Black Bean Veggie Burgers

Serves: 4 to 6 
Prep time: 20 min 
Cook time: 50 min

Ingredients

1 small yellow onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 cups (or 2 cans) cooked black beans, divided

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin powder

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 pinch black pepper or red pepper flakes, to taste

2/3 cup quick oats or breadcrumbs, plus extra as needed

3/4 cup fresh (or frozen and thawed) corn or peas

Directions

1.   Sauté onion and garlic in the olive oil for eight to ten minutes, or until golden, soft, and fragrant.

2.   Add 2 cups of the beans, the cumin, the paprika, the chili powder, the sea salt, and pepper to taste. Stir in the sauté pan everything is heated through.

3.   Preheat your oven to 350° F.

4.   Add the oats or breadcrumbs to the bowl of a food processor and pulse them a few times. Add the onion, garlic, and bean mixture. Process everything together until it's well combined but still has texture.

5.   Transfer mixture to a mixing bowl. Add the last cup of black beans and the corn and mix well with your hands. Check for seasoning and season to taste. If the mixture is too mushy to form into patties, add a little more oats or bread crumbs.

6.   Shape mixture into four large or six smaller patties. Transfer burgers to a baking sheet and bake for 30 to 35 minutes (or until golden), flipping once through. Alternately, you can chill them for twenty minutes before transferring them to a grill and cooking through. You can also pan fry them in olive oil until golden on each side.

Ma po tofu [ 麻婆豆腐 ]

Ma po tofu [ 麻婆豆腐 ]

Ingredients

1 block soft tofu

12 scallions

2 cups chicken broth

1 tbsp sichuan peppercorns

9 whole cloves garlic

1/3 cup broadbean [fava bean] chili paste

3-inch piece ginger, sliced into coins

1 tbsp fermented black beans

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tbsp sichuan chili powder [Korean chili powder can be substituted]

8 oz ground beef or pork

2 tbsp hoisin sauce

2 tsp toasted sesame oil

2 tbsp water

 1 tbsp corn starch

Firm the tofu

Cube soft tofu and place in a bowl. Add 2 cups chicken broth. Crush and slice 12 scallions and add them to the bowl. Cover and microwave for 5-7 minutes until steamed and hot and the tofu has firmed slightly. Let rest.

Make the spice paste

Toast sichuan peppercorns in microwave for 30 seconds, then grind. Next add garlic, chili paste, ginger, and black beans to food processor and pulse into a coarse paste, about 2 minutes. Add vegetable oil, sichuan chili powder, and 1 tsp of the ground sichuan peppercorns. Process until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Transfer mixture to a bowl. 

Brown the meat and paste

Add a little vegetable oil to a pan on medium heat. Add the ground beef or pork and cook, breaking it up, until it starts to brown, about 5-7 minutes. Remove meat to a bowl, leaving any accumulated fond in the pan. Add another tablespoon oil to the pan along with the spice paste. Bloom for 2-3 minutes, stirring to incorporate the fond, until paste turns darker and oil has separated out. 

Put it all together

Add the tofu, along with the chicken broth and scallions, back into the pan. Add hoisin, sesame oil, and the browned meat. Stir gently to combine. Bring to a simmer and cook for 2-3 minutes. Combine water and cornstarch in a small bowl and mix to form a slurry. Stir the slurry into the tofu. Mixture will thicken in 2-3 minutes. 

Serve in bowls with rice. Sprinkle over remaining ground sichuan peppercorns and enjoy.


