Thursday, February 26, 2015

Black Bean Spew and Impromptu Burgers

Riding high on my first soup success in the Instant Pot, I decided to give it another go. I had recently bought dried black beans and thought I'd cook them and freeze them in advance of needing some for next week's soup recipe.

Yesterday morning, before I left to work, I soaked the beans. When I came home, they were ready to cook. I got the Instant Pot set up, covering the beans with about two inches of water. I was cooking a lot of beans though so there was a lot of water in there.

How long to cook for? So here was where I wasn't quite sure. Some places said about 5-6 minutes for the soaked beans. I made the mistake of following the Instant Pot manual (never doing that again!) and cooked them for about 11 minutes at pressure. When the machine went off, I forgot to unplug it, so that it was accidentally continuing to cook. Eek! I finally remembered to unplug the machine. Then came the question of the pressure release. I started to release it.... until I remembered that there were black beans in the pot and that the liquid that was coming out was black. All over my white walls. Black. Bean. Spew. Eek! (Yes, there was counter climbing involved to clean it up!). I left it to sit for a bit before realizing that I was going to have mush on my hands if I didn't get the pressure out. I covered the pot with a towel and let the rest of the pressure out. I opened the pot and to my surprise (not!) I discovered.. mushy beans. What a bummer. I drained them and decided that they'd be perfect for burgers. I think I previously mentioned that my burgers always fall apart because the beans aren't mashed enough. Well, here's the solution-- mushy, easily mashed beans! I pulled out The Everyday Happy Herbivore and made a double batch of the easy burgers. The rest of the beans were portioned and frozen for future burger ventures.

I definitely have more to learn about this pot. The ability to cook beans fast was pretty much what led me to invest in it, so I definitely won't be giving up on it soon. Fingers crossed for a more successful cook next time. And cleaner walls.
Simple Black Bean Burgers
adapted from The Everyday Happy Herbivore

3 cups (mushy) black beans
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt, or to taste
bread crumbs-- I didn't measure. I just added until it looked right

Preheat your oven to 375-400 degrees,
Line a baking sheet with parchment.
Place the beans in a bowl and mash with a fork until the beans are mostly mashed but some pieces remain. Add the ketchup, mustard, and spices. Mix and then taste for seasoning. Add the bread crumbs and mix until the mixture holds together.

Form into patties and place on the baking sheet. Bake about fifteen minutes. Flip and cook and additional 10-15 minutes.

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