Most veggie burgers are an agglomeration of indiscriminate scraps bound with mashed beans or overcooked grains and marked by a generic “spiced” flavor. Some are more premium than others, or more meat-like, but none have gone so far as to upend the menu item in the way that New York’s Shake Shack has. Most meatless burgers connote healthfulness; Shake Shack simply made something without meat, served it on a hamburger bun and called it a veggie burger. The result — a deep-fried, cheese-stuffed portobello cap — is so amply filling and immensely crave-able, you won’t miss the beef.
‘Shroom Burger
Makes 4
Ingredients:
4 4-inch portobello mushroom caps
1/4 cup canola oil, plus more for frying
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups flour
3 eggs
2 cups panko bread crumbs
1 1/2 cups grated muenster cheese
1/2 cup grated cheddar
1/2 teaspoon minced onion
1/8 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon flour
1 egg yolk
1 pinch cayenne
4 tablespoons ShackSauce
4 potato buns, toasted
4 piece green leaf lettuce
8 1/4-inch slices ripe plum tomato
Preparation:
1. For the mushroom caps, preheat the oven to 375°F. Put mushroom caps on a medium baking pan. Rub caps all over with the oil, then season both sides with the salt and pepper. Arrange mushrooms, gill-side down, in a single layer and roast until tender, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Slice mushrooms in half horizontally.
2. Put the flour in a wide dish, beat the eggs in another wide dish, and put the panko in a third wide dish and set aside.
3. For the filling, mix together the muenster and cheddar cheeses, onion, garlic, flour, egg yolk, and cayenne in a medium mixing bowl.
