Sweet Potato and Greens Burger - Greens 24/7

Jessica Nadel's blog, cupcakesandkale and Facebook page  will be well known to vegetarian and vegan cooks and now Jessica has had a book published,  Greens 24/7: Delicious Recipes for Green Veg at Every Meal.

Greens 24/7 has more than 100 quick and easy recipes for turning leafy greens into delicious vegan meals, snacks, smoothers and cakes as well as nutritional information, and helpful ingredient factfiles.


About the Author
Jessica Nadel is a freelance writer and blogger at Cupcakes and Kale, she is also the owner and baker at Oh My Bakeshop, a natural organic bakery.

Introducing Greens - Jessica admits, that like most kids she didn't really like greens, however she changed her mind once she was shopping and cooking for herself and found creative ways to cook and serve them. Jessica is on a mission to get us cooking and eating some of the more unusual greens as well as those we are familiar with.

Green Fact Files - Here you learn all about the different greens, which vitamins and minerals they contain and a mini index of recipes in the book containing each different type of green vegetable. The most popular greens get a little 'recipe card' style entry and then there are a couple of pages information about  'other greens'. This is followed by a sort of glossary of other ingredients used in the book with which you may not be familiar.

Typical Day Green Menu Plan - Jessica has helpfully put together some menus using the recipes in the book, each day has a recipe for breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner and dessert.

And so to the recipes...

Smoothies and Breakfasts presents a wide range of smoothies including Chocolate Superfood Smoothie, Lemon Ginger and Parsley Smoothie and Hello Sunshine Smoothie. I really liked the sound of Cinnamon and Courgette Waffles, Kale and Herb Cornbread Muffins and Breakfast Sandwich with Avocado and Rocket.

Green Sides and Small Bites contains some really fun, simple to make recipes including Cucumber Pesto Canapes, Pesto Polenta Fries with Aioli, Dandelion Colcannon, Spicy Garlic Bok Choy and Kale and Walnut Pesto (which seems to feature in quite a few other recipes).

Green Soups and Salads is full of creative ideas for this tradtional home of green things.  Soups such as Mexican Tortilla Soup, Raw Summer Soup and Curried Dahl with Chard.  In the Salad bowl you will find Beetroot Greens, Pear and Maple Walnut Salad, Kale Waldorf Salad with Avocado Astoria Dressing and  Rocket Watercress and Stone Fruit Salad with Jalapeno Dressing

Green Main Meals is absolutely packed full of great ideas for green dinners, the following recipes particularly caught my attention. Spicy Peanut Noodle Bowl, Orichette with Chard, Sundried Tomatoes and Toasted Almonds, Stuffed Baked Sweet Potatoes with Broccoli, Swiss Chard and Hummus and Sweet Potato and Greens Burger which I chose to make for this review.

Green Cakes and Desserts, who knew there were so many ways to green up the sweet stuff?  You can feast on Chocolate Dipped Kale Crisps, Chocolate Hazelnut and Avocado Tart, Avocado and Kiwi Iced Birthday Cake, Lemon and Parsley Olive Oil Cake and Vanilla Mint 'Cheesecake'. There are a couple of beverages to wash down all this green goodness Sage and Lavender Tea and Dandelion Mimosas.

Who is it for? Vegetarians, vegans and anyone who wants to eat less meat and more green vegetables.

Pros
The recipes are interesting and varied, they are also well laid out with the ingredients on the left and instructions on the right.  I liked that each recipe included nutritional information, very nicely done. The photographs are good although not every recipe is accompanied by a photo, I was more attracted to read the recipes that did have a photo.

Cons - this is one of those very annoying books which won't sit open flat.  I  used my cook book stand to hold it open when I was cooking, but I can see that the spine wouldn't last long as you are forcing it to lie flat.  Many of the greens are easily available but I felt this book would be more useful in late spring and summer when most green things (other than cabbage and kale) are in season.

