The Daring Cooks February 2012: Pleasing Patties!

The Daring Cooks’ February 2012 challenge was hosted by Audax & Lis and they chose to present Patties for their ease of construction, ingredients and deliciousness! We were given several recipes, and learned the different types of binders and cooking methods to produce our own tasty patties!

The extent of my patty making experience prior to tackling this challenge was slapping together ground beef for hamburgers. Nothing else. Just ground beef. I couldn't imagine the vast, delicious array of patty types that existed. I did some research because I wanted to really try something different. I love this challenge because the possibilities really are endless and is only as complicated as you want to make it.

You may have figured out that my husband loves sweet potatoes. Any time a sweet potato is an option, he takes it. At Red Robin the sweet potato fries are the only type of fry that touches his plate. So when I saw a recipe for a patty made with sweet potatoes, I knew it was the one I was going to make.

There was just one slight snag- the recipe was written only in grams. I still do not have a food scale. And cannot think in grams. So when I saw "800g sweet potato"  I had no idea of how many to buy. Then the recipe called for a 400g can of lentils. The only lentils I could find were dried in the bag. I thought that's fine- the bag says how many grams is in it, I'll just eyeball it. Without realizing that when I cooked them in the water I was going to end up getting way more than 400g. So I made way too much of both ingredients for these patties. If you do make it, I can't tell you what the real amounts are if you're also not used to working in grams, but you're probably better at that game than me and won't mess it up. At least we really liked these patties, because there are about 10 of them in the freezer just waiting for a lazy night when I don't feel like mixing anything else up.

We paired these with freshly baked ciabatta rolls, and a generous slice of tomato. They were very delicious. I'm very glad we have some more left over (and that I don't have to turn my kitchen into the giant mess that happened the first time.)

Sweet Potato and Lentil Patties
with Sour Cream Coriander Dressing

For the Patties
800g sweet potato, peeled and cut into cubes
2 tablespoons of oil plus extra to fry
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
400g can brown lentils, rinsed
1/4 cup flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons milk
2 cups dried breadcrumbs

For the dressing
1/2 cup low-fat sour cream
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons coriander

1. Preheat oven to 350°F, place sweet potatoes on a large baking sheet and drizzle with a tablespoon of oil, season with salt and pepper. Roast for about 20 minutes or until golden and soft.

2. Meanwhile, heat one tablespoon oil in a large frying pan over moderately high heat. Add onion, cook and stir for 5 minutes or until soft. Add garlic and cinnamon; cook and stir for 2 minutes until fragrant. (and this is seriously delicious smelling!)

3. Transfer mixture into a bowl. Add lentils and sweet potato. Mash coarsely and season with salt and pepper. I actually ended up running the mix through the blender to get it combined. Allow to cool  enough to touch.

Seriously too much sweet potato and lentil!

4. Shape into patties. Place each patty on a square of plastic wrap, cover and allow to cool for 30 minutes in the fridge. (these patties can be stored in the fridge at this point for a day or so if you don't want to cook them all right then)

An out of focus view of my patty wraps

5. Place flour on a plate. Coat patties in flour, shake off excess. Dip in the egg and coat evenly in the breadcrumbs.

6. Pour oil into a frying pan about an inch and a half deep. Heat over medium heat (oil will be ready when a cube of bread crisps without absorbing the oil). Fry patties in batches for 2-3 minutes each side or until golden brown.

7. Combine ingredients for dressing in a bowl. Serve with the patties.