Black bean burgers (w/ a red pepper aioli)

Not so long ago and very nearby, there was a great little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that had amazing black bean burgers. Best I've ever tasted. Then the restaurant closed down and after I had driven nearly everyone insane talking about how sad I was that these burgers were no longer in my life... someone found me the recipe. Glee, joy, fulfillment - you name it, I felt it.  I've tweaked that recipe quite a bit though (I think the cook kept some secrets), and this is what I now make to satisfy my black bean burger cravings. 

1 15-ounce cans black beans, organic, drained, and rinsed

1/4 cup whole-wheat flour

1/2 cup quick cooking oats (oatmeal)

1 cup whole, skin-on almonds, (measure the 1 cup first then finely ground in your food processor)

1/8 cup garlic powder

1/8 cup onion powder

1 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon salt

2 teaspoons black pepper

2 teaspoons red chili pepper flakes (less if you don't like spicy)

1/2 of a large red onion, 

1/2 of a large red/yellow/orange bell pepper, seeds removed

3 (about 1/2 cup) sweet roasted peppers (recommended brand: Divina)

In a food processor, finely grind the almonds. Remove almonds from f.p. to a large bowl. Blend the black beans, red onion, bell pepper, and roasted peppers in the food processor. Mix all other dry ingredients with the almonds and then add pureed bean mixture into the other ingredients. Mix with a fork.  Let the mixture sit for 30-40 mins. (No need to refrigerate.)

The texture of the burger mixture should be just moist enough to form first into balls, and then flatten into a burger shape. Using a large spoon, scoop out about 6 oz. of black bean mixture, shape into a ball, flatten into a plump burger, and fry on both sides in olive oil until a crisp crust forms and the burger is cooked through. Should take about 3 mins per side, make sure the oil is hot but not smoking or the burgers will char too much (probably between medium and medium high heat).

Makes 6 to 8 burgers. Put uncooked mixture in the fridge if you have any left over. The mix holds up great for days.

Toppings, you ask?

The restaurant used to serve them on a bun with your choice of cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onion and a red pepper aioli.

My red pepper aioli is:

1/2 cup olive oil mayo

3 cloves of garlic

1/2 cup of roasted red peppers 

salt and pepper to taste

All into a food processor and puree. 

I also have served these with a left over squash, caramelized onion, and mint spread (recipe to come shortly), which was great, too.  When feeling lazy? Some jalepeno mustard, a couple of the sweet potato fries that I usually serve on the side, some spiced colby cheese (boar's head makes a great one), and lettuce... it even works as a wrap in a tortilla (just make your burger more of a hotdog shape and flatten it).

3 things

The irony of this thought comes from the fact that this year I decided to take on the 365 picture challenge in order to encourage myself to travel and enjoy my 29th year to the fullest:

The three most awesome sights and experiences of my trip to Hawaii could not be caught on film. Well, not on my Fujifilm point and shoot anyway.

1 – The night sky was so clear and literally filled with stars. (Fact: I know nothing about astronomy, kids. But there are a lot of those little stars out there.) The Milky Way was visible almost every night, and the black, milky white, and purple that was the backdrop to billions of bright stars (though not caught on film) is still visible in my mind.

2 – My irrational fear / uncomfortable...um... respect of a live volcano was met head on while looking down at the open crater of Kilauea in Volcano, HI. That night it was completely black except for those stars and the red and orange smokey, steamy, sulfury burps… you know, the top of a volcano, the area that apparently has its own weather – windy as hell and above the rain clouds.

3 – Sure, there are pictures of me in the bay at Carlsmith Beach wading around with giant sea turtles, and the pictures are great. But those old guys looked unspeakably more amazing in person.

                                                                 One of the old guys...

Cheesy hash browns w/ an over-easy egg, "re-fried" black beans, pico de gallo, and avocado

This either sounds delicious to you or like a messy mashup. And either way, you're probably right.

All these components kinda have to be made around the same time, so you'll be multi-tasking for this recipe. 

You can get the "pico de gallo" and avocado out of the way first.

