Hamburgers Down Memory Lane

Food has a way of bringing back memories. In this case, today was a busy day, so Nut helped out with dinner, making one of his favorite go to dishes, hamburgers. It was just a burger for each of us, so it was not worth firing up the grill for just that. So he pan fried them, warmed the buns in the microwave, and we each dressed our own.

Now the memory. Nut and I have been in and out of penny pinching phases our whole lives together. During one such time, our favorite thing to do was hop in the car and go for a drive (gas was much cheaper back then). It gave a little escape, a mental vacation before we had to go back to the reality of our financial hardship.

The first stop would usually be to top off the tank. While we were at the gas station, we would pick up a burger for breakfast. They were 2/$1.00, and had a little mini bar of condiments and toppings that you could dress your own burger before you paid for it. There was no limit to how much you could put on your burger, so, along with the usual mustard and ketchup, I would pile high with onion, pickle, and pickled jalapeno.... salad and a burger in one.

So tonight when I dressed my burger, I decided to take a trip down memory lane and loaded on the pickles and onions. We didn't have any pickled jalapeno, but I did break form and sneak a slice of tomato.

Tonight I'm the taste tester because Nut cooked the burgers. I say it was yummy, maybe because this time, the burgers were fresh!

Split Pea Mushroom Burgers

This recipe is loosely based on a split pea burger recipe from Alton Brown of Foodnetwork. Making burgers was the only way I could think of to repurpose the leftover split pea soup.

Hint: I had put the leftover split pea soup in the freezer, so needed to take it out a day ahead of time. While waiting for it to defrost, I made the mushroom and rice mixtures, and put them in containers in the fridge until tonight. That made preparation a little easier, and that goodness, because today was a full day.

The Mushrooms:

• mushrooms sliced - I think I used about 4oz
• 5 cloves garlic cloves chopped
• 1/4c onion chopped
• dried oregano
• dried thyme
• butter
• salt
• pepper
• splash of beer (just to deglaze)

Saute mushrooms, garlic and onion in butter until beginning to soften. Add oregano, thyme, salt and pepper to taste. Cook off liquid from mushrooms and deglaze with any liquid you have handy... water, wine... Nut was beside me drinking a beer, so he contributed a splash.

Rice:

• 1/2c brown rice
• 1t coriander
• 1t cumin
• 1 chicken bouillon cube (Any style of bouillon will do. If using a cube, I would suggest grinding it into a powder first. I used a liquid chicken base.)
• 1 1/2c water

Combine first four ingredients In saucepan and heat until smelling toasty. Then add water. Bring to boil, then simmer for about 45 minutes. Remember brown rice takes longer to cook than white rice.

Split Peas:

• leftover split pea soup.... I would estimate I had about four cups leftover.
• dry bread crumbs

Combine mushroom mixture, rice mixture, and three heaping palms of breadcrumbs into the split pea soup. Season with salt and pepper. Put the pea mixture in fridge for at least 30 minutes
to thicken.

Burgers:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Form the chilled burger mixture into 1/2" thick burgers roughly the size of the bun you're using. I was able to get 10 burgers. Dredge burgers in more breadcrumbs and set them on cookie sheet with either parchment or non-stick foil to avoid sticking. Drizzle each patty with olive oil (vegetable oil works too) and season with salt, pepper, and I used garlic and onion powder as well, but this is optional. Bake for 30 minutes. Gently turn patties over and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes. Burgers will be brown and crispy on the outside and a softer texture on the inside.

Your burgers are now ready. Tonight we had ours on buns with normal hamburger fixins. Had mayo on mine with lettuce, onion, tomato, and dill pickles. Yum!

Taste Tester Results: My favorite carnivore said the burgers had good flavor. He was proving that notion later when I caught him sneeking some nibbles from the leftover burgers. Always a good sign!

Smothered Burgers

Nut browned five burger patties (the frozen preformed patties from our local superstore). Four made it into the crockpot, one was split for lunch. This was the springboard for tonight's dinner.

Smothered burgers.

The next step was simple chop and drop. The bottom of the crockpot:

• 1 onion chuncked
• 3 celery stalks, chopped into 1 1/2" pieces
• 5 boiling potatoes, cut either in halves or thirds depending on size.
• 1 large garlic clove, chopped

Those wonderful burger patties go on top. they weren't seasoned when browned because the seasoning is now going on top. Now I usually cook in the crockpot by eye and smell. I'm giving the seasonings that I put in, but eyeball it. I visualize a good dusting of each.

• ground thyme
• onion powder
• garlic powder
• black pepper
• lime chile seasoning
• 1 pkg beef stew seasoning

Added atop of this, 2 cans diced or stewed tomatoes, and some beer. I used what Nut had left in his can which what felt like 2/3 a can. (don't worry, I got him another one!)

Lid on the crockpot, on high for four hours.


When serving, whatever bread you have on hand, warm that up too, and serve with these smothered burgers. It's wonderful to sop up that yummy sauce.