Alternative Burger 'Buns'...

Sous Chef J is a big fan of finger food and has a problem with dexterity so we like to make 'easy to eat' things.  Burgers fall into this category but Gluten Free bread/buns seems to be something that we still can't find with enough reliability to factor into our meal-making.

We saw these mushrooms when we were in the shop last week and thought they looked just perfect to be used as burger 'buns'.   So, we gave it a go!

Making our own burgers, using beef mince, an egg and onions, we chopped the onions and fried them on a low heat until they went transparent.  Setting them aside for a few minutes to cool slightly, we added the beaten egg to the mince and mixed well.  We then incorporated the cooled, cooked onions.

Next, we used a couple of dessertspoons to form the burgers into patties and fried them in a little sunflower oil over a medium heat.

Then it was time to gather all the 'putting together' ingredients - we used iceberg lettuce leaves, sliced tomatoes, sliced baby brie and portabella mushrooms.  Also tomato ketchup and other sauces...

Sous Chef J layered his burger on a lettuce leaf, added a slice of tomato and folded the leaf into a parcel to enclose the burger.

The mushrooms were quickly heated in the frying pan, stalk side down, for a couple of minutes.

They were then ready for use as 'buns'... and to make a cheeseburger we used slices of mini brie as well as the burger, lettuce and tomato slice.

Here's a cross section through our mushroom-bun-cheeseburger ....

... yumminess on a plate.   Sous Chef J had seconds and thirds although prefers the lettuce wrapped burgers as they contain the deliciousness better for him!

Speedy Mushroom Sauce

Things are not quite 'right' here at the moment. Sous Chef J is rather unwell (more on that in later posts, I should think) and, as a result our life is even more chaotic than usual.

Luckily, we were sent some samples of Boursin Cheese the other week and during a lunchtime fridge audit (those of you that follow me on twitter may recognise that term!) I spotted the Garlic and Herb Boursin loitering alongside a few mushrooms.  It wasn't a great leap of culinary genius that lead to my mind coming up with a plan to use them together but a moment of thinking "that'd go well together"... so I gathered the ingredients and set about trying an ad hoc concoction.

An onion was finely chopped and fried in a little oil over a low heat for a few minutes during which time the mushrooms were cleaned, de-stalked and chopped.   The 3 chestnut mushrooms (they were quite large) and a handful of button mushrooms were added to the frying onions and a knob of butter was added.  This was all then left over a low heat for about 10 minutes to sweat down.  A squeeze of lemon juice was added to the pan and mixed well.

The mushroom mix was then drained in a sieve to remove excess moisture.  It was then blitzed using our Braun stick blender.

Finally, a whole pack of "Boursin Ail & Fines Herbes" was added and quickly whizzed to combine.  The mix was then placed in a jar and stored in the fridge until teatime when we cooked some Dove's Farm Gluten Free Pasta, drained it, returned it to the cooking pan and mixed the mushroom sauce through. 

We thought it was delicious, although in his current, under the weather state, am sorry to report that Sous Chef J would "not even taste a molecule". 

However, we tried half of the summer flavour Sun Ripened Tomato, Onion and Chive Boursin stirred through the warm pasta and the young Chef's plate was cleared so fast, there was no time for a photo! 

To use up the remainder of the pack, we also added the cheese to a salad to accompany our steamed salmon the next night making another quick and tasty meal. 

Thanks to Kirsty for sending the samples.  They've provided us with the chance to make speedy, tasty food when we've really needed to be spending as little time as possible on daily chores.