What you need:

two handfuls of cherry tomatoes - diced

about 2 tbsp of fresh cilantro - chopped

juice of 1 lime

a couple slices of jalepeno (seeds in or out is your call, seeds make it hotter) - finely chopped

the green tops of about 3 scallions - chopped

salt and pepper

Haas avocado

Mix up all the ingredients for the pico - squeeze half the lime juice over the pico. 

Then dice up the avocado, place on top of the pico and squeeze the other half of the lime juice over the avocado. This will almost guarantee that your avocado won't brown while it's waiting for you. Mix up the pico and avocado and set it aside.

Cheesy hash browns - 

I recommend not going the frozen hash brown route. Instead buy a couple red skin potatoes and slice them as thin as you can. Fry them up in some olive oil until they're golden brown... could take up to 15 mins if you cover the bottom of your frying pan, flipping them every 4-5 mins, to get them golden brown but not burnt. If you'd like, you can finely chop some yellow onion and add that in, too. There is a bit of onion in the other components though, so you can also leave it out. Salt and pepper during the cooking process. (1/2 cup of shredded cheddar or a similar cheese should be added to the hash browns when they come off the heat and go into the serving dish.)

After you start your hash browns, then you can get the "refried" black beans going.

What you need:

One can Organic Black Beans (thoroughly rinsed off)

1/2 cup of water

2 large garlic cloves - finely diced

2 scallions or 1/4 cup of white or yellow onion - chopped

salt and pepper (to taste)

1/4 tsp smoked paprika (smoked is key)

1 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

After you rinse off the black beans, put about 2/3 of the can into a bowl. Put 1/2 cup of water, the remaining 1/3 of a can of beans, garlic, scallions/onion, and seasonings into a sauce pan over medium high heat. While the beans + water mixture is coming to a boil, mash up the 2/3 of the can of beans that you have in the bowl set aside. It's pretty easy to make the beans into a paste. After the bean + water mixture comes to a boil, mix in the bean paste. Reduce the heat to between low and medium and reduce for about 10 mins, stirring every couple minutes. The beans and the hash browns should be ready around the same time. Once the water is reduce by about half, the beans can be put in a serving bowl.

During the last minutes of the potatoes cooking, you can start cooking your eggs. I prefer over-easy with this because the yolk then forms a bit of a sauce.  I can't describe to you how to cook an egg over-easy though. You'll have to figure that one out for yourself.

Assembly: Add the cheddar to the hash browns, if you haven't done that yet. Bottom layer will be cheesy hash browns, then add a couple spoonfuls of "re-fried" beans, then the over-easy egg, then top with a couple spoonfuls of the pico de gallo and avocado.  (I garnished with a couple pickled jalapenos .. because you can never have too many jalapenos.) Dig in!

My 29th year - photo a day

 I'm 29. And I've decided to take on the "photo a day" challenge. This project started on 9/21/12 and so far it's been 9 days and I've forgotten about this challenge a few times already... Here are September's photos: 

 Shop local, especially in the Mitten. Clinton Twp., MI

 Drink local, too. East Lansing, MI

 Always be weary of the stranger with a camera. E.L., MI

 New Broad Art Museum... or the Mother Ship. E.L., MI

 There's a dead guy in our river... Grand River - MI

 Outsource to Detroit. Detroit, MI

Mall art. Partridge Creek - MI

Is this a joke? Old Louisville, KY

The dead bulb was bothering me. Louisville, KY

Peace or darkness

Note: This was a dream I had. My subconscious might be a little creepy. I was told by friends that it was too sci-fi and weird not to write down, but you'll have to figure out the symbolism for yourself. In the dream, the last thought I had was "wake up, this is enough."

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I was led to a building that resembled a mall, but I sensed more of an encapsulated community-space - there were multiple floors and long corridors. Glass and emptiness as far as the eye could see. I saw my reflection. I was a man wearing all black. Looking around there were frozen, life-like shapes. The people that should have been bustling and chatting around me were still and lifeless, but they appeared to be at peace. I had no memory of how I had gotten here. 

I lost my breath. 

I was somewhere forbidden; somewhere I shouldn't have seen or known to be. This was the afterlife, but I was still alive. 

