Hello friends and not yet friends,
Welcome back to Mary's Test Kitchen, where we're making vegan food fun again.
This time, making vegan burgers even more fun than they already are.
This burger is meaty.
Toothsome.
Actually juicy.
And perfect for grilling outdoors or indoors.
The kind of hearty high protein burger that will actually keep you full.
Veggie burger lovers, you know what I mean.
Before we begin, I'd like to give a special thanks to today's sponsor: Four Sigmatic,
the company that makes superfood mushrooms a little less weird and actually delicious
by blending functional mushrooms like Reishi, Chaga, Cordyceps, and Lion's Mane, as well
as other superfoods into coffee, matcha and other tasty drinks.
Use the link in the description and get 15% off your first order from Four Sigmatic.
Our first order of business for making the juiciest vegan burgers is getting the ingredients
together.
The base of the burger will be vital wheat gluten which is mainly protein but it needs
flavour and colour.
Beginning with beets from a can into a blender.
Also for color but more so for taste, tomato juice drained from a can of whole tomatoes.
Tomatoes are naturally high in glutamate which is responsible for making foods taste mouth
wateringly good.
We'll need some water to help everything blend together.
Add paprika and black pepper.
Next, dried porcini mushoom that I blended into a powder.
That's another glutamate bomb.
If porcini isn't easy for you to get, try shiitake instead.
Then concentrated vegetable base.
You can use whatever type you like.
Just use the equivalent meant to make 3 cups of broth according to your package.
Last but not least, and in fact very essential to cut the wheaty wheat flavour of gluten:
balsamic vinegar.
And blend.
Blend until there are no more visible chunks of beets and the mixture is pretty smooth
and looks a little violent.
But it's not actually, so calm down you over there about to type plants have feelings in
the comments below.
I see you.
Then we'll mix in the vital wheat gluten.
Also know as gluten flour, this stuff is super fine and flies around everywhere so be gentle with it.
After that's mixed in, add more but hold back some.
Depending on the moisture in the beets and perhaps the level of fiber in the tomato juice,
sometimes you don't need as much flour or you might need a smidge more.
Let's see.
The dough should be soft but not squishy with wetness.
It will get more tough as you knead it over a few minutes.
Not too long.
If your dough looks wetter than this or feels really soft, you can knead in a little more
gluten.
Next divide the dough.
For big thick restaurant style burgers, divide into 6.
I'm using a scale for exactness but you of course don't have to. Because these are your vegan burgers and there
are no rules.
After you have your dough balls, you'll want to knead them a little more.
Form them into tighter balls by kneading the edges towards the middle.
This will help them maintain their shape while cooking.
I also want some thinner fast food style burgers so I'll divide the last two into four.
Finally, let's roll these out so they get wider and flatter, keeping in mind that these
will double in size after cooking.
This dough likes to spring back.
Just keep going and show that gluten who's boss.
That would be you, by the way.
This will do.
Time to cook.
I've got my biggest pot with a bit of veggie broth in it.
Add the burgers.
Then cover them completely with more veggie broth.
Turn up the heat and bring the broth to a simmer.
But watch this like a hawk.
You don't want to let it come to a rolling boil.
Turn the heat down to low, cover, and let the burgers simmer in there for an hour.
The steady simmer will cook the burgers and infuse them with tasty broth so they'll come
out juicy.
But if you let this boil rapidly, the seitan will quickly turn to mushy brains.
You can also cook these in the oven instead which is a little easier.
Just cover them in broth in a roasting pan or dutch oven.
Cover and bake for an hour at 350°F. Either way, you'll want to flip the stacks of burgers
upside down halfway through.
And at this point, you deserve a break.
You worked hard.
How about a matcha frappe?
I used to work at a coffee shop where I learned the secret of why matcha frappes tasted so
good.
But first, the matcha itself.
Matcha is really whole green tea, ground up so it retains every good thing about tea.
Caffeine for a little pep but also L-theanine, a relaxing amino acid so the kick is balanced.
You can use whatever matcha is in your cupboards but this Four Sigmatic blend also has Lion's
Mane for it's brain-boosting effects, astragalus which is used as an adatogen, and ginger for
good digestion.
Which is nice because the secret to creamy delicious matcha frappes is ice cream.
Coffee shops often use ice cream milk, a blend that is made to pour into ice cream makers
to make ice cream.
It's super high in fat and sugar.
There's no vegan version so let's use your favourite vegan vanilla ice cream.
The creamier the better.
And blend.
You can add a little vanilla milk if you like or just let your blender do all the work.
And there you have it.
Add some coconut whip if you like and finish with a little extra matcha.
And enjoy until the weather turns cold.
Which it did the day I filmed this actually.
It snowed.
But I'll still pretend it's warm. So this drink feels refreshing instead of turning me into a popsicle.
When your burgers are cooked, they'll have expanded.
