Black bean & mushroom burger with crispy onion rings

Method

• In a wide pan, heat the oil and add the onion and mushrooms. Fry over medium heat until soft, then add the garlic and fry for another minute, stirring often.
• Remove from the heat and transfer the mixture to a food processor, along with the cumin, paprika, breadcrumbs, egg, Worcestershire sauce and steakhouse sauce.
• Add the beans, salt & pepper, then pulse until you have a relatively coarse mixture (don’t make it too smooth). Tip: You can also crush the beans with a potato masher before adding it to the food processor. This helps to break up the bigger beans making it easier to keep slightly chunky with the rest of the ingredients.
• Divide the mixture into 6 and shape into flattened disks (it’s best to do this on smaller pieces of baking paper, to prevent the patties from breaking). Arrange the patties on a large oiled baking sheet, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
• For the patties
• Preheat the oven to 200°C. Use a pastry brush to baste the patties with steakhouse sauce, then bake for about 10 minutes a side, removing the baking paper as you turn them over. The patties will be very soft when hot, but will firm up once cooled. If you have the time, precook them, and just reheat when ready to serve.
• Assembly
• Butter the inside of your buns and toast in a hot pan, then spread with mayonnaise, layer with lettuce, tomato, gherkin and the cooked, basted patties. Top with a slice of cheese and the top half of the buns, and serve at once, with freshly fried onion rings.
• For the onion rings
• In a medium mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, salt, paprika and beer, and mix to a thick and sticky batter. Heat the oil in a medium size pot over the stovetop until a drop of batter starts to sizzle (about 170°C). Dip each onion round in the batter and place carefully into the oil, frying on both sides until puffed up and golden (you can do batches of about 4-6 at a time). Drain on kitchen paper and serve at once.