Portabella Mushroom & Bell Pepper Cheeseburger

Lately my favorite fungi are Portabella mushrooms. Easier to cook than a hamburger patty,  I am trying out different methods of preparation, and various savory combinations with this woodsy delicacy. I like to fill up the grill so I added sweet red bell pepper to my latest tight-wad treat.

My last mushroom recipe was a baked Portabella Crab Rockefeller, and this time it's a large, meaty, grilled Portabella & Bell Pepper Cheeseburger. To keep it strictly vegan you can leave off the cheese. The final burger dressing is up to you -- just add you favorite burger toppings including spinach, tomato and pickles.

We just had a couple of days of sunshine in Los Angeles and Portabellas are at my local 99c only Store, so I quickly uncovered the barbecue grill to take full advantage. Of course an indoor stove top grill, or even a large frying pan, will give you tasty cooking results. The mushroom shrinks about 25 percent when grilled, so keep that in mind when pairing with large or small hamburger buns. 

And as long as my local 99c only Store stocks them I'll keep coming up with recipes to share with you.

Ingredients

• 1 large portabella mushroom - may want to remove stem, sometimes it's too woody.
• 1/2 bell pepper - red, yellow or green, sliced.
• 1 slice of cheese - your favorite.
• 1 hamburger bun
• Also add any favorite burger toppings - mayo, mustard, spinach, tomato, etc.

Marinade for mushroom and bell peppers

• 2 tablespoons of oil
• 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar - okay to use regular vinegar or lemon/lime juice.
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Directions
Heat grill. Mix marinade and brush portabella mushroom and sliced bell pepper. Salt and pepper veggies to taste. If you have an Italian dressing to use up, then use it instead. The grilled veggies are also delicious seasoned with salt and pepper only.

For a more meaty, and less watery, mushroom - carefully scrape off the gills (feathery part underneath mushroom cap) with a spoon.

Give bell peppers a 5 minute head start on the grill. Add mushroom and grill each side about 5 minutes each - mushroom is done when damp and soft like a wet sponge. Mushroom will sweat water into gills so drain just before adding to the buns.

I like my hamburger buns toasted. Stack cooked bell pepper onto done mushroom and top with your favorite cheese. Cook until cheese starts to melt.

Assemble with your favorite extra toppings. You can leave off cheese for a vegan burger, it will be just as tasty.

Mexi-Turkey Burger

Just in time for the 4th of July weekend this budget burger, based on South-of-the-border ingredients, is one hot summer palate pleaser. Combining ground turkey with Mexican chorizo renders a typical dry flavorless turkey burger into a moist spicy one.

Poultry must be cooked well-done, but don't worry because chorizo has a high fat content, so your Mexi-Turkey Burger will come out moist.

Mexican chorizo is soft ground and moist -- unlike Spanish chorizo, which is cured hard like salami. Mexican chorizo has a deep flavored red chile taste -- spiced with paprika, Mexican oregano, garlic powder and a minimal amount of red pepper heat.

It is sold on sale at local Latin markets and in the cold deli case of my neighborhood 99c only Store in 10 oz. casings of ground pork or beef.

I suggest mixing one part chorizo with 3 parts ground turkey. This will also help firm up typically mushy ground poultry and keep it from drooping through your barbecue grill grate. Top the Chef's Mexi/turkey burger with crumbled queso fresco cheese (still being carried in 99c only Stores) and your favorite 99.99 cent salsa.

Chorizo freezes well, and the rest can be sauteed and then scrambled into eggs for a filling breakfast taco or burrito. This inexpensive pairing of chorizo and ground turkey adds up to a delectable budget barbecue that must be paired with an ice cold cerveza.

Ingredients (makes 4 burgers) 

• 1 lb. ground turkey (or chicken) - okay to use ground beef.
  
• 5 ounces of chorizo - 1/2 package. Give chorizo a quick saute for a few minutes.
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Burger Fixings
Buns, salsa, avocado, lettuce, tomato and your favorite cheese. Make it your own with any favorite toppings.

Directions
 First remove chorizo from package and saute it in a frying pan for 3-5 minutes to pre-cook it. Let it cool down for a couple of minutes.

Coat grill with non-stick spray or oil and heat. Thoroughly mix ground turkey and chorizo. Form into burger patties, season and cook on grill until well-done (cut into burger to check that middle is not raw and soft). 

I used a gas grill and it took about 15 minutes total. Watch for fire flare-ups as chorizo has a high fat content. 

Melt your favorite cheese on patty then dress the burger with salsa and any of your favorite toppings. The Chef's Mexi-burger tastes just as good frying-pan sauteed indoors.

Salmon Burger

Canned seafood is a 99 Cent Chef budget specialty. Look blog-backward and you will find recipes for "Baby Clams and Spaghetti", a "Salmon Shmear", "Clam and Artichoke Pita Pizzas" and the Left-leaning "Cesar Chavez Salad", all using canned (or foil pouched) seafood. Now you can add Salmon Burgers.

If you are lucky enough to find a 15 oz. large can of salmon in your local dollar store, you can make enough salmon burgers to feed the whole family, with The 99 Cent Chef's salmon burger recipe. Lately, the Chef has run across 3 oz. soft packs and 7 oz. cans of cooked salmon; that's enough for 1-3 patties. Ah, the good old days when large 15 oz. cans were everywhere for around a buck! For these larger cans, just add 3 times my filler ingredients ( about 3 eggs, a whole onion and bell pepper, celery stalk, and 1 cup of bread crumbs). For a burger, make sure to cover salmon patty when cooking, to firm it up; if it is served without bread then cook uncovered for a flaky tender patty.

As a bonus, The Chef has come up with the perfect salmon patty pairing: ginger/lime mayo aioli. Canned salmon in water is ideal, just drain; if canned in oil, then you don't need oil for frying, it has plenty already!

Ingredients ( 2-3 patties)

• 7 oz. can of salmon (or 2 soft foil packs of 3 oz. size salmon)
• 1/2 each - onion, bell pepper and celery, or any combination (this is the kind of recipe you can add anything to, including chopped green olives, capers, carrots, etc.)1/4 cup of bread crumbs - fresh or from a can
• 1 tsp. chopped garlic
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp. of oil for frying one salmon patty
• pepper to taste (canned salmon has plenty of salt)
• Hamburger bun, pita or any type of bread for salmon patty
• For your burger add favorite topping including, tomato, greens, and avocado.

Ginger Mayo Aioli
Add 1 tbsp. of powdered ginger, 1tsp. of lime/lemon juice (optional), and mix into 1/4 cup of mayo. The longer it sets the more flavorful.



Directions
Drain canned salmon and remove any bone (sometimes the white backbone is left in). Chop veggies fine and saute in frying pan with 1 tbsp. oil for 5 minutes until soft.

In a bowl add salmon, cooked veggies, one egg, garlic and bread crumbs (or one fresh crumbled, toasted slice of bread), and mix well. Heat one tbsp. oil over medium heat. Form hamburger-sized patties and cook covered for about 5 minutes each side. Patties will firm up when covered; if you are serving them without buns, cook uncovered and they will be more moist and flaky.
Serve with the Chef's Ginger Mayo Aioli on the side or on a bun.