"1UP Mushroom" Mushroom Burger!

Your veggie nerd friends will gawk and awe over this deelish burger with a sense of humor.
Remember all those childhood summers spent playing the NES indoors when it got too hot outside? Summer vacation, BBQs, and the NES. Ah...Those were the days.

When I cook dinner for my friends, I tend to put as much attention to the vegetarian dishes as the meat ones. Why not dress up the veggie burgers to make your guests feel special and have a spiffy time at your barbecue?

This instructable was inspired by Barry Rosenstein's The Red Fez Burger from Build a Better Burger Challenge from the Food Network a few years ago. He colored his top bun red to look like a fez to reflect a Moroccan theme. I thought that was the coolest frakkin' thing ever.

For this instructable, I made my own veggie mushroom patties. They taste like okonomiyaki so it has like a soft fritter/pancake/omelet texture. Okonomiyaki is a Japanese household savory pancake dish where vegetables, meat, and noodles are all mixed together in a pancake batter and placed on a griddle, then topped off with a special soy-based sauce. Feel free to change according to your taste: Boca burger, Gardenburger, meat patties, or just a slab of meat... unless you are Bowser, who desperately needs to cut down his meat intake if he wants to be in good princess-kidnapper shape.

Makes 4 burgers

INGREDIENTS FOR THE PATTY:
half of one white onion
2 large portabello mushroom caps (or 6-8 ounces of whatever mushroom you like)
1 tsp. of kosher salt
1 egg
1 tbs. of pancake mix
1 tsp. of minced garlic
black ground pepper to taste

INGREDIENTS FOR THE FIXIN'S:
4 large slices of mozzarella cheese
1 tomato, sliced at least quarter inch thick at room temperature
4 spoonfuls of pesto
*optional: mayonnaise (I personally hate mayo, but it's like crack to some people

INGREDIENTS FOR THE BUNS
4 *very round* rustic crusty buns. The type I decided to go with are my favorite whole wheat kind.
1/2 tsp. green food coloring
1 tsp. of water
4 large slices of mozzarella cheese for the circle decoration
*optional: I also tried this recipe with basil juice instead of the food coloring in attempt to be more "natural." The green looked good but it made the burger WAY TOO PUNGENT. Whew!

Step 1: Prepping the Patties

First, wash your hands!

Then wash your produce!

Washing is important!

If you are deciding to use the portabello mushroom caps, then here's an extra step. As most foodies know, portabello mushrooms, when cooked, turn black and muddy. This is because of the dark gills on the underside of the mushroom caps. They also tend to burn easily and make the whole thing taste a bit burnt and bitter (a little like gasoline). To avoid this, use your fingers and rub off the gills. Do this over a running faucet and the gills come off fairly easily.

Dice! Dice! Dice! Chop the onion into itty bitty pieces. To be exact, I would say into less-than-1/4" rough square pieces. Now, chop the mushroom caps into the same rough size. Add the chopped mushrooms, chopped onion, minced garlic, salt, black pepper, and the olive oil into a bowl. In a small bowl, whisk the egg and the pancake mix together until the lumps are gone. Add it into the mushroom mix.

I know that the pancake mix sounds weird-- usually, people use breadcrumbs, flour, or cornstarch as a binding agent. I personally like the buttery taste of pancake mix. (It's great for making fritters and veggie pakora too!)

Mix the whole thing well until the pancake mix and egg are well incorporated into the mushroom bowl bonanza.