed with a bit of extra virgin olive oil.
Stuff each pita pocket with ⅓ cup of the meat mixture. Using the back of a spoon, spread the meat mixture inside the pita pockets.
Arrange the pitas in the prepared sheet pan. Brush the pita pocket tops with a bit of extra virgin olive oil.
Bake in the heated oven for 15, then carefully turn the pitas over and cook on the other side another 5 to 10 minutes until the meat is fully cooked and the pita is crispy on both sides.

http://www.lynnandruss.com

Adapted from a recipe by Suzy Karadsheh