umami burger

After making Wednesday's Chipotle Firm Vegan Cheese, I wanted to have something to put it on, so I came up with this Umami Burger. Umami is our other taste, besides salty, sweet, bitter and sour, and roughly translates to mean meaty or savory. It is the same depth of flavor that is in greens, tomatoes, soy sauce and miso.

This is a simple burger, but it is packed with chard (or kale), beans, miso and garlic and is then topped with the Chipotle Firm Vegan Cheese, jalapenos, a grilled tomato and soy curls bacon bits. My husband thought that a few pickle slices and some vegan mayo couldn't hurt, either. 

First thing to do is make the bacon bits - or you can use any bacon you like: barley, tempeh, tofu, seitan, mushroom, etc. If you need some good bacon recipes, Baconish has you covered. 

If, however, you have the dregs from the bottom of your soy curls bag (or you have some TVP or whole soy curls, which you can grind into bits), then make the bacon first. It's pretty easy.

Then make the burger by pulsing the ingredients in your food processor and then giving it a few minutes' knead to develop the gluten. If you'd rather not use the gluten, then use quick oats. Bake the patties and cool about 30 minutes before using. 

Then, grill the thick tomato slices, grill the patties and top with the cheese and bacon bits. Add jalapenos and pickles and serve right away. Enjoy!

Umami Burger

Makes 5 patties

Burger patties:

1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans

1/2 cup packed chopped steamed greens (squeeze excess water from greens before measuring)

1/2 cup vital wheat gluten or 1/2 cup quick cooking oats

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

2 teaspoons dark miso (not mellow white miso)

Sea salt

For serving:

Thick cut grilled tomatoes

Chipotle Firm Vegan Cheese, sliced

Bacon Bits (recipe below) or other vegan bacon

Burger buns, toasted

Jalapeno slices

Pickle slices

1. Preheat the oven to 300-degrees F. Add the beans, greens, gluten, garlic and miso to a food processor. Pulse twenty times to break up the beans and miso. Transfer to a large bowl and knead until gluten threads form. Add salt to taste. Divide the mixture into 5 portions and form each portion into a 2-inch in diameter patty. 

2. Place the burgers on a baking sheet and add 1/4 cup of water to the pan. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake for 15 minutes. Flip and continue to bake for another 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to firm up, about 30 minutes.

3. Heat a medium grill pan over medium heat. First grill the tomatoes, about 3 minutes per side and keep warm. Spray the patties with oil and grill them for 5 minutes. Warm the cheese slices in a separate skillet to begin melting them. 

4. Flip the burgers and add the warmed cheese and then add the grilled tomatoes. Cover the pan and continue to grill for another 5 minutes or until the burger is marked and the cheese melts. 

5. Make the burgers by adding them to the bottom of a toasted bun. Top with bacon bits and jalapeno slices, and pickles, if using. Top with the burger buns and serve. 

Bacon Bits:

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup reduced-sodium tamari

2 tablespoons vegan Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons liquid smoke

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup soy curl grounds (from the bottom of a bag or ground soy curls)

1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon neutral oil (optional)

1. Combine the water, tamari, Worcestershire, smoke, yeast, and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil and add the soy curls. Mix well, remove from heat and set aside for 10 minutes.

2. Preheat the oven to 350-degrees F. Add the hydrated curls to a baking sheet and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until almost crisp. Add the oil and stir about 20 minutes into the baking time.It is important to stir every 5 minutes to avoid burning the curls. 

2. The bits will become more crisp as they cool. Store in airtight container as soon as cooled. 

© 2016 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

PIN IT!

chipotle firm vegan cheese (aquafaba recipe)

Someone ask me if there was a way to make the cheese in my new book without oil (the Everyday Cheese that appears in Aquafaba) and while I've been experimenting with it, I wanted to try a different version - one with a different flavor and a firmer texture.

I came up with a funky, Gouda-type cheese with a kick: Chipotle Firm Vegan Cheese.

This is about as firm as I could get the cheese using agar and no nuts, and unripened. This cheese is ready as soon as it cools down. If you want to age it, I am sure it will get more firm. You could put it in your fridge (wrapped in paper towels for a few days, is a method Sky Conroy recommends and I think I will try it with these cheeses) to age and dry out a bit. It should certainly become more firm, but if you want something quick, here it is.

The flavor is dark, deep and funky (like cheese) and it melts if you give it enough time and moist heat. I have placed a slice directly onto the pan to warm up and then, using a spatula, placed it on the burger or bread (for grilled cheese - really nice!) and then continued to cook it until it melted. Use a lid and a few teaspoons of water in the pan to provide that moist heat.

The cheese is simple to make, but you will need non-dairy yogurt. If you make your own, you are ahead of the game, but if you buy commercially made yogurt, try not to use the coconut-based one because your cheese will taste like coconuts.

First, combine aquafaba and agar and set it aside to soften. Make sure to mix it well, not like the picture.

Because I wanted to make this either soy-free or nut-free and with little fat, I am using yogurt as the base of the cheese. The yogurt also supplies vegan lactic acid, which gives cheese tang, but if you have some vegan lactic acid hanging around then add 1/2 teaspoon of that as well.

Blend the rest of the ingredients...

...cook the agar and aquafaba mixture until the agar dissolves, and add the mixture. Whisk well and cook until the temperature reaches at least 195-degrees F - about 5 minutes.

Stir constantly to avoid burning to the bottom and transfer to a mold or container.

Now, admittedly, the photo below (and the first one above) was the very first version of this cheese. I wasn't satisfied with the texture and made it a few more times before I settled on the recipe below. The one pictured is a bit softer than I liked and the recipe I am actually sharing is for one that is firm, but not so firm that you feel like you are eating one of those agar plates from high school microbiology. Fun vision, right?

Oh and hey! If you by chance got this far in the post, and by chance purchased Aquafaba, and by chance are enjoying the recipes, and by chance wouldn't mind, could you scoot over to Amazon and leave feedback? Only, if you don't mind. The link to the book is right HERE.

Chipotle Firm Vegan Cheese - aquafaba recipe
Makes 1 block

1/2 cup aquafaba**
3 teaspoons agar powder

1/2 cup unsweetened plain nondairy milk
1/2 cup unsweetened plain nondairy yogurt (not coconut)
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons tapioca starch
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic granules
1/2 teaspoon vegan lactic acid (optional)
2 teaspoons dark miso (not mellow white miso)
1 teaspoon vegan Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon chipotle in adobo puree


1. Combine the aquafaba and agar in a medium saucepan. Mix well and set aside to soften. 
2. Combine the milk, yogurt, yeast, starch, salt, garlic, lactic acid, miso, Worcestershire and chipotle in a blender. Blend very well. Set aside. Have a 2-cup mold ready for the cheese.
3. Heat the saucepan of aquafaba over medium heat. Bring to boil and cook for 1 minutes. Slowly add the blender mixture to the aquafaba mixture while stirring with a whisk. Whisk until smooth and bring back to boil. Once boiling, switch to a spatula and cook the mixture for 5 minutes. The cheese should reach 195-degrees F for the agar to completely dissolve. 
4. Immediately transfer the cheese to the mold and cool. Once cool place in the refrigerator to completely chill and firm up. Remove from the mold and slice and serve.  



** Although aquafaba is best if homemade using the recipe provided in the book, you can use aquafaba from canned chickpeas. Use the organic, low-sodium, canned chickpeas and strain off the liquid into a measuring cup using a fine mesh strainer. Note the amount of liquid you acquired, then add it to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the liquid reduces by 1/3. Cool the aquafaba completely before using.



© 2016 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

PIN IT!