Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Georgeburgers!

(c) 2011 by Tom King

This recipe is the long kept, secret recipe that made Mrs. George the top vege-burger maker for some 50 years in my hometown. Keene, Texas is an Adventist College Town and everybody there was either a vegetarian or semi-vegetarian. Vegeburgers were to Adventist kids, what Big Macs were to everybody else. I used to save up two or three days' paper route money to buy one of these imminently delicious things at the grill at Blair's Store across from the college. Mrs. George made them by hand and, man, those things were good. When Blair's closed, Mrs. George went on to work at the Railhead and other cafes and burger joints around Keene. She never gave away her recipe, till she told it to Melba Bruce, March 09, 2004 as she sat in Mrs. George's living room. Thanks to Stanley Bruce who collected a copy of the recipe and shared it on Facebook, bless him. - Tom King

At last - the secret is revealed:

Ingredients

1.One 16 oz can Loma Linda Vegeburger
2.Three eggs
3.Two medium sized onions finely grated
4.One tablespoon garlic powder
5.One teaspoon sage
6.Salt to taste
7.½ cup quick oats
8.Flour
9.Oil

Instructions:

1.Open vegeburger, add to mixing bowl with grated onion, eggs, garlic powder, sage and salt and stir.
2.Add half cup of oats
3.If the mixture is still too thin, add a little flour. The vegeburger mix should not be runny nor should it be too dry and thick.
4. Fry the patties in a small anount of oil. Never bake them.

Making the Actual Burger:

1. Heat the buns in the oven or on the grill
2. Add still sizzling patty and pile on the fixings.
3. Eat while making soft sounds like “Ooooooh” and “Aaaaaah” and “Mmmmmmmmm”

20 comments:

  1. This is the SHAMBURGER recipe I have been looking for the last 15 years! Thanks M

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  2. Is this weird or what? I was just today telling my husband about the best vege- burger
    in Keene. George's was the BEST!!! I lived in Arlington, but went to school at CTA.
    We had to get up at 5AM, leave home at 6AM, get to school by 7AM. At about 10AM I was really getting hungry. So I would fine a way to sneak up to Blair's and buy a few burgers for myself and friends. O' those were the days! I was just hanging out here on FB and found this. Yes, Tom it was a sad day when Donnie passed away.

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  3. Did you know my brother? Your post lists you as "Anonymous" so I couldn't tell who you were.

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  4. Thanks for this recipe , I remember this and a tray of cin. rolls at Blaires. I'm a little older than most of you on this site, Not a day goes by that I remember something about keene. I was born in 1951 and lived in Keene until about 1970. My grandmother's parents built the house at 303 S. Fairview , all of my family was raised in this house , My brother and I was raised here ,and I brought my son here when he was born in 1968. My name is Linda Freeman Owen. My brothers is Larry Freeman. I moved to Killeen,Texas and have been here all this . Larry lives just across the street from me, I take care of him. Its time we came home (Keene) and just walked around. Thanks

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  5. My freshman year at CTA, Connie Suter and I ate vegeburgers and root beer every day! I haven't had another vb come close in taste. That really takes me back!

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  6. YUM !
    We made em tonight. =)

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  7. I made some last week with Morningstar Farms Griller Crumbles. Worked great! They were delicious.

    Tom

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  8. Do you use Loma Linda Vege Burger (green can) or Loma Linda Vegetarian Burger (red can) for this recipe?

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  9. Sorry, but Mrs. George gave me her recipe in 1992 when I opened Campus Diner and there were no oats in her recipe. You have the right spices but the portions are wrong. Mrs. George and her husband would come in weekly to make sure that we were serving therm correctly. She was a very sweet lady.

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    Replies
    1. I never had Mrs. George's burger but I did have them at the Campus Diner and those were delicious! Thank you Tony.

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    2. If that’s the case then why don’t you share the recipe that Mrs George gave you??

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    3. The recipe above is the one Mrs. George gave to Stanley Bruce's Mom.

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  10. So it really isn't the real recipe of Mrs. George.

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    1. It is the final iteration of her recipe. All I know is that she personally gave this one to Mrs. Bruce. If anything they got better over the years. I suspect the change may have been due to the fact that Loma Linda and Worthington both made changes in the vegeburger recipe about that time. That may account for the difference between what she wrote down and what you remember. She died shortly after passing the recipe to Mrs. Bruce.

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    2. When I went to Mr's George's house in the spring of 1992, she went back into her kitchen while I waited in her living room. She returned with an old notebook that had been yellowed with time and the ink was a bit faded. I asked her if this is the notebook that she used when she sold her burgers and she said yes. I sincerely doubt that she deviated from her time-tested recipe from 1992 until the time she passed away.

      Mrs. George Burger


      1 20 oz. can Veggie Burger*
      1 Large Onion
      2 Large Eggs
      1 tsp Garlic Powder**
      1 tsp. Rubbed Sage
      1 tsp. Salt
      1 cup Flour (approx)
      Butter or Margarine for cooking

      Mixing

      Mince the onion, pieces should be smaller than chopped then mix all but the flower in a large mixing bowl. Add flour until the consistency is very thick, but not dry. The amount will vary based on the size of the onion and its moisture content. The mixture should stick to a mixing/service spoon temporarily when turned upside down.

      Cooking

      Skillet should be medium high and allowed to reach full temperature before cooking. Place about ⅓-½ cup of mixture into a buttered skillet and spread it out into a thin circle about 4-5 in diameter and about ⅜” thick. Cook on one side until the edges are brown and the mixture on top starts to dry a little, typically there will be air holes much like a pancake when it is ready to flip. Turn the patty and cook until the patty is browned.

      * Mrs. George specified La Loma brand, but Worthington will do as well.
      ** The powdered garlic powder works better than the granular version, but either will work.

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  11. As I said earlier, this is what she gave Mrs. Bruce just before she passed away. She was a brilliant cook. Vegeburger taste has changed over the years, so it wouldn't surprise me that she adjusted it. The sage is the "secret" to the Georgeburger flavor in any case.

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