I panicked. I had to get out. I wasn't ready to be stationary, stagnant, confined. I saw a girl near my age coming toward me from the stairway. I wasn't sure of who she was but she seemed familiar and I knew she needed my help if we were going to make it out and back to life. The floors were made of an opaque glass, as were the walls. She looked hurried and concerned. I could tell that she hadn't figured out where we were. 

Instinctively we both knew that we couldn't go out the front door. It was a certain death. The only way out was up. Without speaking, we ran to the elevator. We could see the people dressed all in black outside of the building; they were becoming rattled and watchful. As the elevator continued up, my mind was blank. I had no ability to think ahead. I'd never felt this before. I was only able to deal with what was presenting itself at that moment. 

The elevator doors opened. We were faced with more opaque glass walls. My only thought was to get to the outside of the building and climb, but I couldn't decide if we should go up or down. We broke a pane of glass with a marbled trash can and climbed out together. I took my eyes off of my friend only to plan my next step forward but when I looked back to my right, she was gone. She hadn't fallen. I would have heard or seen that. She had simply disappeared. 

I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the glass, pleading with my mind to allow me to think of what I should do next. 

I lost my breath.

I was no longer outside. I no longer felt my forehead leaning against the glass and I no longer heard or felt the whistling wind. When I opened my eyes, I was back on the ground floor, opaque glass walls, stirring people dressed all in black surrounding the building, still and lifeless human forms peacefully standing all around me. I began to search for my friend. I had to confirm that this place was what I thought it was. I began scanning faces and moved from floor to floor. Finally, there she was. I saw her motionless black hair. I saw her reflection in the window. She no longer looked restless or worried. She looked at peace.  

I lost my breath. My throat felt like it fully closed this time. I felt the urge to cry but my brain couldn't place the proper reaction to the lump in my throat. 

I didn't want to be here.

I knew I would have to fight and face the men waiting outside of the front doors. I turned and ran. I was confident that I could make it far enough at a fast enough pace that I could break free from them and from this place. I wasn't ready for this. Not yet. And maybe never.

I burst through the doors and bodies immediately began to fight me. I was pushing and clawing my way. I was only able to hold onto one thought. "Get away from the building." It seemed there were only 2 men, then 4, then 10. I was making ground. But then men were multiplying infinitely and I could only think, "You've lost. Give up. This will never end until you give up."

I was swallowed by a crowd of a 100 men dressed all in black. 

***

I had a general feeling that could only be described of as at peace. I was surrounded by satisfied people. They were bustling and chatting. The building that we were in was made of opalescent glass floors and walls. Outside the sun was shining and the clouds floated by at a pace that signified it was a windy but clear day. I wasn't really looking for anything in particular, I was just letting some time pass. I saw her face. Her black hair made me lose my breath. I had a clear memory of something unsettling. I remembered the still lives, the almost cardboard cutouts. I began walking faster, searching for the stillness but there was none. I realized, I was dead. I was in the afterlife. I was now one of them. I was supposed to be at peace. But I knew more than they did. I knew that this was just space where we were all trapped. I wanted to scream out, to tell them they were all being fooled. I tried to open my mouth but internally I felt the ability to think come back to my mind. As much as I didn't want to be here, I didn't have to ruin everyone else's peace. My friend with the black hair, she looked peaceful after all. If they knew though, maybe they would want something different. I decided to escape. If I could show them what was possible, maybe they would realize there was a choice to me made. 

I walked down two flights of stairs and calmly walked out the front door. I looked over my shoulder to see if anyone was coming to stop me, but it seemed as though no one had noticed that I was gone. This was my choice to make. The men dressed all in black were no longer outside of the building, no one was looking to fight me to go back in. 

There was a weathered pine shack that was off in the distance. I felt that since it was the only thing I could see on the horizon that I should try to talk with anyone that might be there. When I neared the wooden shelter, I turned back to see the reflective glass structure that lay behind me, as I faced forward two large men dressed in black stepped out of the empty interior of the shed. There was no point in running. I knew how many like them were just inside. I might have smiled just as my jaw was being broken. I heard my teeth shatter, but I felt nothing. I saw blood, but I didn't scream or writhe in pain. The second man stepped toward me and pulled out a samurai sword. With one motion I was beheaded. My eyes, however, were still open and I could still see. I could see that my body was being taken away and my head was being placed into a Styrofoam container as though I was today's catch, fresh from the sea. As the lid was being fastened I had my last thought. "This is the final death. Instead of peace there is darkness here."

