Redwood Shores, CA – The Mushroom Council and Bon Appétit awarded $25,000 to a burger aficionado who made their burger recipe better by blending finely chopped mushrooms into the patty as part of the Blended Burger Project: Home Edition.
The competition challenged consumers to create an original blended burger recipe, share a photo of it on Instagram using the hashtag #BlendedBurgerContest and enter the recipe on bonappetit.com. Throughout May, 389 hopeful home cooks answered the call to make an original blended burger. The Mushroom Council and Bon Appétitjudged their entries on presentation, originality and flavor profile, and ultimately chose Rachel Johnson of Austin, Texas, as the $25,000 grand prize winner. Johnson’s winning entry is a Pork & Shiitake Larb Burger, which blended finely diced shiitake mushrooms with ground pork.
“My blended burger was inspired by a traditional Thai meat ‘salad’ with sweet and spicy sauce, savory peanuts and a generous helping of fresh herbs,” said Johnson. “The addition of shiitake mushrooms offsets the richness of ground pork in the patty, and a bright and crunchy salad ties the whole burger together for a mix of crunchy, salty, savory and sweet.”
The first-ever Blended Burger Project: Home Edition mirrored the popular Blended Burger Project™ restaurant competition, which challenges restaurant chefs to blend at least 25% fresh mushrooms with meat for burgers that are more delicious, nutritious and sustainable.
“Blended burgers are a way for meat lovers to embrace the plant-forward movement,” said Bart Minor, president and CEO of the Mushroom Council. “Restaurants and foodservice operators have been using this technique for several years, and we are excited to see more and more consumers blending mushrooms with meat in their own kitchens.”
Ready to blend? More blended burger recipe inspiration can be found at blenditarian.com.
Full contest rules and entry form are available at: http://bonappetit.com/story/blendedburgercontest.
About the Mushroom Council
The Mushroom Council is composed of fresh market producers or importers who average more than 500,000 pounds of mushrooms produced or imported annually. The mushroom program is authorized by the Mushroom Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act of 1990 and is administered by the Mushroom Council under the supervision of the Agricultural Marketing Service. Research and promotion programs help to expand, maintain and develop markets for individual agricultural commodities in the United States and abroad. These industry self-help programs are requested and funded by the industry groups that they serve. For more information, visit mushroomcouncil.com.
