Outrageously Good Pan-Crisped Millet-Vegetable Cakes
This recipe is from Passionate Vegetarian by Crescent Dragonwagon, and is written exactly as it was in her book, including eclectic phrasing and flights of fancy.
In my view, millet is the grain for grain burgers. Wholly different from anything commercially available, gorgeous, and quite delicious, these are my favorite grain-based cakes. When I first developed the recipe, my husband literally closed his eyes and moaned with pleasure: love at first bite.
Imagine the audacious flavorings of hummus made subtle, then added to the gently flavored millet, in a cake comfortingly soft within, slightly crisped without. Perhaps best of all, these are a truly stunning ivsual. They are definitely and decidedly pink, thanks to some grated beet. The color gets even better as they cook: The part of the cake in direct contact with the pan turns a kind of golden orange, but the pink interior is retained. Every time I make these, I have the feeling this millet mixture would be a great stuffing for portobellos done in the oven, though I haven't tried this yet. It holds together much better than most grain burger mixtures.
1 small or ½ large raw beet
1 carrot
3 cups Basic Moist-Style Millet (see recipe below)
½ cup canned baby butter beans or navy beans, rinsed and very well drained
2 tablespoons tahini
3 to 5 cloves garlic, peeled and split
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon tamari or shoyu soy sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Cooking spray
Accompaniments (see note that follows)
- Using the grater blade of a food processor, grate the beet and carrot. Transfer the vegetables into a large bowl containing the millet. Set aside.
- Without washing the processor, replace the grater blade with the S blade. Add the beans, tahini, garlic, lemon juice and tamari. Process until very smooth. Work this mixture into the millet, using your hands. Taste and add salt, pepper and perhaps more tamari, until the mixture is to your liking.
- Shape the mixture into patties 3 ½ to 4 inches wide, and about 1 ½ inches thick. (You can make these larger than most veggie burgers because the millet mixture coheres so well.)
- Spray a large skillet, preferably non-stick, with cooking spray, and heat it over medium-high. Let it get good and hot, then add the millet cakes and lower the heat to low-medium. Let the cakes cook fairly slowly, 8 to 9 minutes, before gently flipping them. (Isn't that color fabulous?) Let cook on the second side for about six minutes.
Accompaniments
This burger lends itself to an amazing array of finishes. Of course, you can do the bun-lettuce-tomato thing, but I think these are better served un-bunned when hot (save the bun for the cold leftovers and brown bag them). Try the millet cakes as the prettiest possible piece of a component dinner, accompanied by steamed or stir-fried beet greens (you have them on hand from the beet in the recipe, right?) and a kabocha squash with maple syrup or brown sugar. Enjoy their soothing subtlety or zap them with some Thai Crystal (page 923) and serve alongside a vibrant stir-fry of gingered asparagus and red pepper strips. And for a mixed metaphor that has no reason to be so wonderful, but is, use them for a Reuben sandwich on toasted rye bread: a fat millet cake with sauerkraut, sliced tomato, mayonnaise with a dash of ketchup stirred in, and a thin slice of Swiss or Jarlsberg melted over the top
Basic Moist-Style Millet
Makes about 4 cups
1 cup millet, well rinsed and very well drained
3 ¼ cups spring or filtered water, or vegetable stock
½ teaspoon salt
- Over medium heat, in an ungreased cast-iron skillet, toast the millet, stirring frequently, until lightly fragrant but not browned, 2 to 3 minutes (if the millet is still very damp from rinsing, it might take 7 to 9 minutes). When it's reached the proper degree of toastiness it will also sort of skitter around in the pan. Remove from the heat
- In a pot with a tight-fitting lid, bring the water or stock and salt to a boil. Stir in the toasted millet. Return to a boil, then turn down the heat to a simmer. Pop the lid on the pot and cook until the millet is tender and all liquid is absorbed, 25 to 30 minutes. Let stand, covered, for about 5 minutes.