The Verdict
The jury is out on this book, I'm not Vegan or Vegetarian although I do enjoy meat free recipes and I really like greens, I think what is holding me back here is the availability of different types of greens so I'm going to hang on to the book and have another go when the weather is warmer and there is more variety of green things for me to use in the recipes.



Sweet Potato and Greens Burger
Serves 4 (Prep 40 minutes, Cook 100 minutes)

1 large sweet potato
170g (5 3/4 oz) cooked pinto beans, drained and rinsed if canned
50g (1 1/2 oz) greens (beetroot greens, radish greens, turnip greens, chard etc) chopped
2 green onions, diced
50g (1 3/4 oz) rolled oats
1 1/2 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp umeboshi vinegar
2 tbsp tahini
3 tbsp tamari
juice of a lemon
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
4 burger buns to serve
sprouts of fresh rocket, to serve

1. Preheat the oven to 200C (400F).  Skewer the potato with afork several times and place in a suitable dish.  Bake for an hour or until fork-tender.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before peeling and mashing the potato in a large bowl.
2. Add the pinto beans to the bowl and mash them in too, then add the greens, onions, oats Worcestershire sauce, umeboshi viengar and seasoning and mix to combine. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Reheat the oven to 200C (400F). Form the mixture inot four burgers, place on a baking sheet and cook for 0 minutes, then flip over and bake for another 15 minutes.  If desired you can then pan fry them for 2-3 mintues on each side.
4. Whisk together the tahini, tamari, lemon juice and a pinch of sea salt until smotth. Thin out with a little water to the desired consistency, if necessary. Serve the burgers on the buns, topped with the lmon tahini suace and sprouts or rocket.

Farmersgirl Kitchen Tips

• Microwave the sweet potatoes to save on fuel
• I couldn't get the greens mentioned in January, so used kale but wilted it with a little water before chopping. 

Greens 24/7 by Jessica Nadel
Published by Apple Press, 8th January 2015
RRP £14.99

I have one copy of Greens 24/7 to give away, follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter widget to enter.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Labels: Burgers, Cupcakes and Kale, giveaway, Greens, Jessica Nadel, Kale, Vegan, vegetarian

posted by Janice @ 07:03 42 Comments

Posh Burgers, Velvet Chicken and Scandi Salad - all in a box!

Do you find it difficult to decide what to cook?  And sometimes when you find a recipe you want to make, are you thwarted by not having all of the ingredients?  If the answer is yes, then you might want to order a Gousto box, especially as I have a special discount for your first order (see bottom of post).  Here is how it works:

• You choose the recipes from the website
• Gousto does the shopping
• Gousto measure everything
• Gousto deliver for free
• You cook and enjoy

Since the last time I reviewed a Gousto Box in 2012 they've made their boxes even better. Prices have been lowered by 17%, so meals now only cost £4.00 - £5.80 including delivery (three meals £34.99). That's on average 16% better than most supermarkets according to Moneysupermarket.com

The boxes still deliver the same great quality, using high quality animal welfare meat from British farms and Soil Association certified organic vegetables.  Gousto also have a new website so you can easily make your menu choices on your mobile phone, you can also rate the recipes more easily.
There are two new chefs at Gousto, Remi and Alice, who are creating amazing new recipes every week.  Have a look at the menu, there are 10 new recipes every week for you to choose from.  I had three recipes, each for two people,  in my box and every single one of them was super delicious and I learned a few tricks that I will use in future cooking.
Posh Burger and Chips with Homemade Ketchup: Rosemary-rubbed chunky chips, shards of melted cheddar and a trio of delicious handmade condiments make this burger something really special. This was a straightforward recipe to make even though there were lots of different components.  Including chunks of cheese in the burgers works really well, you don't really taste cheese, it just adds a lovely creaminess to the meat.  The star of the show was the homemade ketchup which I will definitely be making again.
Crunchy Chicken Cashew Stir-Fry with Basmati Rice: This recipe uses the velveting technique.  Velveting is cooking meat in egg for an extra moist finish. It sounds challenging, but it's surprisingly simple and makes this chicken stir-fry extra special. Cashew nuts make a delicious addition to a stir-fry and they are also rich in essential minerals like magnesium, iron and zinc.

