MLEstyle » North Carolina

Plantain Walnut Curry Burgers

MLEstyle — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 17:28:49 +0000

The people have spoken. This burger is a MUST try! The sweetness of the plantains mixed with spicy cayenne, curry and roasted walnuts is absolutely an unbeatable flavor; this burger is a gastronomical sensation. Take my word for it and let’s get started! Here’s what you’ll need to make 6-8 big burgers:

5 plantains (browned as much as possible–so they look like the bananas you’d contemplate tossing away)
1/3 cup flax seeds
1/2 cup coconut milk (I used coconut milk creamer–it won’t make a big difference)
1 cup crushed walnuts (I started with raw walnuts but in this case you’re cooking them, so roasted walnuts will also work)
1 T cayenne pepper
1.5 T curry powder
1T turmeric
1T celtic sea salt
1.5t cumin
4 Sliced onions (vidalia or regular yellow onions)
Grapeseed oil (or similar oil to cook with in a pan)

In a big bowl, mash the 5 plantains together until the consistency is like thick pancake batter.
Mix in the flax seeds, coconut milk, crushed walnuts, cayenne pepper, curry powder, turmeric, salt, and cumin. The batter should still look like a thicker pancake batter.
On the stove, heat a pan to medium, medium/high (not too hot, we don’t want to burn the burgers) and cover the bottom of the pan with grapeseed oil (grapeseed oil has a higher flashpoint which allows you to cook closer to the pan without getting splashed with hot oil).
Pour batter the size of an “extra large burger ” in to the pan and spread it so it’s the size of a bigger regular pancake. Once the bottom starts to get a little crispy, start pushing the edges of the burger in to the center to create a smaller, thicker burger. By starting off thinner and pushing the batter in towards the middle, it will allow the burger to have a all-around crispier texture–the best part!
Once the burger is congealed enough to flip over, and you’ve rolled the edges in to the actual size you’d like the burger to be, flip that baby over to the other side! Make sure there’s always enough grapeseed oil in the pan so you don’t completely burn the burger; a little “char” is okay, I happen to like the extra crispy parts as long as they still taste like the burger and not like a fireplace.
Once the burger is completely cooked–there’s no wrong way to cook this burger–take it out of the pan and place it on a plate covered with paper towels to allow the excess grapeseed oil to drain from the burger. From here, you can either freeze the burgers for a rainy day, or continue to create an amazing dinner (or leftover lunch) with them! I made a North Carolina Tangy “barbeque” dipping sauce for my burgers to give it an extra tang or use your own favorite vinegar based barbeque sauce (see bottom for sauce recipe).
Once you’re finished cooking the burgers, let them drain on the paper towels, and use the excess grapeseed oil in the pan to saute your sliced onions (which you can put on top of the burgers). While the onions cook in the pan, dash some extra curry powder on them for another kick of flavor.
Once the onions are done, top your burgers with them and serve it with a delicious side salad that complements the dish. I chose a baby spinach salad with dark pitted cherries, dried cranberries, raw sunflower seeds, and raw cashews (tossed in my North Carolina Tangy Sauce). I recommend buying a cherry pitter and pitting the cherries yourself–it’s so satisfying and so much fun! It’s like shooting a staple gun into the trash can…but safer!

Here’s the recipe for my sauce, which I also used as the dressing for my salad I paired the burger with:

North Carolina Tangy “Barbeque” Sauce:

2/3 C coconut vinegar (apple cider or white wine vinegar work just as well)
1/3 C filtered water
1/3 C olive oil
1 T cayenne pepper

Throw all of the ingredients together in a Blender Ball (or a jar you can shake), and get your shake on! Pour the sauce over a mixed salad and pour over your burger, or if you’re like me, put it in a dipping glass and dip bites of your burger in to it, so the burger doesn’t lose it’s crispy texture from over saturation.

Enjoy!

Ahhhhh, a break!

MLEstyle — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 19:44:22 +0000

I had the pleasure of escaping with my family to Wrightsville Beach, NC last weekend. When we weren’t out on the boat, I spent most of my time reading magazines and shopping. The weather was amazing; it took every ounce of me to keep my long sleeve James Perse cotton shirt on over my bikini–oh, the temporary downfalls of being a model!

Here’s my favorite picture from last weekend. I love spending time with my Grandpa!

XoX, Emily

The Best of…Wrightsville Beach, NC

MLEstyle — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 21:48:00 +0000

It has been the second rainy day in the quaint beach town of Wilmington, NC, and I have found myself surprisingly satisfied with the way the group of us girls have passed our time.

As I felt the need to introduce my DC native friend Nicole to the local way of life, taking her shopping, in town know for awesome boutiques, was inevitable.

Our first stop was The Fisherman’s Wife on Airlie Rd. Estelle Baker, the owner, helped my Mom find this fantastic pro-female canvas art piece by Erin Smith, and she surprised me with an adorable desk accessory inscribed with a quote from my favorite childhood novel, “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” It says, “Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly”. How cute!!

After our successful trip to The Fisherman’s Wife, we packed in the car and drove to Lumina Station to check out the goodies at Beanie + Cecil, Airlie Moon, Island Passage, and Monkees (my fav-fav-favorite boutique). At Island Passage, I picked up a pair of long blue Susana Monaco lounge pants and a casually cute teal-green Velvet tank top (it has a deep drape in the back that makes it uniquely Velvet). Next to Island Passage is Monkee’s Boutique, which is having a huge summer sale, so I had already seen most of their inventory in the store earlier this summer. Bummer! But, as fate would have it, I was still able to find several new pieces that really spoke to me (“MLE buuuyy me!!”). So, not one to argue, I quickly scooped up a beautful Alice + Olivia black evening dress with a whimsical bottom trim and swarovski crystal straps, a dressy black silk ABS collection romper with a Cavalli-esque double strap patent leather belt, and a big fun gold ring shaped like a piece of ocean coral adorned with black laquer on the inside of the coral pieces.

With my two arms full of shopping bags, I met my Mom and friend Nicole for a late lunch at a new restaurant in Lumina Station called Stone Crab. We all agreed that Stone Crab was a decent last minute lunch decision if it hadn’t been for the crazy amount of flies on the patio! Total yuckk.

After lunch, we started down the street, driving towards The Forum, to keep our shopping streak alive; this is until we came were face to face with another Wrightsville Beach summer afternoon flash flood (always accompanied by severe lightning and heavy wind). So, after my suggestion to quit early, the girls quickly agreed and we rushed back to the house…before lightning found me for the second time in my life!

As for our evening plans??? You can find MLE watching the first Redskins preseason game against the Ravens at 7:30 ET. I find it so entertaining to listen to my friend Nicole talk about football, and the Redskins in particular! It’s almost game time, and for the past several hours, I have had the pleasure of watching her come up with this year’s Cowboy trash talk. As a DC native, I have always been excited to watch the Washington Redskins play, but I don’t think my excitement will ever amount to Nicole’s. Does anyone ever get sad thinking about the football frenzy taking over the end-of-season baseball excitement?? If so, then you’re in good company!

So with that said, tonight, before the kickoff of the Redskin’s preseason game, when my group of friends clinks our glasses over the table and all yell in unison, “Cheers,” please know that my cheers will be for my eternal love of baseball and for the Washington Redskins.