Bow down to the mighty Hamburger, for today is National Hamburger Day, and this cheap$kate has a platter of tasty ground protein between buns to share with you. Click on any recipe name below to see the complete recipe details.
First up is a Roasted Green Chile Pepper Burger. If you are from New Mexico then grilled chiles are a normal topping for burgers. Just throw a few chiles on the BBQ grill when you slap on a burger patty. When chiles are charred they are ready to eat. All you need to do is choose a chile your taste buds can handle because some are spicy and some are barely not.
Vegetarians will line up at the grill for my Portabella Mushroom & Bell Pepper Cheeseburger. Cover all the bases with a thick meaty portabella mushroom grilling on one side of your BBQ grill, and a beef or bison ground patty on the other side. Make sure to use different grilling utensils and plates so your vegan friends won't get grossed out, right? You know the rules. And use a cheese substitute (or just forget the cheese) to make my burger totally vegan.
Forget about doing a time consuming veggie mix - might as well go the simplest route with a bun-size grilled portabella mushroom.
While we are on the subject, my sister Denise has a go-to veggie burger she makes with eggplant. Denise visited me in the cheap$kate cocina and showed me how she does it. I even got her to go shopping with me at my local 99c only Store for all the ingredients. Do check out Denise's Eggplant Veggie Burger video below.
Is a Sloppy Joe considered a burger? Well, it is ground meat reshaped into a meaty pasta-like sauce, that goes between 2 hamburger buns - so I vote it in. For my cheap$kate version I use ground poultry, but you can go with traditional ground beef. My video version is right here:
I always see 5 ounce cans of salmon at my local 99c only Store. With one can you can make a couple of Salmon Burgers - now that is a great deal. You can make this seafood burger your own by mixing in any grilled and chopped veggies you like. I use an egg to bind and hold it all together. And for extra credit I throw in a Ginger Mayo Aiolito top the Salmon Burger.
A Patty Melt is as close to a cheeseburger as you can get, without calling it one. What sets it apart is the addition of caramelized onions and using slices of bread, instead of hamburger buns. Melty American cheese and caramelized onion belong together. Watch how it all comes together in my video below.
We all have burgers on the brain during the summer months and I am happy to gift you some delish recipes to get your synapses of flavor firing.
Sometimes an entree is only skin deep, which suits my Roasted Chicken with Portabella Mushrooms just fine.
This earthy roast bird with mushrooms makes a delish dinner for the whole family, and if there is any leftover meat then shred it into a salad the next day.
And it couldn't be easier to make. Just slide thick sliced portabella mushrooms under the chicken skin, season the bird, and roast it until done.
While this cheap$kate recipe looks alien infected when it goes in the oven, the mushrooms cook down and the final presentation is a golden bird with brocade shapes of deep brown.
It's a tasty combination. Use my recipe as a leaping off point and substitute any type of mushrooms you find on sale, including plain white button mushrooms. The trick to to slice them thick, so they don't dry out while roasting.
Click on any photo to see larger.
For portabella mushrooms I like to scrape out the black powdery gills under the mushroom cap. Don't worry about getting it all out, though.
Mushrooms always show up at my local 99c only Stores and chicken is the cheapest protein -- so go hog wild with this recipe.
If leg quarters or whole chicken breast are on sale you can slide a few sliced mushrooms under the skin and bake them in an oven pan.
Moist mushrooms help keep breast meat from dying out, too. So next time you find fungi and poultry priced right, stock up and try my earthy Roasted Chicken with Portabella Mushrooms.
Ingredients
1 whole chicken - okay to use leg quarters or chicken breasts.
2 portabella mushrooms - depending on size. Thickly slice mushrooms. Okay to use button mushrooms or any you find on sale.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Directions
Rinse off whole chicken and allow to dry for a few minutes.
Brush off any dirt on mushrooms. Thickly slice mushrooms. For portabella mushrooms, I like to scrape out the black gills underneath the mushroom cap. It is easiest to use a spoon. Be careful as mushroom cap will break. It's okay to add any mushroom pieces to chicken.
The trickiest part of this recipe is to loosen the chicken skin. Wash your hands, then use your finger(s)and carefully slide them under the breast skin nearest the chicken cavity. Move the fingers left to right and press them forward to middle of the breast meat. If the chicken skin splits, that's okay. Hold it together and keep on loosening. Okay to use a wooden spoon or plastic spatula.
The breast skin is extra-attached along the middle of the breast bone, from neck to the cavity. You can separate it there, or just loosen skin on either side of breast. You can also enter the skin from the neck. I got about 4-5 slices on the breast meat.