The stir-fry chicken was really simple to make and made two generous portions, I reckon you could serve it to three people without any complaints.  The velveting made for the most tender chicken I've ever stir-fried and I will certainly do that again.

Summer Mackerel with Warm Gem Salad: The use of lemon in this dish helps to give the recipe a real zing and brings out the flavour of the mackerel.  

The quality of the mackerel was excellent and the flavour combinations were reminiscent of Scandinavian food. The onions are immersed in vinegar which reduces the pungency of it's raw flavour, another thing I hadn't tried before.

If you would like to try a Gousto Box you can get £25 off your first box by using the code FARMERSGIRL which works out at approx £9.99 for three gourmet meals for two.  

I received a Gousto box to review, I was not paid for this review and all opinons are my own. 

Labels: Burgers, Chicken, chinese, discount, Gousto, potato, review, salad, smoked mackerel, velvetting

posted by Janice @ 19:39 5 Comments

Gourmet Burgers and Luscious, Spiced Beetroot Relish

Sometimes two recipes just come together in a perfectly delicious union, and so it was with the Beetroot Relish and the Beetroot Burger.



The Beetroot Burger comes from Burgers  the new book from Paul Gayler MBE, hailed by James Martin as "the book I have been waiting for", which was sent to me for review. Paul Gayler was Executive Chef at The Lanesborough Hotel London, the five-star hotel on the edge of London’s Hyde Park. He has 20 years’ experience in some of the most respected kitchens and restaurants in Europe. As well as having made many appearances on British TV, he is the author of over 20 cookery books. He has also won the Guild of Food Writers’ Cookery Book of the Year and has been nominated for a prestigious André Simon Award.

  It is a fun book, shaped like a burger layered with goodies.  In Burgers, Paul Gayler presents his favourite 25 burger recipes. As well as the expected Ultimate burger with ‘the works’, there’s a wealth of delicious and imaginative offerings. For carnivores, there’s an eclectic mix and not just beef: choose, for instance, from a Caribbean pork burger, Smoked chicken cobb burger, Tandoori lamb burger or Turkey BLT burger stack. Vegetarians and fish eaters can enjoy a Feta club burger, Southwest red bean 
burger, Lebanese kibbeh burger or Jumbo prawn burger, among others. There really is a burger for everyone. There is also a section for 'Sides' including Simple Tomato Ketchup, Oven Cheese Fries, Moroccan-style Caponata  and Calypso Mojo.   But back to the Beetroot Burger, which is made with minced (ground) beef, the beetroot adds a glorious sweet and sour flavour, but doesn't overpower the beef at all and provides only a slight pinkish tinge, I made the smaller burgers as I felt that four burgers from this quantity of mince would make to large a portion for us. The smaller ones fit nicely on the muffin too!
Beetroot Burger
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
500g minced beef (ground chuck) chilled
2 egg yolks
1 tbsp capers, rinsed and chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tbsp pickled beetroot, finely chopped (or 3 tbsp Beetroot Relish)
1 tbsp pickled beetroot juice (omit if using relish)
vegetable oil, for brushing and frying.

To serve: 4 English Muffins, salad of tossed green leaves or wilted spinach, small boiled new potatoes.

1. Heat the butter and oil in a frying pan (skillet).  Cooke the onion slowly until pale and soft, then allow to cool
2. Combine the minced beef, egg yolks, capers, sea salt and pepper.
3. Add the onion and mix thoroughly together
4. Add the beetroot and juice (or relish), mix well.
5. With wet hands, shape the mixture into 4 large flat patties (the traditional shape, or 8 smaller taller patties.
6. Heat a char grill or pan grill, oil it and the patties lightly and cook them on a medium heat for about 5 minutes each side (alternately heat a little oil in a frying pan and cook them that way).
7. Split and toast the muffins, serve the burgers in the toasted muffins with a little salad of tossed green leave or with  a little wilted spinach and boiled new potatoes. I added an extra spoonful of Beetroot Relish on top of the burger, just because.

