Ginger and Grapefruit Lentil Patties with Maple Grapefruit Salmon

Tinned beans of all descriptions are a pantry staple of mine. And of those, chick peas and lentils are my favourites. I always make sure I have a few tins on hand for bulking up salads or curries, or blending up into a dip. They're also great for when I'm running late and leave the house without taking meat out to defrost...leaving us vegetarian for a night. One of my favourite vegetarian dishes to make is lentil patties. They take on flavours so well and make a lovely, filling dish. The patties can be eaten by themselves with just a side salad or turned into burgers or tacos. They're extremely versatile, not to mention pretty darn good for you.

Over the years I've ordered a lot of vegetarian burgers out at restaurants and generally fail to be impressed. (On a side note, ordering the vegetarian burger with added bacon tends to create utter confusion!). Working off this basic recipe, I've discovered a world of super tasty, not to mention easy and highly adaptable patties. Just change up the bulk, or the herbs. Or even substitute the ricotta for natural yoghurt. This particular version is fresh and bright tasting with the ginger and grapefruit, but has a lightness that pairs well with this fish. If you don't have the burghul, just some panko would be fine.

I've served it here with a simple salad and some glazed salmon, just because I was feeling fancy. The next night I had the same patties as burgers without the salmon.

Ginger and Grapefruit Lentil Patties 
This makes about 6-8 patties
(adapted from Sprouted Kitchen)

1 tin lentils, rinsed and drained
¾ cup ricotta
1 shallot, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp grated ginger
Zest from one grapefruit
Small handful coriander and basil
1 egg
½ cup fine grit burghul
4 tbsp coconut flour
pinch salt and pepper
Black sesame seeds (optional – to roll the patties in)
Coconut oil for frying

Maple Grapefruit Salmon

2 portions salmon

Juice from one grapefruit (approx. 1/3 cup)
1 tbsp tamari
1 tbsp maple syrup

Add the lentils, ricotta, shallot, garlic, ginger and grapefruit zest into the blender and pulse to chop roughly. Add the egg and process to thoroughly combine. It will be a pretty wet mix at this stage. Add the burgul, coconut flour, herbs and salt and pepper, and process again to mix properly. It should now be about the consistency of a normal ‘beef’ pattie. If it looks too dry, add another egg. If it’s too wet, add a tablespoon more burghul.

Wet your hands, then roll the mixture into patties. Press into sesame seeds (if desired), then place them on a lined baking tray, cover loosely and refrigerate for half an hour or so to ‘set’.

Meanwhile, mix together the marinade ingredients and pour over the salmon. Cover and set aside.

In a medium high frypan, add a thin layer of coconut oil and gently place a few patties in, making sure not to crowd the pan. Cook for 10 minutes until golden, then flip and cook for another 5-10 minutes. Remove to a plate and keep warm whilst you do the rest of the mixture.

In a separate frypan, heat a little oil until shimmering and place the salmon in. Cook 2 minutes, then turn over. Add the marinade to the pan and cook another two minutes until almost cooked through and the sauce has reduced to a sticky glaze. Serve on top of the lentil patties with avocado, some fresh salad and the glaze drizzled over the top

Obsession - Pretzel Rolls

Pretzel Rolls. If you are like me and love nothing more than sitting down to freshly baked bread, still warm from the oven , smeared with butter - then these two words are going to change your life. One of the sponsors of the Sweet Escape retreat was LaBriola bakery, and they gave Alejandra (and hence us) a whole bunch of pretzel rolls. And they were good. Addictively good. Can't eat just one good. When I got home, I immediately googled recipes for pretzel rolls, needing them in my life. I've made these twice now and love them. They're not quite as good as the La Briola ones, but they are definitely an adequate at-home substitute! Both batches were gobbled up by my guests pretty quickly, so that's a fairly good indication of yumminess.

The first time I made them, I made the dough in a stand mixer that is woefully poor at actually mixing more than the small centre of the bowl where the blade sits and had to knead the rest in by hand. I can't wait til I finally get around to saving enough for a KitchenAid! The second time I made them, I used a breadmaker to mix the dough. This method worked well, but the dough ended up a bit sticky, so I needed hand-knead in some extra flour. Until I get my KitchenAid, I will be sticking with the breadmaker method, and checking earlier on to see if the dough is sticky. If you have a good stand mixer, then that will work.

