August is bit too close to the end of the summer, so the dark clouds start to contaminate my mood, as I notice the forecast showing less and less days over 90 F and more and more below 80 F, which is the divisive line between life worth living and misery. Meteorological troubles aside, the fourth Monday of the month brings with it Reveal Day for The Secret Recipe Club! This month I was paired with Lynsey Lou’s, a blog I’ve already been following for a while, so of course the assignment made me super excited… it was like getting a dear colleague from work on the Secret Santa drawing… Lynsey has been married to Spencer since 2008, and is convinced that the way to a man’s heart involves food. They both have fond memories of a particular batch of brownies taken to his frat house when they started dating. Too cute! If I remember correctly, Ina Garten has a similar experience with her husband of many many years, Jeffrey. Great relationships might very well start around the table. Or around a lab bench, I suppose. 😉 One of the lines I loved the most in Lynsey’s About page was this one:
Cooking, like many other things, is a learning experience that comes with a lot of trial and error.
I feel exactly the same way, and like her, love to expand my horizons trying recipes from different cuisines whenever possible. So many recipes appealed to me this month, it was tough to settle on one. Some of my final contenders are here: White Chocolate Coconut Cookies, Red Velvet Brownies with White Chocolate Ganache (sigh), White Chocolate Toffee Crunch Cookies, and her Overnight Cinnamon Rolls (you gotta stop and check the recipe, perfect to start the day with freshly baked rolls without having to wake up at 4am). Since so often I lean towards sweets in the Secret Recipe Club, I forced myself to do something different this time. So, without further ado, I present you with Turkey Chorizo Burgers with Green Chile Mayo. A mouthful of a name for a fantastic recipe that Phil and I absolutely loved!
TURKEY-CHORIZO BURGER WITH GREEN CHILE DRESSING
(slightly modified from Lynsey Lou’s blog)
for the burgers:
8 Oz fresh chorizo, casings removed
1-1 1/2 Pounds ground turkey
2 Tsp Worcestershire sauce
3/4 Tsp salt
1/4 Tsp cayenne pepper
4 slices Jack cheese
hamburger buns (optional)
for the dressing:
1 Poblano chile
3/4 cup yogurt
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
Salt and pepper, to taste
Make the chile dressing: Heat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place the cleaned chile on the prepared baking sheet and place in oven. Roast for approximately 15 minutes, until skin is charred and blistered. Rotating during the roasting process. Place the roasted pepper in a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap and allow to stand for 10 minutes.
Remove the pepper from the bowl and remove the skin, stem and seeds. Finely chop the pepper. In a food processor, combine the chile, yogurt, olive oil, and lime juice and process until the mixture is smooth. Season, to taste with salt and pepper. Reserve.
Heat grill to medium. In a large bowl combine turkey, chorizo, Worcestershire sauce, salt and cayenne pepper. Gently mix the ingredients together, being careful to not overwork the meat. Divide the meat evenly into 4 pieces, approximately 8 ounces each. Gently form each section of meat into 1-inch thick patties.
Place the prepared patties on the grill and cook to a minimum internal temperature of 160 degrees, 5 to 7 minutes per side. Once burgers are cooked to desired doneness, transfer to a plate and top with cheese.
Spread a generous helping of green chile mayonnaise on the top and bottom of hamburger buns, if using. Place the burger patties on bottom portion of each bun. Top with lettuce, spinach or arugula and top with the top portion of the bun. Serve immediately. If not using buns, assemble the burgers using appropriate substitutions (we went with grilled eggplant slices). Spoon the dressing on top, and serve with your favorite toppings.
ENJOY!
to print the recipe, click here
Comments: The main modification I made from Lynsey’s original was to skip the mayo and use yogurt and olive oil instead for the dressing. We are both very fond of turkey burgers, but this poblano-infused dressing totally stole the show! Poblano peppers are delicious in their natural form, but roasting improves their flavor and texture quite a bit. Once you process the roasted pepper with the yogurt, you are in for a very special treat… I found myself sampling a teaspoon here, another there while the burgers were outside on the grill. Really superb.
These days we almost never have bread with our burgers, so don’t be shocked by the absence of bread from our spread of goodies…. We like our burgers served over hearty lettuce leaves, but this time I grilled thick slices of eggplant and that worked even better.
Adding chorizo to ground turkey works great to give a little extra fat and a boost of flavor. Grilled corn on the cob, avocado, and tomato slices were perfect as side dishes for our meal.
And, of course, I was a super happy camper next day, look at my lunch!
Who said leftovers have to be boring?