Butternut squash soup

IT's FaLL!! Well, not yet. But thanks to a ridiculously hot summer and a statewide drought, butternut squash season has come early and I plan on taking full advantage. I suggest that you do as well. In all honesty, this is one of my favorite meals and one of the best things I make. You should try it.

Butternut Squash Soup w/ Sage and Parmesan

Two medium to medium large butternut squash (peeled, cut in half, seeded and diced into cubes)
1 large yellow onion
6-7 large sage leaves
heaping 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper + more to garnish soup with
about 1 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
5 cups of stock (I use vegetable stock, but you can use chicken stock. Homemade is best. If you buy veg stock do NOT use a tomato based stock for this soup. Made that mistake once. Kinda ruins it.)

Special equipment: an emulsion hand blender or a regular blender.

I use a dutch oven for most of my soups. Get the d.o. hot and then thinly cover the bottom with olive oil. Throw in the diced onion, stirring every so often so it doesn't get overly brown. You want the onion to be soft so you can probably cook over medium high heat for 6-7 mins. Add salt and pepper (to taste - about 15 grinds of a pepper mill and sea salt grinder. Be aware of how salty your stock is when adding salt at this stage.) Dice the sage leaves and put them in with the onion, stirring regularly for another 2 mins. Put in the stock and bring to a boil. Once it boils, add the diced butternut squash and turn the heat down to a simmer / slight boil. It will look like a lot of squash, but you want the squash to be even to slightly higher than your stock level once in the pot.

After about 15 mins, check the squash. It should be very fork tender and you should be able to pierce through the largest pieces easily with a fork. If this is the case, remove the soup from the burner and use the emulsion hand blender to blend the soup to your desired texture. I like it velvety smooth, other people like it chunky. I'll let you decide. Once it is blended, stir in the cup of Parmesan.  When you're serving give a couple shakes of cayenne pepper to the top of each bowl. Like this:

I serve this soup with crusty whole grain garlic bread and some kind of fruit - usually green grapes.  I don't know why the three things go together, but they work and taste delicious. Grilled cheese is also a good co-pilot or cheese and crackers.

Happy Butternut Squash Soup Season, everyone!

Wasting time

“…I wish I could waste my time without wasting all yourrrrr tiiiiiiime.” She sang along to the lyric, windows down, while it was just starting to rain.

Her arm was stretched out the window, like always. She had an odd habit of watching the side mirror’s reflection of her fingers blowing in the wind while she was driving. Now she watched in the mirror as she put her hand up, palm out, fingers extended so that she could catch passing raindrops from the wind. Looking around her car, she checked to make sure nothing critical was getting wet and decided to continue driving, windows down. A red Malibu passed her on the left and she noticed that they had all of their windows open, too. She felt some form of solidarity.

It was raining hard enough to require windshield wipers, but she didn’t feel satisfied. She looked around the car to make sure there wasn’t anything that couldn’t get really wet, and then she slid back the cover to her sunroof and pushed the button marked “Slide.” As it opened, she caught a glimpse of herself in her rear-view mirror and gave a shrug. She slid her sunglasses off her face and over her hair to help keep her hair tamed with the extra wind… and rain.

The red Malibu rolled its windows up. She laughed.

The light was red. She leaned her head back and looked up out of the sunroof. The raindrops were big and she could see them as they were falling, causing her to squint and blink as each drop landed near her eyes. She knew this rain would pass in a matter of minutes, maybe less, and the heat and humidity of a Southern summer afternoon would quickly take its place. As the light turned green, she took the sunglasses off of her head and shook some of the rain out of her hair. She begrudgingly closed the sunroof as if someone was nagging her to do so while she was left unfulfilled and wanting more. She caught another glimpse of herself in her rear-view mirror and raised her eyebrows as drops of rain were still rolling down her face.

She wasn’t angry anymore. She wasn’t heartbroken either. She questioned for a moment if she was happy. She smiled. She looked at her reflection. Yes, that still felt good and looked normal. Happy? Sure, yes.  If not now, soon. She could be happy soon.