Screw foie gras. Goodbye, truffles. Forget about caviar. Sayonara, that coffee that some furry forest animal eats then
poops out. The greatest rare food of all time is the tinned chipotle chilli. This is a smoked, dried jalapeno chilli packed in some kind of magical sauce. They are spicy, rich, flavoursome and, unless you live in or near Mexico, impossible to find. Well, not so impossible if you're in Melbourne.
Casa Iberica used to keep me supplied with tinned chipotles, queso fresco, manchego cheese, Goya black beans and Pan cornmeal, and if you're nearby and reading this you should stop and buy all those things then come back.
They're even harder to find over here in the waffles-and-marijauna region of Europe, so when I came across a tin in a Mexican restaurant and squealed with joy. There isn't much that a chipotle chilli won't improve. I really like to roast up a few halved tomatoes with a peeled, quartered white onion and blitz them, along with a chilli or two and a bunch of coriander, to make the greatest salsa the world has ever known. But this time I went with burgers.
I very rarely make vege burgers. Actually, scratch that. I
never make vege burgers, mostly because you can buy great ones at the supermarket, and also because they're kind of a pain to make. Typically, you wodge together a mess of vegetables or beans and just hope it survives the pan or grill without crumbling. But for some reason these burgers, from
Ezra Pound Cake, caught my eye.
I served them alongside a slightly simplified version of Smitten Kitchen's excellent broccoli slaw with buttermilk dressing, which I really can't recommend enough. I left the burgers as is rather than putting them in a bun, but I can assure you that after I took this photo I covered them in barbeque sauce. I'm classy like that.
Chipotle veggie burgers
Serves 4. Adapted from Ezra Pound Cake.
A capsicum, diced
A crushed garlic clove
1 cup rolled oats
1 tbsp breadcrumbs
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 to one whole chipotle chilli, chopped, plus a teaspoon of the sauce, OR 1 tsp paprika + 1/4 tsp chilli flakes + fat pinch of cayenne pepper
400g tin of chickpeas (or black beans), drained
200g tin of kidney beans, drained
An egg, beaten
Heat a slug of oil in a frypan over medium high heat. Stir in the capsicum and the garlic and cook for around 3-5 minutes until soft. Decant to a bowl and set aside.
Whisk together oats, breadcrumbs, sage, oregano, cumin and a healthy amount of salt and black pepper in a large bowl. In a separate bowl mash the beans and stir in the chopped chipotle and sauce. Tip the bean mixture and capsicum into the breadcrumbs, followed by the egg. Squeeze together with your hands. Form the mixture into four largeish patties, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Spray a pan with oil and set it over high heat. Cook the patties for around 4 minutes a side, until golden. Serve with broccoli slaw.
Broccoli slaw
Serves 4. Adapted from Smitten Kitchen.
A head of broccoli
Handful of dried cranberries
Handful of sliced almonds
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 heaped tbsp mayonnaise
A shallot, chopped
1 tbsp cider vinegar
Combine the buttermilk, mayonnaise, shallot and cider vinegar and set aside. Pull the broccoli into florets, then slice each floret as finely as humanly possible. Put into a large bowl. Toss together the cranberries, almonds and dressing. This really improves on standing, but is still good served immediately.