Walnut Mushroom and Bean Burgers

Walnut mushroom bean burgers

(Approximates as I was just using up what I had)

3/4 cup walnut pieces
10 button mushrooms, halved
Handful (20?) Greenbeans, trimmed
2-3 shallots / 1 small onion, quartered
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup wholemeal breadcrumbs
1 Tablespoon miso paste (I used rice miso)
1 Tablespoon vegan worchester sauce
1 teaspoon thyme
....then to bind....
1 smallish steamed potato, peeled and smashed
2 Tablespoons vital wheat gluten

Put all first group of ingredients in a food processor and whizz until quite consistent texture. Transfer to large bowl with potato, mix together then sprinkle over gluten and mix that in last, with hands if needed. Shape into patties. This made 10 small patties. Could be put in fridge/freezer or cooked straight away.
Fry a couple of minutes each side to brown then place on ovenproof tray and bake at 180 for...some time while you look after kids / housework and just get them before they're too dried out! So, another 15 minutes? Check on them...
I used vegan mayo and Indian pickle for sauces but use whstever you think would go well. Something like a garlic vegan aioli or a smoky chipotle sauce or ajvar?
Let us know if you try and have improvements!

Mushroom and Herb Polenta (vegan)

Recipe slightly adapted (veganised) from 'Plenty' by Yotam Ottolenghi

"When cooking polenta my father always makes much more than he needs. Half of it he serves straight away in the runny state with a flavoursome sauce. The rest he spreads on an oiled surface and allows it to set. Then next day, he cuts out chunks, fries them in olive oil, and serves with a chunky vegetable salad (tomato, cucumber, cos lettuce) dressed lightly with red wine vinegar and olive oil. The dish here uses soft polenta but you may wish to double the quantity to follow my father's idea."

Serves 2

4 Tbsp of olive oil
350g mixed mushrooms, large ones halved
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 Tbsp chopped tarragon
1 Tbsp chopped thyme
1 Tbsp truffle oil (if you have it)
500ml vegetable stock
80g polenta (instant or traditional)
80 g vegan parmesan*
30 g vegan butter or olive oil
1 Tbsp finely chopped rosemary
1 Tbsp chopped chervil
100g decent vegan melting cheese (if available, or skip), cut into 1cm slices
salt and black pepper

Method
Heat up half the olive oil in a large frying pan. Once hot, add half the mushrooms and fry for a few minutes, or until just cooked; try not to move them much to allow them can develop golden brown patches on their surface. Remove from the pan, and repeat with the rest of the mushrooms and oil.

Off the heat, return all the mushrooms to the pan and add the garlic, tarragon, thyme, truffle oil and some salt and pepper. Keep warm.

Bring the stock to the boil in a saucepan. Slowly stir in the polenta, then reduce heat to the minimum and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. The polenta is ready when it leaves the sides of the pan but is still runny. If you are using instant polenta, this shouldn't take more than five minutes. With traditional polenta it could take up to 50 minutes (if it seems to dry out add some more stock or water but just enough to keep it at a thick porridge consistency).

Preheat the grill to high. When the polenta is ready, stir in the vegan parmesan, butter/oil, rosemary and half the chervil. Season with salt and pepper. Spread the polenta over a heatproof dish and top with the vegan cheese, if using. Place under till cheese bubbles / things look golden, not burnt. Remove. Top with the mushrooms and their juices and return to the grill for a minute to warm up. Serve hot, garnished with the remaining chervil.

Mushroom and Chestnut Ragoût with Potato and Celeriac Mash

Mushrooms are big around here. Well, actually, they're fairly small, the main type grown is the Paris white, known in NZ as the button mushroom. This isn't Paris so I don't know how they got that name (though I'm sure I will once I finally visit the mushroom museum) but I do know that this town /area produces 90% of France's button mushrooms.  

And are there button mushrooms in this recipe? Only if you want there to be. The recipe calls for portobello and dried porcini mushrooms but I used a mix of varieties I don't even know the names of. I just buy them at the market from the mushroom lady. So feel free, as ever, to adapt this recipe to your tastes. I reduced the cream (it called for 5 T, I felt that was too much and I think it could be lovely without any, too). Also, I had no sherry so used balsamic vinegar which I added a tiny bit at a time, tasting until I got it right. The other thing I didn't have was sweet potatoes / kumara so I made a mash using potatoes and celeriac, an idea I'd got from my husband's guy friends who cooked delicious dishes for their New Year's Party - to my surprise as I think a bunch of mates from an agricultural college in NZ probably wouldn't be so gourmet - at least not cooking for each other at a party. But that's the French for you. And of course their mash had heaps of butter. So you could follow suit and go crazy with the butter if you hold back on the cream in the ragout. But the ragout is very rich so don't over-do both!

I'm not sure what you could replace chestnuts with if you can't find any. In Australia I found them for sale in cans. Chestnuts are lovely with their distinct sweet and savoury taste and firm and sort of buttery texture. Perhaps soaked cashews could work? Other ideas?

Mushroom and Chestnut Ragoût Potato and Celeriac Mash

Recipe comes from the 'Simmer' section (so DO, don't rush it!) of the cookbook 'New Vegetarian Kitchen' by Nicola Graimes (UK book).

Serves 4

40g / 1¼ oz dried porcini mushrooms

3 T olive oil

40g / 1½ oz butter

350g / 12 oz shallots, peeled and halved with the base intact, or quartered if large

500g / 1 lb 2 oz portobello mushrooms, thickly sliced

2 tsp dried thyme

125ml / 4fl oz / ½ cup dry sherry (or an alternative. I used 2+ T balsamic vinegar)

250g / 9 oz cooked chestnuts, thickly sliced

2 Tbsp light soy sauce

a few splashes of hot pepper sauce

2-5 Tbsp double cream

leaves from a few parsley sprigs, chopped

salt and freshly ground black pepper

500 g potatoes, peeled and chopped into chunks

400 g celeriac, peeled and chopped into large chunks

(or replace potatoes and celeriac with 900g of kumara / sweet potato)

2 large garlic cloves

150 ml / 5 fl oz / scant ⅔ c milk

30 g / 1 oz butter

1 Soak the porcini mushrooms in 150 ml / 5 fl oz / scant ⅔ c boiled water for 20 mins until softened.

2 Heat the olive oil and butter in a large, heavy-based saucepan over a medium-low heat and cook the shallots for 12 minutes, stirring regularly, until softened and golden in places. Add the portobello mushrooms and cook for another 4-5 minutes until tender.

3 Strain the porcini mushrooms, reserving the soaking liquid, and add them to the pan, along with the thyme and sherry. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat to low and simmer until the liquid has reduced by half and there is no aroma of alcohol.

4 Add the prcini soaking liquid, chestnuts, soy sauce and hot pepper sauce and simmer for 10-15 minutes until reduced by half. Stir in the cream and heat through gently, then season with salt and pepper.

5 Meanwhile, make the mash. Cook the vegetables (potato and celeriac, or sweet potato) and garlic in boiling salted water for 10 minutes or until tender, then drain and return to the pan. Add the milk and butter, season well with salt and pepper and warm through (or better yet, warm milk and butter before adding - but this makes more dishes). Mash until smooth, then cover with a lid to keep warm.

6 Sprinkle the ragout with parsley and serve with the mash/puree