BURGERS: FROM THE ULTIMATE BURGER TO THE SOUTHWEST RED BEAN BURGER
by Paul Gayler MBE
Published by Jacqui Small
Shaped hardback 
August 2014
RRP £9.99


The Beetroot Relish comes via Not Quite Nigella and is made to her recipe for Lazy, Luscious, Spiced Beetroot Relish.  I bought some beetroot at the Farmers Market and was planning to make the Beetroot Chutney I made last year.  That particular recipe has a chunky texture which isn't very good for spreading on sandwiches, so I was looking for more of a relish with a softer texture and found this super simple recipe.  I cooked my beetroot in the Slow Cooker which has to be the easiest and least messy way to bake beetroot.
Simply wash the beetroot, place a piece of foil in the base of the slow cooker and put the beets on top. Bake for 5-6 hours depending on the size of the beetroot.  Then, wearing a pair of rubber gloves, slip the skins off before preparing for the relish. 


I can't emphasise enough how good this relish is, sweet, spicy and just enough acid tang to counteract the sweetness, but no burn and no earthy taste, it's just delicious and I plan to make another batch very soon. Thanks to 'Not Quite Nigella' for allowing me to link to her recipe. 

Labels: Beetroot Relish, Burgers, chutney, Cook book review, Jacqui Small, Paul Gayler, preserves, relish

posted by Janice @ 21:39 12 Comments

Chorizo Burgers - A Random Recipe

It wouldn't be Christmas without a new cookbook. I was lucky enough to receive two new books, 'eat, The little book of fast food' by Nigel Slater:


 and 'Dear Francesca, a cookbook with love' by Mary Contini:


They are both lovely books to read as well as to cook from so it was no hardship to choose a random recipe from one of my new books as requested by Dom at Belleau Kitchen for the Random Recipes Blog challenge.



Nigel Slater won the 'eeny meany miney mo' selection and then I just opened the little book of fast food randomly to find myself at the page for chorizo burgers. The recipe is copyright so I can't share it in it's entirety but there are only three ingredients: minced pork, cooking chorizo sausages, salt and pepper and ciabatta or pannini rolls. Nigel uses more chorizo than pork, my burgers were more like half and half. I simply formed the mix into burgers and fried them with a very little oil in a non-stick pan. 

I made the burgers rectangular to fit better onto the rolls!

The burgers were really easy to make on a Friday night, when I would usually stick a pizza straight from the freezer into the oven! The texture was nice and soft and the chorizo sausage gave the burgers a delightful smoky piquancy. I will definitely make these again.



I used Heck Smoky Chorizo style sausages, they have a good flavour and softer texture than some chorizo which made them easy to mix with the minced pork. Please don't be alarmed by the Use By date, they were frozen well before that date and defrosted in the fridge overnight before becoming burgers!

@FarmersgirlCook Thrilled to hear this. Thank you. And lovely picture.
— nigel slater (@NigelSlater) January 18, 2014

Labels: Burgers, chorizo, easy, fast, Heck Food, Mary Contini, Nigel Slater, Random Recipes, sausages

posted by Janice @ 15:34 9 Comments

Your favourites and mine 2013

Last year I did a round up of blog posts for the year, choosing the recipe with the most page views for each month your favourite, and the one that I like best, my favourite.  I enjoyed writing the post and you, dear readers, seemed to enjoy it too.  I've excluded those posts which had major giveaways as those do rather skew the page views!  Many thanks to all who viewed and/or commented  and to the hosts of all the challenges that I have entered.

January 

A soup of bacon and celeriac from The Kitchen Diaries II

Your favourite post in January 2013 was the launch of Dish of the Month, a blog challenge to cook the recipes of Nigel Slater.

My favourite was the Croque Monsieur Whoopie Pies from Let's Make Whoopies by Sophie Gray all part of Breakfast Club and Shake up your Wake Up Farmhouse Breakfast week.