As I said, these are perfect with just some butter, but also great as slider buns. Let's face it - any time you need a bun these are perfect. I realised I forgot to take a photo of them sliced up with said butter or fillings - but I was too busy eating them. Maybe next time, I'll pop it on instagram

Pretzel Rolls
adapted from here

1 1/2 cups warm water (as hot as your tap gets)
1 tbsp dry yeast
2 tsp sugar
4 1/2 cups plain flour
1 tsp salt
4 tbsp melted butter
1 beaten egg for glazing

Poaching:
8 cups water
1/4 cup bicarb soda

Start by melting the butter, and setting aside to cool slightly.

Pour the warm water, sugar and yeast into the bowl of the breadmaker, stirring together. Leave it to sit for about 10 minutes until it's foamy.

Add the flour, salt and butter, then set the breadmaker on the dough setting. Watch as it comes together, and once it's all combined (about 10 minutes into kneading for mine), gently and safely touch the dough to see if it's 'sticky' to the touch. If it is, add a tbsp of flour at a time until it's not sticky. I added an extra 4 tbsp to mine.

Once the dough is a good consistency, leave the dough setting to finish and it will do it's first rise in the bowl of the machine.

For standmixer, follow the breadmaker instructions as above up until the rise - it'll need around 5-10 minutes of kneading time. Then cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm position for 1-2 hours until doubled in size.

Lightly flour your work surface and drop the ball of rised dough out onto it. Knead lightly into a flatter disc and cut into 16 equal pieces for slider sized buns. Take each piece and roll around in both hands, so you have a smooth ball. Place on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Repear with all the pieces of dough, leaving room on the tray for them to rise again. Place in a warm spot 30mins to an hour. They won't quite double again, but will look puffier.

Now it's time to prepare for baking! Preheat oven to 225C. Place the water and bicarb soda into a large pot and bring to a simmer. Beat the egg for the glaze.

Carefully slide each roll "flat" side down into the poaching water, let it sit for 30 seconds, flip it over and let it sit "round" side in the water for another 30 seconds. Flip it back over and fish it out with a slotted spoon and pop it back on the baking sheet, flat side down.

Brush each poached roll with the egg wash and slash a deepish line across the middle with a knife (if desired, you can sprinkle salt on top, too).

Bake the rolls in the oven for 15-20 minutes, rotating trays half-way through, so the rolls are an even golden brown and sound hollow when you tap the base. Allow to cool slightly before eating. Best served warm!

 

Entertaining - Tapas Sliders Night

The idea for this post came from three sources. Firstly, I am a huge fan of tapas style food. I want to try all of the things, so small amounts of various items is the best! When I go to restaurants, I can usually rope a few people into ordering multiple starters and make it a DIY tapas night, instead of ordering mains. Have you noticed that generally, the most unique and interesting food flavours are in the entrees? I'm assuming it's because if you don't like it, there's only a small amount and you've got your mains coming. But it's such a fun way of dining to try only smaller dishes.

One of my favourite restaurants is Watershed Winery near Margaret River and it's because they have a tasting plate appetiser for two and tasting plate dessert. Each plate comes with around 6 perfectly created mini-dishes. All different and unique, but still complimentary. I've often wanted to re-create this style of dinner party at home, but it's a lot of work to make so many mini-dishes. I actually want to do a tasting plate entree, main and dessert. 18 dishes for one dinner!

Secondly, my work Christmas party last year. It was a cocktail event, with lots of wonderful snacks going past and free-flowing champagne. It was getting towards the end of the night, when I'd danced to my heart's content and drank a few too many bubbles when I started to smell the most amazing smell. Burgers. And then I saw the tray of sliders the waiters were bringing around. Best. Idea. Ever. Mini-burgers for drunk folk, just before midnight.

I was discussing how perfect that idea was after she'd said she had pork sliders for lunch that day when we came up with a brilliant easy dinner party idea - tapas sliders. Mini-burgers with a choice of patties. So you can try multiple burgers in one night, or just stick to your favourite if you're a bit fussier. All of the patties can be prepared beforehand and then just grilled when your guests arrive. You can perfect the topping combinations for them, or like we did, create a burger station where they can experiment on their own. 

Our burger combinations suggestions were:

Beef patties - with cheese, beetroot, salad and tomato sauce
Pulled pork - with BBQ sauce, pineapple and coleslaw
Grilled pumpkin - with avocado and grilled haloumi
Prawn patties - with avocado and mango salsa

I made the pulled pork and prawn burgers. My friend brought the pumpkin and beef patties.

Our buns were a little on the large side for sliders, so I had my beef burger bunless as you can see in the pictures below. Sorry, all phone photos still.