The leg meat is a little trickier. You can work your finger in at the base of the breast meat. You only need to loosen enough to get get one or two mushroom slices on the leg meat. If you can work your finger all the way to the thigh meat then add some mushrooms there, too.
Once you've loosened chicken skin once, it gets easier next time, and you will want to keep baking chicken with other tasty ingredients just under the skin, like: lemon slices (or almost any fruit,) herbs and garlic.
Bake chicken in preheated 350 degree oven for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. To keep breast extra moist, cover it with foil for first hour, then remove foil, and finish cooking chicken until done.
Slice into dark meat to check for doneness. Chicken juices should run clear and the meat should not have any red showing.
This breakfast is extravagant. It's not often I make a Portabella Mushroom Omelet, but when I can get this high-end fungus for 99.99 cents, why not go for it? Thick, meaty slices of mushroom cradled by melted cheese, and wrapped in fluffy cooked egg, is a great way to start the day.
I make this omelet old school, diner-style. The egg is whipped with a
little milk and cooked all the way through -- with a nice browned
exterior. As a contrast, I made a soggy, French-style Cheese Omelette video a couple of months ago (check it out here.) It's good, but sometimes I like my food well done.
I gotta give it up the my local 99c only Stores for the main ingredient. A 5-ounce package often holds 2 to 3 nice-sized ones. And, you'll only need one mushroom per omelet, so, go ahead and invite a friend and make a few of these tasty suckers for breakfast.
I get string cheese there, too. You can use any favorite cheese you have on hand, or find on sale. And, I get my herbs for free, from my patio garden. You can sprinkle in little dried herbs if you don't have fresh - or just leave them out, this omelet is luscious enough.
I get many eggs cheaply here in Los Angeles, anywhere from a dozen to a half dozen for a dolllar.
Mushrooms are easy to work with, just brush off the dirt and slice them.
You can use any mushrooms you find on sale, it's all good. I like a tasty omelet sometimes, and when mushrooms are on sale, that's excuse enough to make my Portabella Mushroom, String Cheese & Herb Omelet.
Portabella Mushroom, String Cheese & Herb Omelet - VIDEO
Play it here, video runs 1 minute, 40 seconds.
My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here. Ingredients
3 eggs - okay to make it a 2 egg omelet.
1 portabella - per omelet. Okay to use small button mushrooms or any you can get cheaply. Add as many sauteed mushrooms to the omeletas you like.
1 stick of string cheese - okay to use any favorite cheese, like mozzarella, Swiss, cheddar, or plain American.
1 teaspoon herbs - any favorite, I used parsley and basil. Okay, to use dried herbs - but just a 1/4 teaspoon or a small sprinkle.
1 tablespoon milk - to mix into eggs.
2 tablespoons oil - one for mushrooms and one tablespoon for frying omelet.
Salt and pepper - to taste.
Directions
Chop herbs, I used parsley and basil. Shred or slice cheese.
Prepare portabella mushroom for sauteing. Brush off any dirt. Thick-slice mushroom. Okay to use any mushrooms on sale, including button mushrooms.
Add 1 tablespoon oil to a medium/hot pan. Saute mushroom slices until soft, about 2-4 minutes. Set aside when done.
Add 2 to 3 eggs to a bowl. Pour in 1 tablespoon of milk (optional.) Whisk the eggs and milk to blend well.
Heat the frying pan to medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of oil (less oil for a non-stick omelet pan.) Pour in beaten eggs into medium/hot pan. Let it cook for a minute then add extra ingredients. I add the cheese and mushrooms on one half, and the herbs on the other half.
Click on any photo to see larger.
Let the omelet cook until eggs are starting to firm up, but still slightly wet. Depending on the heat of the pan and how many eggs you used, it takes another minute or two.
Gently fold the omelet in half. Cook the omelet to the desired doneness, for about another 30 seconds or a minute.
Just cut into the thickest part of the omelet to check for slight dampness. Of course, you can cook the omelet until dry. A hot omelet will continue to cook and dry until eaten.
These are the most juicy fries you will have. Sounds weird but that's what you want for Portabella Mushroom Fries. And you will still get plenty of crunch with a crusty breaded coating.
This Happy Hour gastropub favorite is easily made in the less noisy comfort of your kitchen following The 99 Cent Chef's clear and concise stop-motion animated recipe video.
And a portabella mushrooms' mildly earthy flavor pairs perfectly with my Ginger Mayo Dipping Sauce. I like to use powdered garlic or ginger for flavoring boring mayo. You can also serve the fried mushrooms with ketchup if you like.
I often get packages of portabellas at my local 99c only Store. If you are not so lucky to find them on sale at your local grocery, it's okay to use standard white button mushrooms. Just cook them whole.
