Nom-Able

Okay, it’s the summer, so I’m going to be honest with you all right now — I really do not enjoy cooking during the summer, especially not during 90 degree days when my pale white ass is going to turn lobster red if I even step foot out of my front door. And don’t get me started on the futile battle that is running an air conditioner and oven fan at the same time! So, you could be forgiven for assuming that I’d do very little baking during the typically hottest months of the year.

But you’d be wrong.

If there’s one thing I will cook in the summer, it’s burgers; too bad most burgers are packed with fillers such as bread crumbs. Hell, I once came across a horrible recipe that suggested cornmeal in your hamburger patties. Ugh! And then there’s the seasonings, the dressings, the “flavor enhancer” (read: MSG) that my mother’s side of the family insists has to be present for a burger to taste right. Gag.

This recipe, from my brief time subscribing to the mind-numbingly simple-minded Real Simple magazine, however, has been a favorite of mine for at least two years now. It’s packed with veggies in a sneaky, Deceptively Delicious or even The Sneaky Chef and has no white carb — or any wheat-based carb — filler, which means you’re eating meat, egg, and veggies with a bit of healthful garlic and flavorful thyme, so it’s great for those watching their weight and those with wheat allergies or Celiacs disease.

Having said that, there are some caveats. First, the moisture of your burgers — and subsequently how well they hold together — is going to be determined by how large you interpret the “medium” carrot and zucchini (courgette for you English-types!) to be. Even after making this recipe over many summers, I still grate too much zucchini or too little carrot and end up with delicious burgers that fall apart in the pan if they’re not half-way cooked before flipping. This is remedied easily enough by making sure that you don’t flip until the meat is white half-way up the side of the burger, the meat on the bottom is very brown, and you’re not getting a lot of blood out of the burger when you press down. (Yes, most of the time you shouldn’t press down on your burgers, as it decreases the moisture. This is NOT a problem with these.) Also, because of their fragile nature until cooked, you must(!) cover your grill with foil — you cannot do these babies over an open flame without losing a burger or two to the gas/charcoal gods — and well-done is the only way to serve them.

Now, since I’m on a “Ewww, is THAT what’s in my processed food?” fixation right now, I decided to couple my healthy burgers with homemade rolls, and The New York Times came to the rescue by covering gourmet burger joints. What excellent timing!

Once again, there are a few things you should know about these delicious and perfect rolls.

The original recipe’s directions seemed pretty straight forward, though labor intensive. Luckily, I had my trusty KitchenAid Artisan 5-Quart Stand Mixers, which I’ve used on everything from pizza dough to French bread without issue. After the recommended 10 minutes, however, the dough was not silky (though it was stretchy) as promised, but was instead a bit sticky.

This could have something to do with the fact that instead of mostly bread flour with a 1/3 c. of all purpose flour, I used 3 and 1/3 cups of whole wheat, vitamin-enriched flour, you know, for health! However, this greatly altered the texture of the dough, so against advice from the New York Times, I lightly floured a cutting board and smacked that dough around in the flour for a minute or so.

That showed it. Or, at least, it did for the time being. 2 hours later it was more-than doubled in size…and sticky again. So back onto a lightly-floured cutting board it went.

The next problem — and the one most visible in the photo of the finished rolls — is that the recipe was specific. Let rise 1-2 hours. Cut into 8 pieces. Roll into balls. Put on parchment paper. Let rise another 1-2 hours, then straight into the oven. Unfortunately, after 2 hours, the rolls had spread out into round, bubbly disks and looked a bit more like individual ciabatta breads than plump hamburger rolls. I started to throw the whole tray into the oven, assuming they’d magically plump up into rolls or something, but my baker’s instinct took over and I snatched four rolls off the tray, re-rolling them into balls, covering them again with a damp cloth, and letting them rest while the first batch cooked in the oven.

Can you see the difference? Yeh, I thought you could. So the recipe has been modified to that effect.

Still, the flat rolls have made delicious bread for sandwiches all week — both a grilled chicken breast sandwich and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich were greatly enhanced by using the flat, ciabatta-like rolls, so it’s still pretty much a win-win if your rolls are more bread than bun.

Light Brioche Buns

INGREDIENTS

• 3 tablespoons warm milk


• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast


• 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar


• 2 large eggs


• 3 cups bread flour


• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour


• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt


• 2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened.

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine warm milk with 1 cup of water and sugar. Add yeast and stir to moisten. Allow to sit in a warm, draft-free place for ten minutes.
2. While proofing the yeast, sift flours and salt into a bowl. Add in butter and cut to combine with a pastry blender or dough hook until pea-sized balls form.
3. Using a mixer with a dough hook, add yeast mixture to flour and stir until moistened. Set the mixer on the lowest setting and let it knead the dough for about 10 minutes.
4. Spray a clean bowl with non-stick cooking spray. Transfer dough from mixing bowl to oiled bowl (If dough is sticky, coat hands with flour first and knead by hand for a minute or so to incorporate a bit more flour.) Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 1-2 hours.
5. Dump dough onto a very lightly floured cutting board and cut into 8 equal pieces. Roll into balls. Place on a parchment-paper covered cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart; cover with a damp kitchen towel; and allow to rest and other 1-2 hours.
6. Remove rolls from parchment paper and roll into balls a second time. Return to cookie sheets and place another warm, damp kitchen towel over them.
7. Place a shallow tray of water into the oven, and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
8. After about 15 minutes (or when the oven is heated to 400 degrees, whichever comes later), place the rolls into the oven and bake for 15 minutes, until golden brown.
9. Remove from over, transfer to a wire rack, and cool at least 5 minutes before serving

Turkey Burgers with Grated Zucchini and Carrot

INGREDIENTS
• 3/4 pound ground turkey
• 1 medium zucchini, grated
• 1 medium carrot, grated
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 large egg
• 3 tablespoons olive oil

DIRECTIONS

1. In a mixing bowl, mix together turkey meat, carrot, zucchini, garlic, thyme, kosher salt, black pepper, and egg.
2. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Scoop meat into the skillet, pressing down once to form a patty. Cook for five minutes per side, or until it reaches an internal temperature of 170 degrees, the meat is no longer pink in the middle, and juices run clear.

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