from America's Test Kitchen™

French Meat Vocabulary

Les Mots      Terms

boucher      butcher
viande      meat
balance      scale
couteau      knife
saucisse     sausage

veau      veal

morceaux de viande       cuts

tranche       slice

jambon     ham

couenne     rind

hachée     minced or ground meat

joues      cheeks

gras      fat

os      bone

gigot      joint

peau      skin

foie      liver

cœur     heart

langue     tongue

cou      neck

tête      head

queue      tail

abats     offal

giber      game

venison      venison

lapin      rabbit

salé     salted

fumé       smoked

de ferme       free range

bio, naturel     organic

viande blanche       white meat

viande rouge     red meat

viande maigre      lean meat

viande cuite       cooked meat

viande crue / pas cuite     raw meat

Porc      Pork

poitrine     thinly-sliced bacon

lardons     thick-sliced bacon

tranche de lard       rasher

echine       shoulder [encompasses the blade bone and spare ribs]

côtes     rack of pork [loin chops]

côtelette     pork chop

filet     hind loin area

jambon     ham

avec la couenne     joint with crackling

Volaille      Poultry / Fowl

poulet     chicken

poulette     young chicken

dinde     turkey

coq     cockerel

pintade       guinea fowl

faisan     pheasant

canard     duck

oie     goose

caille       quail

cuisses     thighs

magret     breast

carcasse     carcass

blanc       breast / white meat

cuisse     thigh / leg / dark meat

Agneau     Lamb

gigot d’agneau     leg of lamb

echine     shoulder

côtes     rack of lamb [lamb chops]

collet       scrag [end]

poitrine / poitrail     breast

côtelette     lamb chop

jarret       shank, shin

selle      d’agneau saddle

Bœuf     Beef

bifsteck, steak     steak
bavette     flank steak

filet     fillet

faux-filet, bifsteck d'aloyau     sirloin; New York strip steak

osseline, onglet       hanger steak

bourgignon       cubed beef for braising

paleron, macreuse     shoulder cuts for braising

pot au feu, plat de côte     rib or brisket for braising

basses-côtes     chuck steak

rosbeef       rump roast

rumsteak, tende de tranche     rump steak

tranche grasse     rump steak [particular French cut]

steak à hacher     high-quality steak tartare

entrecôte     ribeye

tournedos, filet mignon     thick-cut tenderloin steak

gîte à la noix     thick flank steak [round]

rond de gîte     part topside steak / part thick flank steak [round]

queue     oxtail

filet, longue, aloyau     loin

côte première     loin chop

Freshly-Ground Hamburgers

From "Master of the Grill" by America's Test Kitchen

Makes 4 hamburgers



Why This Recipe Works

 Patties made of preground chuck are easy, but we were after a charred crust, rich beefy taste, and juicy interior that are hard to get from supermarket ground beef. This is because the way ground beef is handled during processing draws out sticky proteins that create a dense texture in the burger. To avoid this, we ground our own meat and switched from chuck to sirloin steak tips, which contain less connective tissue and just the right amount of fat.

We froze the meat to make grinding easier and added butter for flavor and richness. We also froze the patties after forming them to ensure that by the time they’d thawed at their centers, they had developed a perfect outer crust.

This recipe requires freezing the meat twice, for a total of 1 hour 5 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes, before grilling. When stirring the salt and pepper into the ground meat and shaping the patties, take care not to overwork the meat or the burgers will become dense. Sirloin steak tips are also sold as flap meat. Serve the burgers with your favorite toppings.


Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds sirloin steak tips, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
Kosher salt and pepper
1 (13x9-inch) disposable aluminum pan (if using charcoal)
4 hamburger buns


Directions

Place beef chunks and butter on large plate in single layer. Freeze until meat is very firm and starting to harden around edges but still pliable, about 35 minutes.

Place one-quarter of meat and one-quarter of butter cubes in food processor and pulse until finely ground into pieces size of rice grains (about 1/32 inch), 15 to 20 pulses, stopping and redistributing meat around bowl as necessary to ensure beef is evenly ground. Transfer meat to rimmed baking sheet. Repeat grinding in three batches with remaining meat and butter. Spread mixture over sheet and inspect carefully, discarding any long strands of gristle or large chunks of hard meat, fat, or butter.

Sprinkle 3/4 teaspoon salt and one teaspoon pepper and over meat and gently toss with fork to combine. Divide meat into four portions. Working with one portion at a time, lightly toss from hand to hand to form ball, then gently flatten into 3/4-inch-thick patty. Press center of patties down with your fingertips to create 1/4-inch-deep depression. Transfer patties to platter and freeze for 30 to 45 minutes.