#12 Mushroom burger reco from Beeburger's FB pal

Let me start by saying that, if you’re doing the math, you may have noticed that I am not on track to eat 100 veggie burgers in 2011.  It seems like any veggie burgers after #60 would probably be rated harshly because at this rate, I would have to start eating them practically every other night to make my goal!  So, I’m all about flexibility.  Let’s call it a cool 52 veggie burgers…one per week for all of 2011.  Any objections? 

One of Beeburger’s pals recommended that I test out making a more mushroom-y burger and sent me this recipe.  Last week, I tested it out and actually thought it was pretty tasty.  For recipes, I’ll use a slightly different scale, since part of what makes a recipe good is how complicated it is…weekend affair or quick week night meal?

Grade: B

What I liked:  It’s odd because at first blush, I wasn’t too into this burger.  It seemed a little blah to me, just not enough spice (and I doubled or tripled whatever the recipe called for), but after having one, I started picking off of the other “leftovers” still sitting in the pan.  So did Husburger.  I am not really a mushroom gal, but this was a tasty burger! 

Was it worth it? Should I have just spent 5 minutes in the P.Terry’s drive through instead?  I don’t think so!  Especially since I made these crispy enough, it was well worth investing time to cook vs. carryout.  Cook + prep time was not bad at all.  Slider hit the hay at 6:45PM and we were eating by 7:45, just in time for Big Love!

What Missed: Oh, I just think that all of that bean paste is kind of insurmountable when it comes to flavor.  It’s like the mashed up beans really take over whatever spice you add, so you’d need half a bottle of pepper to truly taste it.  A little mushy, and hard to get that crispness that I like, but not too shabby.

#11 Guest Spotlight on Veggiewurst and Kimchi Fries

Okay, I know this is a site dedicated to veggie burgers, which are probably not even remotely related to veggie dogs or kimchi, but for anyone who loves good veggie meals, these are a must-try when in Austin.

Must-must-must try: Chi’lantro kimchi fries (w/tofu…you could get pork, chicken, or beef).  Husburger came home one day raving about these kimchi fries he ate one day at work.  Apparently the truck visited their office.  When my sis, Beeburger was in town, I wanted to give her a trailer tour of Austin, so we hit up a few good places.  I searched for “kimchi fries Austin,” and immediately Chi’Lantro came to the top.  I had to deal with all kinds of weird twitter schedules and whatnot, but eventually we figured out their route.  Turns out they are nighttime crowd, like 9PM onward downtown.  That is too late for parents who wake up at 7AM latest on a weekend!  We were in hot pursuit of Chi’Lantro for the whole weekend she was here, and then finally gave up on it.  I’m back at work a few days later, and for some reason, I decided to check the schedule again…guess what? Chi’Lantro comes to my building every Thursday!  I called Husburger and he came over for a rare lunchtime date.  Kimchi fries in the Prius.  Yum.  Those badboys lived up to all of the Yelp reviews.  I guess I always thought that the French fry was the perfect food, but all of that kimchi goodness piled on top of them left me thinking fries have much more potential than just sitting on the side.

Try it if you’re in the neighborhood: On our trailer tour, I took my sis over to South of Congress to experience trailer-mania + outdoor market all at once.   To my brother-in-law Mikey’s disappointment, we ended up not going to Coat and Thai and instead tried out BestWurstTex.  You guessed it, the veggie bratwurst.  There were 2 options, and we went with the sautéed onions, peppers, and sauerkraut.  Delish!  I am not usually a veggie dog person because they are just too darn soy-y for me, but this was really flavorful.  Not to mention that the line was far more manageable than most anywhere else there.  Oh, and what did Slider like?  The waffle fries, topped with truffle oil, of course.  

#10 Your Mom's Burger Bar

Husburger had been out of town for several days, so I was excited to hear he was coming home early.  But of course that meant that we would need to eat something other than what I typically make myself when he's out of town: popcorn and chocolate (Beeburger gave me that great option) or heating up one of those Indian pouches of food that they sell at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. Yum.  I used to fry up a veggie burger, but now I am pretty much only eating to review if you catch my drift.

Now that I have gone to many of the burger joints that I already knew in Austin, I thought it was time to start branching out.  I am a new and ardent fan of Yelp, so went to check it out and came across Your Mom's Burger Bar.  I think that the chair masseuse at the airport also mentioned it.  Not to be confused with Mother's (a veg joint in the city), Your Mom is over on the East Side and has some pretty fantastic sounding burgers.  I think my first clue about this burger should have been when I noticed that there wasn't a featured veggie burger.  Instead, you had to just substitute any burger with the veggie.  People like it though, at least on yelp they do, so I figured we would give it a try.

Grade: C

What I liked: I ordered the John D. Rockefeller, and the toppings on my burger were pretty awesome.  It's not every day that you get sauteed spinach, artichoke hearts, and tomatoes all nicely cooked and piled on your burger.  I like the menu at Your Mom's and the overall inventiveness and feel of it.


What Missed: Not enough flavor in the burger.  The burger itself left a lot to be desired.  Granted, I left off the pepperjack cheese that is stuffed in the burger (at least advertised like that for regular ones), but still, it was pretty cardboard-y.  Too much rice, too thin, didn't really stick together well, and not very distinctive.  To add to that mix, the bun was dry and really big.  It dominated so much that I had to eat the burger without bread at all in the end, to keep from having dry mouth.

What Husburger Liked: The guy who answered the phone to take our order.  Apparently he was pretty hilarious and when asked for his opinion on what type of wings to try, he told him, "I like chipotle lime.  And you'd be a fool not to order them."