Experimenting

I haven't have a whole lot of time or inclination for cooking or blogging lately, as music making has been edging out other activities as a priority. So it makes me happy when I manage to find an occasion to cook something new rather than the tried and true like yesterday's post.


I had some delicious soft and slightly sweet bread at Spring Street Natural a few weeks ago that we deduced to be sweet potato bread. I experimented with making my own recently, adapting the potato bread recipe from my trusty copy of Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book. And my new apartment came with a dutch oven(!), which makes it easy to achieve this beautiful crust without needing to adapt my slow cooker crock with aluminum foil. I used one medium sweet potato in my version, and the flavor came out nice but a little too subtle, so I'd like to experiment again with a greater proportion of mashed yams.


I also tried my hand at homemade veggie burgers for the first time recently. I don't know why I'd never done this before...I guess I thought it was more complicated, but it really is as easy as throwing beans and a few other ingredients in a food processor, forming patties, and frying them. I forgot to snap pictures, but I made vegan black bean burgers with onion, garlic, cumin and other spices, and oats instead of bread crumbs. Well, they were vegan until I added cheese on top. It was a winning combination together with toasted slices of sweet potato bread and mustard.


I would have liked my burgers to be less mushy on the inside, which seems like a common problem with veggie burgers - does anyone have any tips on that? My sister recommended incorporating wheat gluten for consistency. I will be experimenting with homemade veggie burgers more now that I have become an almost vegetarian (more on that another day), so I'll report back once I settle on a recipe or two I like.