Good old black bean burgers

Ever since I tried the black bean burger special years ago at the Hilltop, I've been hooked. I remember how disappointed I used to get when the special disappeared and I had to settle for the cilantro pesto quesadillas (good, but doesn't stand a patch against the BBB!) instead. And then we discovered that the 74th Street Ale House carries the BBB as a regular entree. As does the Columbia City Ale House! Weeeeeeeeee!!!

So, the next natural step in the BBB ingestion process was to attempt recreating the burger. Pretty much all attempts so far have been pretty good. Plus the burger patties freeze really well - and it works better to make a big batch since I need to use atleast a can of black beans when making these. Well, last night was one of those BBB nights. It has been a few months since I made these, plus the blog doesn't have an entry for it! Which means it was time to embark on making another batch of BBBs. And this time around was the best, by far! All the flavors balanced out, it seemed like the quantities were perfect and the patties cooked really well and held together. And now I *have* to document it for the next time I need to whip up a batch!

Black Bean Burgers
(makes 10 large patties)

1/2 medium vidalia onion - chopped fine
1/3 medium red onion - chopped fine
1/2 orange bell pepper - chopped fine
1/2 granny smith apple - chopped fine
4 cloves garlic
1 jalapeno pepper
1.5" ginger
2 cans black beans
1/2 t allspice
1 t olive oil
1 t cumin seeds
salt
a few drops of habanero sauce

Grind up the garlic, ginger and jalapeno into a coarse paste, adding a little water if needed.
Heat the oil in a saucepan and toss in the cumin seeds. Once they're browned, add the onions and saute them till translucent.
Add the bell peppers, apple, allspice and ginger/garlic/jalapeno mix and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
Now add the black beans, salt and habanero sauce and stir.
Lightly mash the mixture with the ladle - not too much! (We still want chunky black beans in our patties :))
Cook'n'stir for a couple more minutes.

Once the mixture cools, take generous handfuls and flatten each into a chubby 4" diameter patty. These can be cooked in batches on a lightly greased pan till browned and crisp on both sides.


We usually eat these with mediterranean flatbread from TJ's. Place a patty in a folded, toasted flatbread, dress it with maybe some horseradish dip (yum!) and some salad.

Wait, we need a salad! Which brings me to my current favorite fruit - pomegranate! *so* good! Uwajimaya currently has some awesome pomegranates, can't wait to go back for more! So, I had to throw those into my green salad!

Yummy mixed greens salad

2 cups romaine/endive/spinach greens mix
8-10 sugar plum tomatoes - sliced
a handful of pomegranate seeds
1 t balsamic vinegar
a few drops of truffle oil
salt'n'pepper
grated beer cheese

Basically, just toss all of these together :) This beer cheese - a new item at TJ's is totally awesome! Milky, yet somewhat firm and bursting with flavor. And it does have a slight beer aftersmell! Which actually tastes good :)

Mmm ... pomegranates!


These BBBs might just have to be my unconventional entry for Marie's sammy event!


This goes to Zorra and Sandra for their Best of 2007 event - the first batch of burgers that I made were pretty good, but it took a few rounds of experimenting before I finally hit the perfect balance. Burger heaven is a great place to be in!