Channeling my inner ‘bliss’
To skip straight to the recipe, scroll down to the bottom
If you have been lucky enough to frequent the quaint NSW South Coast village of Milton, you may have been fortunate enough to stumble into ‘Pilgrims’ cafe. The vegetarian cafe is famous for their ‘bliss burger’ and i have eaten many a ‘bliss burger’, maybe more than i care to share.
Pilgrims cafe – Milton
Each time i sit down to this (along with their banana bread which is awesome) i analyse whats in it in a hope to recreate it at home. It consists of a vegetarian patty, sprouts, tabbouli, avocado, cheese and a sauce that i cannot put my finger on (but it seems to be like a satay sauce). Now obviously all is easily recreated expect for the patty and the sauce. Anyway, over the years i think i have gotten closer and this recipe is the best one yet.
The recipe for this patty actually belongs to Belinda Jeffery which i spied in ‘delicious’ magazine many years ago. The ingredients of hummus, chickpeas, tahini and coriander all sounded great and the description of it sealed the deal for me; ‘these gently spicy burgers are light and dead easy to make’. I had to give them ago.
ingredients spell out ‘yummo’ to me
Now it is all well and good getting an urge for a bliss burger and whipping one up at home, BUT will it go down well with the kids. Master 5 years helped me make these today to which the comments were ‘er yuk’ and ‘chickpeas! (please add a tone of voice that says you have got to be dreaming mum). But once the patty mix was done he did try it and report it was ‘yum’. So maybe there was hope yet.
How was Miss 18 months going to take this? Well i can tell you my optimism was such that i left some of last nights meatloaf in the fridge as a back up. But, enough talk for now, to the kitchen we go….
I used the food processor for this recipe. I suppose you could do it without a food processor and mix it all together by hand but it would have more whole chickpeas through it (which would still be nice) and you may get an arm workout along the way.
Anyway, into the food processor went the hummus, fresh breadcrumbs, tahini, cumin, spring onion, coriander, garlic, lemon juice and half the chickpeas
A quick blitz and it comes together to form a course paste. Transfer this mix to a bowl and add in the other half of the chickpeas. With a spoon or your hands, mix it all together.
What you are left with is a very sticky mix. It is then time to shape the mix into patties and coat them in the breadcrumbs which will form a lovely crunchy coating that just asks to be bit into. I placed the breadcrumbs (i used ‘panko’ branded crumbs which are in the asian food section of the supermarket) and sesame seeds onto a large plate and as i shaped a patty using wet hands. Quickly dip the patty in the crumbs, place on a tray or plate. From experience i have found that refrigerating them for 30 minutes at this stage helps to make them not as fragile to handle. You do not have to do this, but just be extra gentle with them.
Crumbed patties
Add just enough olive oil to a non stick fry pan to cover the base and heat gently. Fry the patties on each side until golden brown. I then place them in a warm oven for about 10 minutes. Then you are ready to go and fill up your roll with all the goodies.
Can you smell it? yum
Now, you can really put what ever you want on a bread roll with this but we had sprouts, grated carrot, avocado, baby spinach and satay sauce.
Master 5 years had his with avocado, carrot, patty and BBQ sauce. Miss 18 months just had the patty served to her. And the results…
Now i am really in shock. I swear i am not making this up and i feel like all i have reported is what a picky eater she is and for the last couple of nights she has made a liar of me. Maybe we have turned a corner…. or maybe she was just starving (i do tend to starve her after lunch in a hope she will eat her dinner) or maybe she has an inner hippy waiting to come out but whatever it was – she ate it! I really did not think i would be reporting this. I mean, she still did not have any vegies but it was a meal full of strange texture and flavours for her so i am really pleased she gave it a go. On cloud nine 🙂
Anyway, give it a go. Whether the kids eat it all not, it’s damn yummy and i am sure you will enjoy it.
Middle-eatern chickpea patties
200g hummus
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
2 tbs tahini paste
1/2 tsp ground cumin
3 spring onions, white part only, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 tbs chopped coriander
1 tbs lemon juice
2 x 400g canned chickpeas (rinsed and drained)
Olive oil to fry
1 tbs sesame seeds
dry breadcrumbs for coating
Process hummus, fresh breadcrumbs, tahini, cumin, onion, garlic, coriander, juice and half the chickpeas. Season with a little salt. Transfer to a bowl and use you hands to mix in remaining chickpeas.
Pour 3mm olive oil into a large frypan. Heat gently. Shape patties with moist hands and coat in breadcrumbs/sesame seed coating (makes about 8 patties). Cook patties in batches for 2 – 3 minutes each side until golden brown. Drain on paper towel.
Assemble onto toasted buns with what ever filling you wish. I used sprouts, avocado, grated carrot, coriander, baby spinach and satay sauce.
2 Responses to “Channeling my inner ‘bliss’”
Sounds yum, I will definitely be trying this one, I don’t eat red meat & will be a great alternative to chicken burgers!
We are having this tonight Nat, off to the shops I go to get the ingredients shortly. I have had quite a few nights of yuk comments! So we will have a try. Will let you know how it goes. Very happy for you that miss 18 months is loving it all. It must be your enthusiasm, focus and cooking. X.