February


Your favourite was this Rye and Spelt Bread and my review of Paul Hollywood's book 'Bread' 

My favourite was Mon Cherry Amour Cupcakes from Le Cookie by Michael Benichou.

March


Your favourite was The Marmalade Awards where I met up with Sue, from A Little Bit of Heaven on a Plate and Vivien Lloyd - The Jam Mistress!


My favourite was the birthday cake I made for my Mum's 80th, decorated with crystallised edible flowers.

April

Your favourite was my Random Recipe for April - Treacle Bites

My favourite was this Rhubarb and Orange Frangipane Tart, a recipe I got from Dom at Belleau Kitchen.

May

You favourite was my Rhubarb, Mango and White Chocolate Almond Cake which was an entry for We Should Cocoa.

My favourite in May was the Kugelhopf which I made for Alphabakes.  I have to say this is probably my overall favourite of the whole year, it was quite a labour of love and tasted so good.

June
Your favourite was this White and Green Cabbage with Coconut Chillies and Ginger from the Farm Shop Cookbook.

My favourite is the Vanilla and Coconut Cake I made from the Clandestine Cake Book for Tea Time Treats.

July

Your favourite was Cherry Frangipane Ramekins based on a Nigel Slater recipe for Dish of the Month.

My favourite was the Chocolate Lime Ice Cream I made using Mackays Lime Curd.You can see that my OXO Good Grips Ice Cream Scoop is well used!

August
Your favourite in August was the Cicchetti I made from Valentina Harris and Lindy Wildsmith.

My favourite was the Beef, Red Pepper and Lime Burgers from Miranda Ballard's Burgers and Sliders. I'm not much of a burger person but these were so good.


September




Your favourite in September was Dish of the Month, Lamb Pot Roast and Peach, Bramble and Almond Crumble

My choice is an old favourite with a twist, my Summer Falls into Autumn Pudding.

October
Your favourite in October was the Chelsea Buns I made from The World's Best Cakes book.

I've chosen Braised Scotch Lamb Shanks in Red Wine as my favourite, I cannot begin to tell you how good they were!

November

Sloe Cordial was a popular post in November and I can now report that it went down very well with the recipients!

I loved these Hot n Smoky Cheese and Tomato Wraps, quick and easy to make and very tasty.

December


My Virtual Christmas Party was a favourite post in December, I even won a prize from Pidy for these canapes!

It may not be the most photogenic of dishes, and I didn't think you could really improve on baked red cabbage,  but  Spiced Ginger Red Cabbage made with Mackays Spiced Ginger Preserve was even better than I expected.

Thank you so much for visiting Farmersgirl  Kitchen in 2013, I  hope you will return to see what I am cooking and baking in 2014.  I'll be back to wish you a Happy New Year and tell you about my future plans tomorrow.

Labels: 2013, Burgers, Dish of the Month, Farmersgril Kitchen, ice cream, Kugelhopf, Mackays, Nigel Slater, Paul Hollywood, review, rhubarb, Scotch Lamb, summer pudding, Vanilla and Coconut Cake

posted by Janice @ 08:30 6 Comments

Beef, Roasted Red Pepper and Lime Burgers - Review and Giveaway

The classic hamburger has gone from relatively humble beginnings to become an enduring symbol of fast food culture.  I remember when my Mum first visited the USA, Dad had been going on business since the late 60s, but it was the mid-70s before my Mum went and she came back having eaten homemade burgers, made only with beef and we never ate a manufactured burger again!

Burgers and sliders by Miranda Ballard is a slim volume packed with 30 gourmet recipes for full-on fat burgers and their mini cousins, the slider!

The Muddy Boots Story tells how Miranda and her husband set up their company making quality burgers using top cuts of the finest ethically farmed beef.

Making, Shaping and Cooking gives helpful hints on how to create and cook successful burgers.

Classic Beef includes The Ultimate restaurant burger, Italian burger with olives, sun dried tomatoes and pesto, Chilli Con Carne burger wrapped in grilled courgette slices, Beef, roasted red pepper & lime burger with creme fraiche and lambs lettuce (see recipe below), Beef and Black Bean Sliders and Spicy Beef and Pork Sliders with ginger and lime.

