Wild Rice Burgers

I recently went with my niece and nephew to a Duluth, Minnesota restaurant called Grandma's, where I had one of the best veggie burgers I have ever tasted. Ever in search of burger options, I resolved to try and reconstruct this one for myself. I make no claims to know how Grandma's restaurant created the burger, but I love wild rice and am willing to experiment. Try it and feel free to make comments!

Cook a cupful or so of wild rice until all of the grains are curled - about 1 1/2 hours. This will make the rice just slightly sticky. (Wild rice requires lots of water - at least 4 cups for 1 cup of rice.) Cool it slightly.

Sauté a couple of cloves of chopped garlic, a few chopped mushrooms, and some minced onion in a generous amount of olive oil.

To form the patties, use about 2 cups of cooked rice,
3 eggs,
1/2 cups of bread crumbs (or coconut flour to go gluten free)
sautéed mushroom mix,
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon curry
1 heaping tablespoon parsley

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Pour some coconut oil on a baking sheet and form patties, leaving an inch or more of space between each patty. About 6 of these  will fit on a sheet. Bake on one side for about 20 minutes. When they are firm enough, flip them with a spatula and bake for 10 - 15 minutes on the other side.

Remove the sheets from the oven, and let the patties cool. Eat them in a burger bun with all of your favorite condiments. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator or the freezer.

SOUTHWEST VERSION: The second time I made these, I used Anaheim chilies instead of mushrooms and a little Creole seasoning instead of curry.  Even the non-vegetarians in my family thought these were delicious.


I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge and dreams are more powerful than facts.
Robert Fulghum

Eggstrata Sweet or Savory

This is a great breakfast if you have plenty of time the day before, but not much time on the day of!

These can be either sweet or savory

Ingredients for sweet version

8 eggs

1 ½ cups fresh berries  (Frozen, thawed, and drained berries would work, too)

1 cup heavy whipping cream or plain full fat yogurt
1/3 to 1/2 cup honey

12 slices day or two old bread - crusts cut off

8 ounces cream cheese

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

This breakfast dish is started the day before it is to be baked and eaten.

1. Thaw and drain the berries if you are using frozen berries.

2. Soften the cream cheese.

3. Add the salt, vanilla, cinnamon, honey, cream or yogurt and cream cheese and stir well.

4. Break the bread into small pieces – ½ inch cubes or smaller. Put them in a 9 x 13 glass casserole dish.

5. Break the eggs into a mixing bowl and stir vigorously. Mix cream cheese batter and the eggs, and pour over the bread pieces.

6. Cover the casserole dish with foil and refrigerate overnight.

7. Preheat oven to 325 and bake for about one hour or until the center of casserole is firm.

Cut into squares and serve with any or all of the following: syrup, fresh fruit, and whipped cream.

For savory version:

8 eggs

1 ½ cups cooked sausage

1 cup heavy whipping cream or plain full fat yogurt

12 slices day or two old bread - crusts cut off

8 ounces cream cheese

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper
6 leaves chopped basil
1/3 cup chopped, fresh parsley
pinch of rosemary

Directions:

This breakfast dish is started the day before it is to be baked and eaten.

1. Cook and crumble the sausage.

2. Soften the cream cheese.

3. Add the spices and herbs, cream or yogurt, and cream cheese and stir well.

4. Break the bread into small pieces – ½ inch cubes or smaller. Put them in a 9 x 13 glass casserole dish.

5. Break the eggs into a mixing bowl and stir vigorously. Mix cream cheese batter and the eggs, and pour over the bread pieces.

6. Cover the casserole dish with foil and refrigerate overnight.

7. Preheat oven to 325 and bake for about one hour or until the center of casserole is firm.

Drizzle a little melted compound butter over the squares before serving.


One of the most difficult things to give away is kindness, for it is usually returned.
William Shakespeare

Tahiti Custard Pie

2 cups steamed Tahiti or butternut squash

1 can condensed milk

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon cloves, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 unbaked pie crusts in 8 inch pie tins

Mix the squash, milk, eggs, sugar and spices and pour into pie crusts.

While the pie is baking, create a top crust from the following ingredients:

1/2 cup rolled oats, ground in coffee grinder slightly
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Blend the crust ingredients, and sprinkle over the pies after they have baked for 1/2 hour. Return them to the oven and bake for another half hour.

Let pies cool and eat with whipped cream. They are great without any topping too, if you want to eat them plain.

