The VegHog's pea and leek burgers

I posted the basic burger bun recipe yesterday and will continue with filling those buns today. This time I made the veggie burger patties from dried ground peas. The texture of the peas is not fully pulverised, but small crunchy bits, so it binds well into a burger patty and is easy to handle. The ground peas are also rich in protein and full of pea taste.

Here are the simple steps how to make my pea and leek burgers.

Ingredients

1 cup dried ground peas

1 large leek

15 g butter

4 tbsp flour

1 tsp salt

½ tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp parsley

½ tsp paprika

Vegetable oil for frying

Method

Boil three cups of water and set to side. Put the ground peas into the water and leave in the pot under the lid for 30 minutes. Drain them after this and let cool.

Cook the finely chopped leeks in the butter until soft. Season them with salt, pepper, parsley and paprika.

Combine the leeks with the ground peas and add about four tablespoons flour. The amount of the flour depends on the moistness of the dough, add as much as you need for a firm mix. If you have difficulties to make a firm mix, add an egg and little more flour, and that should do the trick.

Shape burger patties of the mix and fry them in vegetable oil on both sides until cooked.

Serve them in the burger buns with tomato slices and watercress.

This post in three parts will continue tomorrow, but there are already spoilers on some photos of what lies ahead. Can you guess what it is? See you later!

Your VegHog

Basic burger buns

I'm now starting a post in three parts, which works every day closer to having a complete veggie burger meal, and I'm starting this series today with simple homemade burger buns.

As you might already have noticed, I like making vegetarian burgers fairly frequently and am always experimenting with new patty ideas. It's also important to have a good bun to accompany the patties as well. These buns are quite basic burger buns, but they have a hint of pretzel flavour, which I always like.

Ingredients

150 ml milk

2 tbsp dry yeast

1 tbsp sugar

2 eggs

1,5 tbsp soft butter

450 ml flour

1 tsp salt

Sesame seeds for the top

Method

Warm the milk lukewarm and add yeast and sugar to it. 

Then also beat one of the eggs into the milk and add the soft butter.

Combine the milk mix with the flour and salt and knead to a dough. Let the dough rise in a warm place under a teatowel for about two hours.

Then shape buns (I got 6 small ones, double the recipe for bigger burger feasts) from the dough and let them rise for a further hour under a teatowel.

Brush the buns with a beaten egg and sprinkle sesame seeds on the top before baking.

Bake at 200C for about 10 minutes until fully baked.

Serve with your favourite veggie burger or read my next post for a new idea.

Your VegHog

Blueberry pie

The fresh berries that are appearing in the shops and markets at the moment are calling my name and I want to incorporate as many to my cooking as possible. This includes the occasional sweet pie or cake as well. Today I made an oat based blueberry pie very rich on berries, for which I found this easy recipe by Valio. The recipe is only in Finnish on that page, so I am going to give my version here, as I also have changed a couple of small things as usual. I guess this pie could even be called a blueberry cheesecake, as soft cheese is a main part of the filling.

The base:

100 ml melted butter

1 egg

½ dl sugar

½ dl wheat flour

3 ½ dl oat flakes

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp vanilla sugar

The filling:

3-4 dl blueberries

200 g plain soft cheese

1 egg

½ dl sugar

1 tsp vanilla sugar

The decoration:

1 tbsp blueberries

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp sugar

Method:

Line a baking tin with baking paper. I used my Ø 25cm pie tin, and it seemed to be just the right size for this. Whisk the butter, egg and sugar into smooth consistency. Then add the flour, baking powder, vanilla sugar and oat flakes and mix into a base dough.

Spread the dough into the baking tin, also around the edges. It should be relatively soft to spread, but could get sticky. Floury hands could help you then to press the dough everywhere you need it.

Pour the blueberries onto the base. Whisk the soft cheese with egg and sugar and pour it on the top of the blueberries.

For the top decoration press one tablespoon of blueberries through a sieve and mix the blueberry juice with lemon juice and sugar. Pour the juice on the pie in circles and then pull a knife through the juice from the middle of the pie towards the edges to make the decoration pattern.

Bake the pie at 175C for about 40 minutes. Serve chilled and enjoy!

Your VegHog

Basil ciabatta

I baked ciabatta, as it's one of my favourite bread types. I got inspiration and guidance from this recipe (in Finnish only), but then put my own twist on it. The original recipe used herb cream, but I thought that fresh herbs would be nicer and chose basil as the herb, as I wanted to serve the bread with tomato and mozzarella.

These ingredient amounts make either one large ciabatta or two smaller ones. Even 4-6 ciabatta rolls are possible, depending on the size.