More Meat  includes Big Breakfast Burger with a portobello mushroom and a fried egg, Pork and Antipasti Burger with lemon mayo, Pork and Apple sliders with caramelised apple slices, Indian-style Lamb Sliders with Minted Yogurt & Mango Chutney.

Other Ideas includes Fish Pie Burger with Capers and Tartare Sauce, Cheesy Root Vegetable Burger with Mustard Mayo, Chicken Caesar Sliders, Christmas Canape sliders with cranberry sauce and Camembert.

Sauces and Sides including Homemade Fries, Mustard Mayo, Herb Mayo, Pesto Mayo, Homemade Tomato Ketchup and Classic and Sour Cream Coleslaw's.

These are a selection of the recipes in the book but  by no means all of them.

Beef, Roasted Red Pepper and Lime Burger
Makes 2
For the Burgers
1/2 red (bell) pepper, deseeded and chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
200g/7oz lean minced ground beef
2 tsp paprika
freshly grated zest of 1/2 a lime
3 tbsp fresh breadcrumbs
1 tbsp breadcrumbs
1 tbsp beaten egg
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve
2 seeded wholemeal/wholewheat bread rolls (optional)
a handful of lamb's lettuce/corn salad leaves, chopped
creme fraiche/sour cream
lime wedges, for squeezing

Pre-heat the grill/broiler to high.
Drizzle the pepper pieces with the oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Put them on a baking sheet and cook under the grill/broiler for 8-10 minutes, shaking regularly to brown evenly.  Remove form the grill/briler and set aside to cool.
Put the beef in a bowl with the paprika, lime zest, breadcrumbs, egg, garlic and salt and pepper.  Add the roasted pepper pieces and work together with your hands until evenly mixed.  Divide the beef mixture in half and shape into tow burger patties.  Press each burger down to make them nice and flat.
Put the burgers on a baking sheet and grill/broil for 5 minutes on each side until cooked through.
Slice the bread rolls in half, if using., and put a few lamb's lettuce/corn salad leaves on the bottom half of each bread roll.  Add the cooked burgers and top with a large spoonful of creme fraiche/sourcream.  Finish the burgers with the lids of the bread rolls, if using and serve with lime wedges, for squeezing.

The Verdict
The burgers had a really nice texture, they cooked through well, both under the grill, and also when fried.  They have a good flavour with the smokiness of the roasted peppers and paprika (I used smoked paprika) giving a barbequed flavour without a barbeque!

Who is it for?
Anyone who likes burgers and wants to try making their own, or who wants some inspiration as to how to make their burgers more exciting.  This is a go-to book for barbeques and family meals.  I think a lot of the mixtures would also make great meatballs.

Pros
Specialises in one type of dish, so you know what you are getting, nice big pictures (you know how much I like a good picture!) and the recipes are well laid out.

Cons
Not a lot of veggie options.

Worth Buying?
Yes, if you make a lot of burgers. Good to give as a gift to an adventurous BBQ King or Queen.


I have one copy of Burgers and Sliders by Miranda Ballard to giveaway to one lucky winner.  Just follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter widget below.  The giveaway ends on 31st August 2013.


a Rafflecopter giveaway


 Here is a second serving of the same burgers (I made extra burgers and froze half, then thawed overnight and fried up quickly for a mid-week supper).  This time I served them with some potato wedges and added some of the fabulous Sweet Cucumber Pickle I made at the weekend.  The recipe is an exclusive on Farmersgirl Kitchen Facebook page.  Like the page to access the recipe.
 
Burgers and Sliders by Miranda Ballard is published by Ryland Peters & Small at £9.99 and is available from www.rylandpeters.com

Labels: barbeque, BBQ, Burgers, giveaway, lime, Miranda Ballard, Muddy Boots, red pepper, Ryland Peters, Sliders, win

posted by Janice @ 07:00 16 Comments