Burgerama

Oooshk.

It's birthday weekend, so things are a little crazy round here. I knowingly ate wheat yesterday, but when a 6 year old boy makes you birthday brownies virtually single handed, what can you do?

I made fodmap-friendly burgers though.

Ingredients:
500g pack of minced beef (any mince would do, pork, turkey, whatever works for you)
about 1/4 box of hale and hearty GF breadcrumbs
finely diced red pepper
generous squirt of tomato puree
finely chopped green olives (I used some pre-sliced green olives that I found at Aldi, and chopped them more)
fresh basil, snipped finely.

I don't think I added anything else this time, but you can of course, add stuff to taste.

Mix well, and mould into burgers. After advice from a friend, I used my Kenwood Chef (retro sty-le) to mix the ingredients and I have a burger press (you can get one similar here http://www.lakeland.co.uk/p10481/Burger-Press-and-Accessories - I actually have the one my parents had when I was growing up) which makes things easier. The waxed discs really help.

I made these on a day when I batch made a LOT of stuff, so the mixer and the burger press were really handy because I mixed and pressed something in the order of 30 odd burgers of various kinds and also a batch of meatballs by similar method all on that one day. My friend is GF (and in this instance, that means grain free) and she makes meatballs by the dozen, and she recommended using the Kenwood for the mixing as she said it was much more even than doing it by hand. I would agree, plus it breaks down any lumpy bits of mince. I had equipment lined up down the worktop for that day!

I also made vegetable burgers because I had an excess of potato and carrot. I didn't really measure quantities (I often don't....but promise to try harder when creating recipes for this blog!!)

Vegetable patties:
Quantities of washed, peeled and grated carrot and potato (I used a food processor for this, because anything else would have been insane. What I mixed up made 16 or so burgers, so based on the density and what I made from the meat ones,I reckon I had about a kilo of ingredients by the end).
finely chopped green beans,
sweetcorn
finely chopped red pepper
2 eggs
GF plain flour mix (I was out of breadcrumbs by this stage in the day!!)

IMPORTANT: You need to squeeze liquid out of the potatoes and carrots when you have grated them. As much as you are able. I did this with an old tea towel or two. Messy, but a fun job!! :D

When this is done, put all the ingredients into a large bowl (or your mixer, whatever) and mix well. I am not sure how much flour I used, I just added until it looked like it would hang together.

I then pressed it into patties with my burger press and froze them raw.
Don't do this. I don't think it's ok though I couldn't say exactly why. I think it's something about raw potato. Cook them first and THEN freeze them or just use them fresh. They were weird to defrost too. I think they were ok once cooked but won't be repeating this part. Also, add seasoning!! I didn't, but it needs it. They didn't taste bad without (just a bit bland really) but I'm thinking it would be better with. These also did not barbecue. Too wet. I shallow fried them in olive oil instead. My tester one was delicious, so I WILL be making them again, just not freezing them raw. I will report back on the freezing of them cooked.

Today is my hubsters birthday, and on my way back from church I will be breaking my sabbath to get extra potatoes and a couple of extra bits. Jacket potatoes have become a great standby on this journey.

A word of welcome.

It's a grey morning here in Cambridgeshire this morning but I really need to get this started. The food pictures are backing up and if I don't do it, someone else will steal my idea.

You can call me Bees. I am a Mama, a Wife, an uncomfortable preacher and I believe in homemade, handmade, home and justice. I've also had IBS for a long time, diagnosed in my early 20's and sent away with antispasmodic tablets. They didn't work for me. My journey has been long and (at times) painful. It's not as bad as some, but it could be a lot better.

Earlier on in the year I had some tests at the hospital for a different problem. The doctor kept telling me that my bowel was in spasm. The senior nurse practitioner kept telling her that I had IBS. She sent me back to my GP because she wanted me to be seen by a different clinic but that my GP should discuss with me first. I went to see my GP who replied that she didn't want me to do that. She wanted me to try something else. She printed some information for me and sent me away to do some research about the FODMAP diet.

I climbed a sheer face of learning that will continue for a while yet, I called every friend I know who is gluten free and lives near me for cooking advice. I help a friend with cleaning each week and she is an amazing cook and we spend time trading information.
I've been working on cooking like this for about 6-8 weeks now and with encouragement from friends I am starting this.

Before I continue you should know:
I am using the FODMAP list from ibsdiets.org because I have not yet seen a dietician. The NHS takes time on that one. I might not be doing this "right" (yet) but at least I'm doing it.
I like slow cookers. A lot. There will be as many slow cooker recipes as I can doctor/invent.
I am not a cook. I am a mom. I fought with food for a LONG time as a child and teenager. I am not perfect. I am just trying to make myself feel better and not spend my summers in the bathroom.
My husband cooks better than me. His recipes will be on here too.
I have a very tight budget. I have to buy lots of stuff piecemeal.

Welcome.
There is fodmap-friendly cake over there, and comfy chairs in the other room. Pull up a seat and rest a wee while.