Love and Olive Oil

Portobello Buffalo Burgers with Celery Apple Slaw

Portobello Buffalo Burgers with Celery Apple Slaw

This one is dedicated to my dad, because it might be something he’d actually eat. Well, if you didn’t tell him about the mushrooms, that is. :) To be honest probably 3/4 of the things we cook would be deemed inedible by my dad (desserts not included, of course). Always makes it tricky when he comes to visit, as we can’t make anything with tofu, lentils, barley, or anything remotely hippie-sounding; nor can we use anything green except for lettuce, green beans, celery, and maybe the rare asparagus tip. Vegetation must be kept to a bare minimum.

But I think these buffalo burgers would be something he’d enjoy. We’ve never actually cooked buffalo before, and I’m not sure if we could really tell the difference between it and ground beef (then again, we are anything but experts when it comes to beef). But it was a whole $1 cheaper at Whole Foods, and the meat was significantly leaner than the ground beef we’ve cooked with. So it has that much going for it, at least.

If we made this again, we may add some caramelized onions to the top of the burger as well as chopped up inside it. I’m not sure if the mushrooms really added anything to it, and seeing as I battled with the food processor (the resulting ‘paste’ looked like some sort of gross volcanic mud), we may just leave them out completely next time, and instead season the meat with flavorful herbs and spices.

The slaw was tasty, our way of using the 6 stalks of fresh celery from our CSA (funny how when you’ve got a load of unusual produce to use up, your recipes tend to be based entirely off the use of one ingredient, in this case, celery). The combination of apple and fresh celery was unique, crisp and refreshing, a waldorf-inspired coleslaw, if you will.

Happy Fathers' Day

So this one is for you, dad, and just know that we will always happily go out of our way to cook especially for you when you visit. :) Happy Father’s Day!

Portobello Buffalo Burgers with Celery Apple Slaw

Makes 4 burgers. Recipe from Epicurious.

Did you make this recipe?

Ingredients:

For burgers:
1 medium onion, chopped
10 ounces portobello mushrooms, trimmed and quartered
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1 pound ground buffalo

For slaw:
2 celery ribs
1/2 Granny Smith apple, cored (left unpeeled)
1 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 1/2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon whole-grain mustard
Rounded 1/4 teaspoon sugar

4 hamburger buns or brioche rolls, split and toasted

Directions:

Pulse onion and mushrooms in a food processor until finely chopped. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a 10-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until it shimmers. Add mushroom mixture, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and rounded 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables begin to brown and liquid has evaporated, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and cool to warm, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut celery and apple into 2-inch-long thin julienne with slicer.

Whisk together mayonnaise, vinegar, oil, mustard, sugar, rounded 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl. Add celery and apple, tossing to coat. Let stand 15 minutes to develop flavors.

Mix buffalo into cooled mushroom mixture with your hands until well combined. Form into 4 (4-inch) patties. Heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Cook burgers, turning once, about 8 minutes total for medium-rare. Pay attention, since buffalo meat is not as fatty as ground beef, it is not as forgiving to overcooking.

Serve burgers, topped with slaw, on toasted buns.

All images and text © / Love & Olive Oil

Did you make this recipe?

Let us know what you think!
Leave a Comment below or share a photo and tag me on Instagram with the hashtag #loveandoliveoil.

There may be affiliate links in this post. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

20 Comments

  1. I’ll be trying this recipe this weekend!

  2. What a beautiful picture of you and your father! This burger looks amazing. Love the slaw!

  3. Great picture of your dad.

  4. This is great! I love the combo of mushroom and buffalo!

  5. love the pic and the recipe looks just delicious!

  6. A day late but we just read your Father’s Day recipe! Your dad even read it!
    Just change the name to Buffalo Burgers and he will give it a try. And yes, when we are wintering in CA, several people started calling your dad, Kris!!!!!

  7. I’m pretty sure I have this recipe bookmarked! It was the slaw that drew me in. PS. I have a bison burger recipe in my blog. With PINOT NOIR carmelized onions!

  8. Yum, everything about this is SO appealing to me. From the mushroom to the buffalo to the celery apple slaw. I wish I had this in front of me right now for lunch!! And that’s a fabulous photo of you and your dad :)

  9. What an adorable picture of you and your dad!

  10. Your dad and my dad should have a food party. I think they would have very similar tastes!

    These burgers sound delicious, I love the idea of caramelized onions in them. I haven’t cooked with buffalo yet but I’ve really been meaning to!

  11. These buffalo burgers sound like a meal he would definitely approve of and even relish! Heck I would love it and I am not a burger person by any stretch!
    Love that slaw too, now that I could eat a gallon of.

  12. I’ve never tasted buffalo meat. The burger looks great and I really like the celery apple slaw!
    Nice finding your blog today!
    Magda

  13. I love bison and the combo of portobellos & bison sounds awesome!!! Yum, a must try, thanks for the idea!

  14. Nice blog!
    I like the contrast with the apples, especially since you used a potentially more “macho” meat for the burger.
    Cheers!

  15. You ruined a perfectly good portobello burger with buffalo meat? :)

  16. So glad you posted this – my dad wants a cheeseburger for father’s day. Seriously. Because I can’t just make a cheeseburger, he’s getting this. Awesome! And, my dad was much like yours but keep at it! I’ve managed to get my dad to eat lots of veggies and even, gasp, tofu! Seriously, he even ordered it at a restaurant b/c of it and loved it. Love your site!

  17. Is it just me or is your dad a doppelganger for Kris Kristofferson? (in this photo at least….)
    http://www.biography.com/biocountry/bc_episode_guide.jsp?episode=176377

    • Must be the ‘twinkle’ in the eye. hehe. :) You should see my uncle, they look almost identical but my uncle has the blue eyes to boot.

  18. I love the idea of a nice cool slaw on top of a burger, especially when it’s so hot out, and especially when green apples are involved.

Did you make this recipe? Leave a Review »