When you think July, you think grilling. Nothing says Fourth of July like a cook out with burgers and brats. It's the perfect time to be outdoors!
But is it really? I mean, if your July is anything like ours (and the rest of the country), it's HOT. You may say, "Why yes, no need to make the house any warmer by heating up the oven." But your house (probably unlike ours) has air conditioning. It's OK to turn the oven on. Think about the poor person watching the grill. She has to stand outside in the heat next to a giant open flame. No fun for her! And no fun for your guests who have to slather on sunscreen and fight off bees, mosquitos, and flies.
Nay, I say to you! Make this July 4th an indoor affair. Buck the system! Fight the man! It's what our forefathers would have wanted. Win everyone over to your indoor revolution with this recipe.
Notes: My choice of bread for the burgers was a bit...well, comical. I really wanted to put them on English muffins and as far as taste goes it was a good choice. But the burgers were much larger than I anticipated; I thought they'd shrink more. So there was a very skewed mushroom-to-bun ratio. Other than that, these were delicious!
I topped these with sliced tomatoes, baby spinach, crumbled goat cheese, and mashed avocado mixed with pesto sauce. You MUST try it.
If you want to make the potatoes with a vegetarian fat, you can always use butter or coconut oil. I'm sure it will be tasty, but there's just no replacing that bacon fatty goodness!
Ingredients for the burgers (serves 2):
2 large portobello mushrooms
2 scallions
3 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon herbs de provence
Salt
Pepper
Ingredients for potato coins:
1/2-3/4 pound of small Yukon gold or fingerling potatoes
2 tablespoons bacon fat
3 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon herbs de provence
Salt
Pepper
Directions: Preheat your broiler (mine only has one setting, which seems to be high)
First, make the marinade for your burgers. Slice the scallions and garlic and add them to a bowl or a zip top plastic bag. Pour in the oil and soy sauce and season with salt, pepper, and herbs de provence. Whisk or shake to combine. Clean your mushrooms with a wet paper towel, remove the stems, and add the caps to the bowl or bag making sure that they are well coated. Let stand about 10-15 minutes.
Thinly slice your potatoes into 1/4-1/8 inch thick coins. Heat the bacon fat over medium high in a large skillet. Peel the garlic cloves and let them brown in the fat while it heats up. When the garlic is golden brown, remove it and discard. Lay the potato coins in the skillet as best you can in one layer. Let them cook on one side until they develop a nice golden crust (approx. 7 minutes). Season with salt, pepper, and herbs de provence. Then, as best you can, flip them over just once and do the same with the other side (approx. 5 minutes).
Once you get the potatoes in the pan, put the mushrooms under the broiler. They'll take about 8 minutes to cook. Start them gill side up and flip them every two minutes or so.
Top your mushroom burgers with your favorite burger toppings and enjoy your indoor celebration!
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| Photo courtesy of Scott -- he had to work for his dinner! |
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