I added some broth midway so that's why there's still so much broth but yours might be poking
out.
That's okay as long as you flipped them.
Now they can go straight on the grill or you can store them.
Make sure you do store them in broth so they stay juicy.
Three to five days in the fridge or you can freeze them for up to two months.
Even though there was snow on the balcony, I braved the elements for you.
If it's still grilling season where you are, heat up your grill to about 450-500°F-ish
and lay them out.
Brush the burgers on both sides with oil.
I'm using olive oil infused with fresh crushed garlic for extra flavour.
You could add your favourite burger seasoning if you want, of course.
Let me know what kind of herb and spice blends you like best in the comments below.
Since these are already fully cooked, you just want to get some colour on without drying
them out.
But unlike other vegan burgers, these aren't that easy to dry out.
Especially if you keep basting them.
I grilled these about four minutes each side.
My gas was running out so only one side really got the char on but you get the idea.
Inside, I got the buns and fillings ready.
For a thick burger, you really want a good sized bun.
Preferably toasted on the inside for that soft versus crunchy textural experience.
And on they go.
Isn't that glorious?
Meaty.
Juicy.
Can you see that juiciness?
It's no ordinary vegan burger.
Yes, you put a lot of work into it.
But it's worth it.
So worth it that the next day, you got to put some more burgers on the grill.
This time, an indoor grill pan because it's too cold and you're out of propane.
You do the same thing with the oil baste.
These burgers are practically fat free otherwise.
While they're on the grill, get yer burger stuff ready.
Why not go for a double decker?
Get your sesame seed buns toasted.
For each, you'll need a whole bun, top and bottom, and another bottom for the middle.
The top is the crown, one of the bottoms becomes the middle (aka the club) and the actual bottom
is called the heel.
Did I ever tell you I worked at McDonald's during high school.
Let's make some vegan big macs.
The special sauce is vegan mayo, paprika, chopped pickles, onion powder, garlic powder,
a smidge of mustard, and a splash of vinegar.
Then rehydrated previously dried onions.
You can find them in the spice aisle.
Then shredded lettuce.
I'm using the wrong lettuce to be honest.
Iceberg is the real thing.
Is green leaf lettuce slightly more nutritious?
I think so.
Two pickles go on the club, then a slice of cheese on the heel.
I'm using a homemade vegan cheddar that I'm working on.
It's not quite ready yet but feel free to subscribe and hit that notification button
so you'll know when I'm 100% happy with it and ready to share.
And I'm such a pro that this took 30 seconds and the burger patties aren't ready yet.
Better make some drinks.
Like this mushroom lemonade.
Doesn't look like any other lemonade mix I've tried before.
But it's pretty cool.
You can just add regular water.
But c'mon, that's not especially fun.
Let's add sparkling water.
It's sugar free and doesn't taste sugar free.
Tastes super good.
While the soda's out, let's try another one.
I had this mushroom elixer hot already as a tea and it really reminds me of an herbal
drink I enjoyed growing up called Hak Gu Cho.
Sorry, I don't know the english name.
Anyways, I thought it would be perfect in rootbeer.
And I was right.
What can I say, I'm kind of a genius.
Now them burgers are ready and all we're missing is fries.
But you won't miss anything for long because...
This is what vegan burger dreams are made of.
Two all wheat patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed
bun.
Sorry, I couldn't resist.
I really hope you make these burgers.
Thick or thin.
Pub style or fast food style.
Grilled outdoors or in.
Unless you're gluten-free I guess, in which case, please be patient with me...I'm working
on a gf version.
Not there yet but I will not give up!
Because I love you too.
You know who you are.
Again, thank you so much to Four Sigmatic for supporting this video.They have so many
awesome products that make superfood mushrooms fun again!
Their site makes it easy to sort through the benefits or the particular mushroom you're
looking for, or the type of drink you like best.
Like if you want to be more productive, focused, and creative: try the Mushroom Coffee with
Lion's Mane.
You might've seen my first impresson of this on my last What I Ate video.
Since then, it's become my weekday morning addiction!
Then in the afternoon, I go for the matcha.
Not usually blending with vegan ice cream.
I love matcha and especially with astragalus which I'm familiar with because it's used
in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
It's used as an anti-inflammatory and I always try to add anti-inflammatory foods to my diet
because of my tendonitus issues.
Plus it's used to boost the immune system.
Perfect for this time of year.
If you can't decide, there are sampler packs so you can try a bunch.
Remember you'll get 15% off your first purchase so get on it!
Thanks so much for watching my friends.
I really hope you enjoyed this extra long video.
Please give it a thumbs up if you did and subscribe if you haven't already for more
vegan fun food.
If you're already subscribed thanks so much for coming back again and again and supporting
me especially my channel members who are helping me with monthly support which I appreciate
so so much.
You guys are making a huge difference.
Anyways, I love you all.
Bye for now!