BBQ Portobello Kimchi Burger (And. . . The Lampshade-Cone-on-My-Dog Saga)

So far in my lifetime, I've survived without ever having tried Kimchi. Well. That's now changed. Kimchi is a Korean condiment much like ketchup is to us. (Or so I've read.) It's fermented cabbage with spices and whatnot, and a flavor that is somewhat hard to describe (sour-ish, tart, spicy, bitter--but in a good way.) It made this burger taste out of this world and has become a new family favorite for all things needing "just a little bit of something" on it. The Kimchi in our neck of the woods comes in "spicy" and "mild". I went with "mild"--though now that we've been initiated, I'd go for spicy next time. I cannot tell you the number of times I've walked right by this little jewel of flavor in my produce section. I've picked it up maybe a dozen times and hemmed and hawed and thought, "I know I've read about this, but what exactly am I to do with it?" I am now Kimchi inspired.

 We had these burgers not once, but twice in one week. (Mostly because the package of mushrooms I bought had four beautiful portobellos that needed to be put to use.) No regrets, trust me. And now for the BIG reveal, I am cooking like a mad woman from my newest vegan cookbook: Isa Does It: Amazingly Easy, Wildly Delicious Vegan Recipes for Every Day of the Week by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. My kitchen and this cookbook have been meeting nightly for the past few weeks and turning out some remarkably scrumptious dinners. I highly recommend this book--and if you'd like this recipe and the secret marinade sauce Isa used--that's your best bet, get the book. Or if you've never stopped by, give her blog a visit, too, at: The Post Punk Kitchen. You'll be happy you did.

However, in the off chance you're desperate to try some Kimchi Mushroom Yum tonight--you could try this: marinate the mushroom in some of your most treasured BBQ sauce (though it won't be the same as the recipe in the book that I used), then grill it, serve it on a really crusty burger bun, top it with Kimchi and my personal favorite Chipotle Veganaise mayo and a side of oven fries--you'll be darn glad you did and might just become a Kimchi Convert like we did.  

On a completely unrelated topic. We had another animal emergency. It totally sent me over the edge. It came too close to our having said good-bye to Merlin and the last place I wanted to be was sitting in the same vet clinic, only this time, holding our other baby. My anxiety level hit a range that registered somewhere between close to passing out and/or screaming. Lucky for us, so far it seems the "issue" can be resolved with a dose of antibiotics and. . . a lampshade. OH the horrors. When they handed me this, I said, You DO realize she's a Pyrenees and they do NOT suffer fools well at all, let alone the humility of wearing something as ridiculous as this. . . this HAT?! To which she kindly smiled at me and said, Well, it's this or surgery and weeks (plural) of the HAT. We settled with the HAT and our fingers are crossed no surgery will be needed. Meantime. . .

We are not happy here at all. Ohhhh. Noooo. But the good news is that the humility she is suffering is nothing compared to the happiness we'll ALL have once her boo-boo has healed. Poor baby. Poor Mommy. If I have one more thing pop up in life right now, I'll probably be wearing one of these cones next.