These fried fungi are a bit oily like French fries for sure, but I also include an oven-baked version under Hindsight, at the end of this post. But with baking you have to be careful; the coated mushrooms can easily dry out. (It's best to lightly brown the breadcrumbs first, so you can reduce the baking time and still get a crunchy coating.)
So if you are going to splurge on fat (or, cheat on your diet) make it with The 99 Cent Chef's Portabella Mushroom Fries. Or, if you just want to dine vicariously, then check out my uniquely animated video.
5 ounces of Portabella Mushrooms - usually 1-3 to a package
1/2 cup Flour
1 egg
2 slices of Bread (about 1/2 cup) - blended or fine chopped. Okay to use packaged Breadcrumbs. Any type of bread will do - even old hamburgers and hot dog buns.
Oil for Frying - about 1/2 inch deep in the frying pan.
Salt and Pepper to taste - you can season the raw breadcrumbs, or sprinkle it on cooked fries.
*Depending on the package size of the mushrooms, you may need to add a little more flour, breadcrumbs, or egg.
Ginger Mayo Dipping Sauce
3 tablespoons of Mayonnaise- light or regular
1 teaspoon of Dried Ginger - okay to use freshly grated (about 1/2 teaspoon or to taste.) Dried Garlic Powder is a delish substitution for Dried Ginger.
Just mix the mayo and powered ginger all together, and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Directions for Portabella Fries
With a damp sponge, remove any dirt off mushroom caps, then pat dry. Add oil to a pan (about 1/2 inch deep) over medium-high heat.
With a spoon scrape out the black fuzzy gills under the mushroom cap. Scrape until you start to see the beige flesh underneath - you don't need to remove every last bit. It's also okay to just slice the portabella mushroom whole, gills and all.
If you are using small white or brown button mushrooms, cook them whole -- just wipe off any dirt. Trim stems if they are dried out.
Slice the mushroom into about 1/2-inch pieces. If you like thicker fries then make the slices even wider.
Now to make the coating ingredients. First up are the breadcrumbs. I have a small food processor, but you could also use a regular blender, to chop up 2 slices of bread.
With a bit of work, you could also hand chop. It's okay to use packaged breadcrumbs, too.
Tear bread slices into pieces, add to blender, and pulse until breadcrumbs are fine. Spread out breadcrumbs on a plate.
Next, whisk one whole egg in a shallow bowl. And finally spread out 1/2 cup of flour on another plate.
To coat the mushroom slices, first coat all sides of a slice in flour. Next, add the floured slice to the egg wash, again coating all sides.
Finally, add wet mushroom slices to breadcrumbs and sprinkle crumbs all over. Repeat the steps until you have a plate of coated mushrooms ready to fry. You can work in batches if you have a lot of slices.
The oil should be nice and hot by now (about 350 degrees). Carefully add the smallest slice to make sure the oil is up to temperature -- the slice should sputter and bubble right away. Add the other slice to fill the pan.
Total frying time may vary, but should be around 5 -7 minutes for each batch of mushroom slices. Mainly watch the slice edges in the oil and look for a nice golden brown to form. Once this happens, turn the slices over to brown the other sides.
The mushrooms will tenderize whether the breadcrumbs are light brown or dark brown -- it's up to you how you like it. When portabella mushrooms are done remove and drain on a wire rack or on paper towels.
Serve with my Ginger Mayo Dip. You can also use regular ketchup.
Hindsight
You can add spices to the breadcrumbs for extra flavor. Of course, I like Cajun spices. Dried parmesan is a tasty addition to the crumbs.
Oven cooking is a lighter way to go. I tried oven-cooking the fries, but they dried out and the breadcrumbs didn't brown well.
Next time I would first lightly brown the breadcrumbs in a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan (about 2 minutes.) Coat the portabella slices as listed above. Heat the oven to 375 degrees and add the slices to a wire rack or baking pan. Bake for about 20-30 minutes. Slice into one mushroom fry at 20 minutes to see if the mushroom center is tender and moist, if so, then they are done, if not then check back every ten minutes.
You could also try slicing the mushroom a little thicker to keep the fries from drying out. Give the baking method a go, if you want to save on oil and calories.
And finally, if you don't have portabella mushrooms on sale, it's just as delicious to use easy-to-get small-button mushrooms. I would coat them as described above and fry them whole.
I always see 5 ounce cans of salmon at my local 99c only Store. With one can you can make a couple of Salmon Burgers - now that is a great deal. You can make this seafood burger your own by mixing in any grilled and chopped veggies you like. I use an egg to bind and hold it all together. And for extra credit I throw in a Ginger Mayo Aioli to top the Salmon Burger.