Walk tall, walk straight, and look the world right in the eye.
Val Doonican

Zucchini Pasta

This recipe has been added as a part of the never ending quest to find more things to do with zucchini when it over produces at the height of the season.

Steam any kind of summer squash and then put it in the blender to make a puree. Add eggs and flour and salt to make a suitable dough and roll or put into a pasta machine.

This is a great way to make raviolis or ribbon noodles. You could also try a number of dumpling shapes and fill with anything you like: cooked vegetables, goat cheese, ricotta, cooked meat, or cooked winter squash or potatoes.

Cook and serve with sauce or add to soup.

More from Monarch of the Glen -

Golly: Everybody lies, but it doesn't matter because nobody listens.

Peanut Butter Truffle Snacks

These high protein peanut butter snacks are easy to make and can be flavored in a variety of ways. They do not require any cooking or baking.

Mix:
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 cup powdered milk
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 tablespoon instant coffee
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1/2 cup honey
1 - 2 tablespoons cream if needed for extra moisture

You may want to mix the instant coffee and cocoa powder together before adding. It is often better to blend cocoa powder with another dry ingredient before adding moisture to it. Otherwise the order of these things makes no difference.

If the mixture is too dry, add a tablespoon of milk; if it is too wet, add some more wheat germ or powdered milk.

Roll these into small walnut size balls and coat with a mixture of powdered sugar and cocoa powder.

To experiment with other flavors, look for flavored instant coffee mixes. The "International" line has several, and Starbucks has some new instant coffee products as well. These can be very overpowering, so start small - a couple of teaspoons, at most, and then add if needed.

Other options are to use smooth peanut butter and then add chopped nuts such as pecans or walnuts. Chopped chocolate pieces would also be an option for sweeter snack.

Cover and refrigerate. These can make a nice gift, and they're a good alternative to candy.

There are days in a life in which one is the fly, and rare, magical moments in which one is, at long last, the windscreen.
Molly MacDonald (character from Monarch of the Glen)
This quote is not in keeping with the others on this blog, but it may resonate with those who tend to take the long suffering approach a bit too far at times.

Summer Squash Soup with Wild Rice

Soup made from butternut and other winter squashes is quite common, but summer squash soups are also a good idea. The base is made from steamed and pureed summer squash. While the water used to steam the vegetables is still hot add some bouillon of your choice - vegetable, chicken or tomato will all work. Add the water to the pureed squash when you are blending them.

Other vegetables to add to the base are onion, garlic, bell pepper, chili pepper or whatever you have in your garden or your pantry.

You can cook the wild rice at the same time you are steaming and stirring the vegetables or you can make it ahead of time.

Spices that will go well with this soup are fresh basil, fresh parsley and chives. These should be added after the vegetables have been pureed. To make this soup even more delicious, add a quarter cup of cream or full fat coconut milk; top with grated Parmesan cheese or slices of avocado. The truly health conscious could use whole milk instead.


A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Super Easy Summer Squash with Mushroooms

Since the squash does not seem to end, the recipes will just keep on coming!

Use any kind of summer squash for this easy casserole.

You will also need about 1 cup sautéed mushrooms, cheddar cheese, Parmesan cheese, Panko bread crumbs and some gorgonzola cheese. If you like a little spice, add a few diced green chilies. Fresh or canned will work.

The mushrooms can be sautéed ahead of time, if you like.

Wash and cut squash into irregular pieces that are close to 1 inch cubes.

Pour a little olive oil in the bottom of a casserole dish - any size. The more squash you have the larger the casserole dish! Layer squash on the olive oil, and sprinkle with salt, pepper and some grated cheddar.

Sprinkle the sautéed mushrooms over this first layer.

Put more squash and peppers - if you are using them - on top of the mushrooms and then crumble some gorgonzola cheese over everything - about 1/2 cup of gorgonzola will be perfect if you are using a 9 x 13 casserole. You can sprinkle a little more cheddar on the top of the second layer of squash if you like. toss the mixture slightly to get all of the cheese and the mushrooms and the squash evenly distributed throughout the baking dish.

Bake uncovered at 375 for about 35 - 40 minutes. While the vegetables are baking, grate 1/3 cup Parmnesan and add to 2/3 cup Panko crumbs. After about 30 minutes, sprinkle this mixture over the vegetables and bake for another 10 - 15 minutes.

It's great as a side dish or as a light summer lunch all by itself.

The greatness of a man can mearly always be measured by his willingness to be kind.
G. Young