28 g fresh basil leaves

250 ml cream

450 ml white bread flour

2 tbsp dry yeast

½ tbsp sugar

½ tsp salt

2 tbsp olive oil

Chop the basil leaves finely and warm the cream lukewarm. Add the basil to the cream and let infuse for a couple of minutes.

Mix the dry ingredients. Then add the basil cream and olive oil and knead to a bread dough.

Let the dough rise under a teatowel in a warm place for about one hour.

Shape to breads, brush them with olive oil and let rest under a teatowel for a further 15 minutes.

Bake at 220C for about 20 minutes until the surface is crispy and golden brown and the breads are fully baked.

After a while of cooling, I served the ciabatta with striking green tiger tomatoes, torn mozzarella and basil.

Your VegHog

Sea-buckthorn and granola yogurt

When I'm not eating porridge for breakfast (which happens on most weekdays), I like to eat yogurt with granola and possibly some fruit with it. Adding sea-buckthorn berry powder to this combination makes the whole thing to a real power breakfast. It's of course even better, if you can obtain fresh sea-buckthorn berries. I always buy my sea-buckthorn berry powder in Finland and import it for my own use. This morning I had a lovely walk in the park first thing, and then had this breakfast with little coffee and juice. The weather is also great and now I feel like I can do anything!

150 g Greek yogurt

2 tsp sea-buckthorn berry powder

4 tbsp organic nutty granola

You don't need to do anything else than mix all the ingredients and enjoy! 

What is your favourite breakfast?

Your VegHog

Welsh Glamorgan sausages

Today's dish that I want to share with you is a traditional Welsh leek and cheese sausage: the Glamorgan Sausage. After I read the article “How to make the perfect Glamorgan sausages” in The Guardian, I had to try to make these. I followed the instructions in the article pretty closely, but below is my version anyway. Have a look at an original Welsh recipe as well.

Who could have anything against the combination of leek and cheese! These are perfect sausages to be served at parties or even as a side dish to a burger or potato dish. I definitely will make these again and then try them also with different chutneys. This time I ate them just with some fresh tomatoes on the side.

These ingredient amounts make about 6 chunky Glamorgans, and this is how it goes.

1 large leek

30 g butter

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

½ tsp salt

½ tsp ground black pepper

180 g Welsh Cheddar

1 tsp ground mustard seeds

2 eggs

1 tsp thyme

150 g breadcrumbs

50 g wheat flour

Chop the leek finely and cook it in the butter until soft. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper.

Grate the cheese and grind the mustard seeds. Separate the egg yolks and mix them with the ground mustard seeds and thyme in a bowl. Set the egg whites to side. The egg yolks go into the sausage mix and the whites are for the rolling of the surface.

Add the leeks, 100 grams breadcrumbs and the cheese into the bowl. Mix into an even dough and shape sausages of it. The shaping should be easy with these proportions.

Prepare three plates side by side: the wheat flour on one, then the beaten egg whites and finally the rest of the breadcrumbs. Roll each sausage on these plates and in that order.

Bake the sausages at 180C for about 20 minutes until crispy and golden brown.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog

Pineapple curry

The idea of making a pineapple curry has been haunting me for a while now, and guess what, now I've finally made it. I like pineapple in sweet dishes, in juices and smoothies, but also in savoury ones, and above all on a pizza. I have tasted a few pineapple curries, and have been quite impressed with them.

I was very happy with this dish that came together after looking into several South Indian pineapple curry recipes, and then combining the seasoning and ingredients after my own taste. This curry has a gentle spiciness combined with the sweetness of pineapple.

½ tsp mustard seeds

½ tsp cumin seeds

½ tsp turmeric

½ tsp chilli flakes

8 curry leaves

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp vegetable oil

160 ml coconut cream

1 small pineapple

4 shallots

3 garlic cloves

1 cup rice

Grind the mustard and cumin seeds into powder.

Chop the shallots and garlic finely.

Peel the pineapple and remove the core, then chop it into cubes.

Heat the vegetable oil in a pan and cook the shallots and garlic until soft.

Add the ground mustard and cumin seeds and stir for a couple of minutes.

Then add the pineapple cubes, turmeric, chilli flakes and curry leaves into the pan.

Pour in the coconut cream and salt and let simmer for about 15 minutes. Taste that you are happy with the seasoning, or add anything you think is lacking. Adding a little water at this stage can adjust the thickness of the sauce to your taste. You can start boiling the rice now as well.

Serve the curry with the rice and be astonished how easy it was!

Your VegHog