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This was the most fun I’ve ever had in the kitchen. Food and Wine featured a story of 3 recipes for burgers that could be made in batches of 20 and served on little potato rolls: California Burgers, Ahi Tuna Burgers, and Mumbai Veggie Burgers. Warning: if you decide to do all three, get a helper. It can get a little overwhelming, even if you’re halving the recipes. But you will have fun— and everyone will have fun eating it.

California Burgers

You will need:

patties: 2.5 lbs ground sirloin, salt & pepper; coleslaw: 1 pkg (16 oz) prepared slaw, 1/2 cup mayo, 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard, 2 Tbsp cider vinegar, 1/2 tsp sugar; plus: 1.5 cups grated cheddar, 1 cup Thousand Island, 20 mini potato rolls, split.

With which you will:

patties: season beef with salt and pepper, form into 20 patties. Broil 2-3 minutes on each side, top with cheese, and return to broiler to melt cheese; coleslaw: combine mayo, mustard, vinegar, and sugar. Place coleslaw mix in bowl and add mayo mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Top each burger with dressing and slaw and serve on rolls.

Ahi Tuna Burgers

You will need:

patties: 2.5 lbs tuna filet, finely chopped, 2 Tbsp salt & 1/2 tsp pepper; mayo: 1.5 cups mayo, 2 Tbsp miso, 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard, 1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar; plus: 20 toasted mini potato rolls, halved, 2 small avocados, 20 potato chips, 20 pieces of pickled ginger.

With which you will:

patties: combine tuna, salt & pepper; form into 20 patties; broil for 2-3 minutes on each side; mayo: combine mayo, miso, mustard, and vinegar; set aside; then top each burger with avocado slice, potato chip, ginger and miso mayonnaise.

Mumbai Veggie Burgers

You will need:

patties: 1 lb carrots, 2 stalks celery trimmed and sliced, 1 medium onion chop’d, 1 medium red pepper seeded and chop’d, 5 medium white mushrooms cleaned, 1 cup ground walnuts, 1 medium shallot chop’d, 4 eggs, 1 Tbsp curry, 1Tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 cup matzo meal, 1/2 cup crushed corn flakes; ketchup: 1.5 cups ketchup, 2 cloves garlic chop’d, 1 serrano chile chop’d, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon; plus: 4 Tbsp vegetable oil, 20 arugula leaves, 20 mini potato rolls halved and toasted.

With which you will work really hard and:

ketchup: combine ketchup, garlic, chile*, and cinnamon & set aside. patties: working in batches, place all vegetables in a food processor. Finely chop. Spoon into dishtowel & dry mixture.** In a large bowl, mix veggies with walnuts and shallot. In a medium bowl, combine eggs, curry, soy and ginger. Stir egg mixture into veggies. Add matzo meal and corn flakes. Shape into patties (x20) and cook in batches in an oiled nonstick skillet. then: top patties with seasoned ketchup and arugula, serve on roll.

Enjoy!

-Carey

*Please be beyond careful with the freaking chile. My godfather Barry has taught/demonstrated/told horror stories for years about the wrong way to handle peppers, but I didn’t take it seriously. Use rubber gloves to remove the seeds and throw those suckers down the drain. Keep all surfaces clean: knife, cutting board, you name it. Don’ t run the disposal or you will be walking around inhaling stinging air for an hour; this stuff does not mess around. And stay clear of your eyes– have someone else remove the gloves for you. I spent 30 minutes blind and naked in a freezing shower pouring milk on my face and had a rash develop on my forearms the next day. I’m not kidding!!!

**Don’t use a dishtowel you love. I had one stained orange from the juices of the red peppers.