Spoonburgers, #Vegetarian and #Carnivorous

The diners are carnivorous, I mean, not the spoonburgers.

We used to have the carnivorous kind all the time when the girls were growing up, but now that one of them is vegan, two are practically vegetarian, and we’re more vegetarian than not, we stopped eating them. But sometimes I crave them, so I invented this version that satisfied us.

Vegetarian Spoonburgers

For the burgers:

  • 1 package (4 burgers) veggieburgers of your choice
  • 1 egg
  • 1 Tablespoon dried parsley (or three times as much fresh chopped parsley)
  • 1 Tablespoon dried celery flakes (or three times as much fresh chopped celery leaves)
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 3 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 Tablespoons dried bread crumbs
  • chopped onion or onion powder to taste
  • butter or margarine

Mush all ingredients together and form into small patties, smaller than the original veggieburgers but larger than meatballs. Melt butter in skillet and brown patties on both sides. Take them out of the skillet so you can make the gravy.

For the gravy:

  • 1 cup cold water
  • 1 teaspoon vegetable bouillon
  • 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
  • dash of Kitchen Bouquet browning sauce

Dissolve bouillon and cornstarch in water. Heat it in the burger skillet, stirring constantly, until the gravy thickens and clears. Add as much Kitchen Bouquet as you need to make the gravy a rich brown. If the sauce thickens before it clears, add more water.

When the gravy is nice and thick and hot, turn off the burner and put the burgers into the sauce long enough to heat them back up.

Looks like this:

SpoonburgersYou MUST serve it with mashed potatoes (for the gravy) and corn (for the corn). Wild morel mushrooms are optional. heh.

Just for Dan Antion, here is the carnivorous version, which was left to the girls by their late mother, God bless her dear heart:

  • 3/4 pound hamburger (ground or minced beef)
  • 1 beaten egg
  • 1/2 small chopped onion
  • 1 Tablespoon dried parsley
  • 1 Tablespoon dried celery flakes
  • dry bread crumbs

Brown patties on both sides. Pour off grease. Add 2 cups water. Simmer 20 minutes. Add 2 beef/onion bouillon cubes. When almost done, stir 1 Tablespoon cornstarch into 1 cup water and add.

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: What is something left to your main character by their mother, seemingly trivial but deeply cherished?

MA

About

I was born in Louisville, Kentucky, but now live in the woods in southern Indiana. Though I only write fiction, I love to read non-fiction. The more I learn about this world, the more fantastic I see it is.

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One thought on “Spoonburgers, #Vegetarian and #Carnivorous

  1. Dan Antion

    April 6, 2016 at 11:59am

    Thanks for the special treatment 🙂

    I will point out that I would probably have an allergic reaction to the cornstarch. It’s a long story, but it’s a real issue. No problem, though. My wife would substitute oat flour. Sometimes, she makes that by processing oats (for oatmeal) in a handheld coffee grinder.

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    • Author

      Marian Allen

      April 6, 2016 at 5:17pm

      Oat flour would probably add a good note to it. Your wife sounds like a gem!

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  2. Shelly

    April 6, 2016 at 12:44pm

    I’ve never heard of spoonburgers. Are they like Salsbury steak? Your gravy looks so yummy!

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    • Author

      Marian Allen

      April 6, 2016 at 5:19pm

      I guess they ARE a bit like Salisbury Steak, Shelly. We make them more hockey-pucky, though; somewhere between the shape and size of a hamburger and the shape and size of a meatball.

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