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Moon Time's Anasazi Bean Burger
From Moon Time pub
1 cup dried Anasazi beans
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more as needed
1/4 cup yellow onion, diced
1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup green bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup carrots, diced
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
1 egg
Approximately 1 cup dried
bread crumbs
Step 1
Distinctive-looking Anasazi beans have a unique, slightly nutty flavor and firm texture.
To make their popular bean burger, chefs at Moon
Time pub first cook the beans in water with a pinch
of salt for about an hour until soft but not mushy.
Step 2
Coarsely chop the drained and cooled beans in a food processor, using only
a couple of
pulses. Or, break up the beans using your hands.
Add the sauteed veggies to the chopped beans and
then add the egg, seasonings and bread crumbs.
Step 3
After forming the patties, saute them in
canola oil until they're golden, about 3
minutes on each side over medium high heat.
Moon Time's Brad Fosseen adds a slice of cheddar
and finishes the bean burger in a 400 degree oven
for 2 or 3. minutes. "That way you make sure the
patty is heated all the way through," he said.
More instructions in article
Bean burger a menu staple at Moon Time |
S I G N A T U R E D I S H E S
STEP BY STEP
Moon Time's bean burger
Full of Beans
This beefy bean patty is much more
than a vegetarian trifle
By Leslie Kelly
/Staff-writer
Fast food fans might consider it sacrilege to call a sandwich without ground
meat a "burger."
But the Anasazi Bean Burger is no lightweight veggie patty. This hefty quarter-pounder
— fried golden and served with a bubbling slab of cheddar — is the cornerstone
of the menu at Moon Time pub in Coeur d'Alene, home of the most sophisticated
bar chow in the region.
The bean burger is a hit with vegetarians and carnivores alike, with the
restaurant selling up to 100 of the burgers a week. It's so popular, Bon Appetit
magazine contacted the restaurant after a reader requested
the recipe.
Chef/owner Brad Fosseen doesn't remember the details of how he came up with the
tasty recipe.
"I just know we wanted to do something different than the usual veggie burger,"
he said.
The base for the burger is the distinctive-looking Anasazi bean, which
is a white bean with maroon markings.
"We liked it because of its texture and its kind of nutty flavor," said John Grollmus, one of
Fosseen's partners at Moon Time and its sister restaurant, The Elk Public
House in Spokane's Browne's Addition.
They cook the dried
beans with a little bit of salt for about an hour and then drain, but don't
rinse them. When the beans have cooled, the remaining ingredients are added.
"You can soak them
overnight if you have time, and they might cook a little quicker, but we don't
bother with that step," Fosseen said.
Next they coarsely
grind the cooked beans in a food processor with a couple of quick pulses. "You
don't want to turn them into refried beans,"
Fosseen said.
A mixture of sauteed carrots, peppers and onions adds color and flavor to the
beans. At this point, it's easy to alter this dish. "You can add some curry powder and have curried bean burgers,
or try some chili powder," Fosseen said.
"You can use just about any kind of bean, even canned beans if you're in a
hurry."
Moon Time's bean
burger is seasoned with cumin and a little bit of cayenne pepper. An egg and
bread crumbs bind the ingredients together.
"The bread crumbs
are the trickiest part," Fosseen said. "If you add too much, they're too dry. If
you add too little, they might fall apart when you flip them."
Fosseen and his
kitchen crew — which includes longtime line cook Phil Messner — do the final mixing by hand so they
can get the right texture. It's similar to piecrust.
The patties are
shaped using the lid from a gallon-size
pepperoncini jar. A fist-size ball of bean burger is pressed between a
piece of wax paper and a piece of plastic wrap. (A neat trick.)
Typically, the crew
makes at least 40 or 50 burgers in a batch. They're sauteed to order, though
Fosseen said they could also be baked.
"It's the only time
I start something out in a cold pan (with a little
canola oil)," he said. "That gives
them a nice crust."
After two or three
minutes, he flips it, adds a slice of cheese and then slips it into a
400-degree oven to finish for a couple more
minutes. "That way, they don't dry out, but you make sure they're warm all the
way through," he said.
They spread mayonnaise on the burger's toasted bun and serve lettuce, tomato and
red onion rings on the side, giving the bean burger the savory starring role.
While it's not the kind of sandwich that's going to send meaty juices dripping
down your chin, this handheld meal is certainly substantial enough to bear the
title "burger."
Moon Time's Anasazi Bean Burger
From Moon Time pub
1 cup dried Anasazi beans
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more as needed
1/4 cup yellow onion, diced
1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup green bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup carrots, diced
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
1 egg
Approximately 1 cup dried
bread crumbs
Cook the beans in water for
approximately 1 hour, until soft but not mushy. Drain (but don't rinse) and
cool.
Heat 1 tablespoon
olive oil in a frying pan. Saute the onion, bell peppers and carrot until soft,
about 10 minutes. Cool.
Process the beans
in a food processor until roughly chopped (only a couple of pulses). Remove the
beans and repeat that step for the vegetables.
Combine beans and
vegetables in a large mixing bowl, season with cumin, cayenne pepper and salt
and pepper to taste. Add the egg and then work the bread crumbs into the bean
mixture, starting with small amounts and gradually adding more. It should hold
together and have a texture similar to pie dough. If the mixture seems a little
dry, add up to 1 tablespoon additional olive oil.
Form four patties.
Saute with 1 tablespoon olive oil until golden, approximately 3 minutes on each
side. Add a slice of cheddar and serve with
mayonnaise.
Yield: 4 servings
Nutrition per serving: 350
calories, 10 grams fat (1.7 grams saturated, 26 percent fat calories), 15 grams
protein, 50 grams carbohydrate, 53 milligrams cholesterol, 10.6 grams dietary
fiber, 398 milligrams sodium.
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