Greeklish Burger

I was meatless (apart from a few bites) for an entire month in March. How much meat do I eat now? I still cook seafood reasonably often, though I try to aim for the most earth-friendly choices. And I don't say no to bacon here and there....I mean, who could? And when we eat out, I am often uninspired by the vegetarian options on the menu, so I'll sometimes choose meat then, though I don't feel good about it. Of course there are excellent vegetarian and vegan restaurants, but I hope that non-vegetarian restaurant chefs will increasingly see an opportunity to offer appetizing and creative non-meat options. That's the future, right? Wake up, chefs!

So there is all that, and then there are burgers. Darn it, I still love beef burgers. I don't eat them constantly, but I relish them occasionally. So I was interested to read that the James Beard Foundation held a contest in 2017, called the "Blended Burger Project™," for chefs to create burgers using at least 25% fresh mushrooms blended into the meat. At least I'd be cutting down my beef consumption by 25%. That's better than not at all, in line with the philosophy of "don't do nothing just because you can't do everything."

By the way, did you know that "most of the table mushrooms we eat are all of the same variety? Its name is Agaricus bisporus, according to Wikipedia, and it includes portobello, cremini, and white button mushrooms. The difference between these popular varieties of mushrooms is just age. The white button mushrooms, those very familiar kitchen staples, are simply the youngest variety. The portobello is the most mature mushroom". WHAT?!! How did I get to be 29 years old* and never know this?!

"The Greeklish Burger" was one of the winning recipes, and I decided to make it. 

But first I had to figure out what Montreal steak seasoning is. A Canadian news channel offered an explanation and a recipe that was my starting point, but we might as well call this Jennie Steak Seasoning, because I was taking advantage of the spices I had on hand. I wasn't hewing too closely to the recipe, and the Quebecois might well be scandalized by my version, for all I know.

Jennie Steak Seasoning

• 1 dried chipotle adobo Chile
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon cumin seed
• 1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds

Lightly toast each separately in a dry pan until fragrant or until they start to brown. Combine with 

• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse sea salt

and grind coarsely in a mortar and pestle, or in an electric spice grinder.

Add in:

• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme and/or rosemary (optional)

Toasted spices and chipotle before grinding

The seasoning when finished

Now, for the burgers: what a silly recipe. Beef does not standardly come in 1-lb, 5-oz quantities, nor do mushrooms come in 13-oz quantities. I took a deep breath and combined 2 pounds of beef with 1 pound of mushrooms. I put in about 3 tablespoons of chopped capers, and 2 teaspoons of Jennie Steak Seasoning. I put them on the grill.

I topped the burgers with feta, but skipped the rest of the Greeklishness. I applied mayo and tomato, and brioche buns. And the result was.....

Oh my, it was so delicious. Just as delicious as a 100% beef burger. It's not actually saving the planet, of course. Two-thirds of a cow must still consume resources and produce greenhouse gases for me to enjoy this burger, theoretically. But if I'm going to eat burgers anyway--and for now, it seems that I am--then one-third non-meat is an improvement.

And those French fries, by the way? A specialty of my husband, with his Fry Daddy deep fryer. Crazy  good.

*That's my story, and I'm sticking with it.