😉
Well, folks, that’s all for this Reveal Day… Lynsey, I hope you also had a ton of fun stalking your assigned blog. As usual, I invite my readers to browse the collection of goodies, the result of the hard work of my virtual friends from Group D of The Secret Recipe Club. Just poke the alien-looking frog at the end of the post and have fun!
ONE YEAR AGO: Taco Salad
TWO YEARS AGO: Semolina Sourdough Boule
THREE YEARS AGO: Forgive me, for I have sinned
FOUR YEARS AGO: Cracked Wheat Sandwich Bread
FIVE YEARS AGO: Au Revoir, my Bewitching Kitchen
SIX YEARS AGO: French Bread
Yes, yes and yes! Thanks you for making the buns ‘optional’ because I have not used them for decades and, whilst I may use sweet potatoes, chips [oops, French fries for you 🙂 !] are also rarely on my plates which look very much like yours! Hippocrates way back said ‘Let food be thy medicine . . .’ 🙂 ! Tastes way better that way anyways . . .Am shopping tomorrow and turkey mince and chorizo will be on the menu as I have never tasted both at once . . . and absolutely love the sound of that gorgeous fresh dressing . . . yippee: shall probably make enough for two days also . . . thanks Sally!
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We both feel that the bread makes the whole meal super heavy and we feel much better without it – of course, if we were to make this for company we would have some regular buns around too, but if it’s just us, no bread, thank you very much!
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I love turkey burgers.
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me too.. I am always finding new twists for it, my latest involved eggplant and I must blog about it soon….
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The dressing sounds great, one to bookmark for sure, and I can imagine that the flavours in the burgers work really well 🙂 great work! X
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yes, keep that dressing recipe handy – you might want to take a look at AManda’s original post, if you are fond of mayo…
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I will 🙂 I make fresh mayo every week for my husband x
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Looks delicious and the dressing would definitely enhance the flavor.
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I was surprised by how much I loved the poblano dressing… I normally don’t need any extra stuff on my burger…
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This looks and sounds like a flavor explosion. Yum!
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Yeap indeed… that was it, a flavor explosion… of the good kind! 😉
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Oh my goodness now that’s my kind of burger! I will definitely have to remember these next time I’ve craving a burger. Which is all the time…
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we do burgers often too, once a week for sure…
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I lol’d at your first sentence! (Is lol’d even a word? I guess it is now. :P) I am also feeling sad that summer is coming to a close – it would be great if it lasted for a few extra months!
These burgers look delicious! I love your bunless option – I looked at your first picture and thought “too bad avocados are too gushy to pretend to be bread”. Haha
Happy reveal day!
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aren’t avocados great, though? we go through many every week – today my lunch was an improvised version of chicken laarb, with sliced avocado. Maybe not a winner in a photo contest, but…. wow…. great flavor!
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Chorizo + green chile = LOVE! Happy reveal day, Sally!!!
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Love your equation! Perfectly stated! 😉
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“Cooking, like many other things, is a learning experience that comes with a lot of trial and error.” amen to that my friend. I’ve been through so many cooking disasters, more than I like ti admit.
Anyways, being a huge chorizo fan, I’m sure I’d love these bad boys. The Worcestershire, cayenne, and blue cheese should add a nice zip to it!
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Mike, I had a disaster yesterday that I don’t even like to talk about…. EPIC. But, isn’t it part of what makes cooking fun? 😉
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What a beautiful dish you made. Your photos are amazing. I am drooling here.
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Glad you enjoyed the post, and thanks for stopping by!!!!
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What a delicious sounding choice! I will need to give this a try right away!! Sounds like an amazing meal and I’m sure your colleagues were envious!
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It was a superb meal, and the dressing had a lot to do with it – Poblanos are so special! “Someone” should consider including them in a bread… wink wink… 😉
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These look absolutely delicious! Perfect for Labor Day coming up. Great pick!
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It is true! Perfect for Labor Day weekend, I agree…. 😉
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The burgers look delicious. I am also eyeballing your photos of grilled veggies. Mouthwatering! Excellent job.
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Grilled veggies are always nice to have around, and next day they are almost as good….
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Delicious! The green chilli dressing is too die for! Happy Reveal Day 🙂
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Happy Reveal Day for you too! THanks for stopping by….
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So yummy sounding! The drool is taking over, prepare to wipe your monitor. 😉
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Good one! 😉 I know how you feel, I often have the same problem of drooling all over the keyboard…. so many taste recipes around….
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I may be late the the party as I have had friends and family with me for the last week, but I hope you still have some of this left for me, as this is JUST the kind of food I love! Karen
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Never late for a party! Come on over… 😉
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Oh my that dressing looks amazing. And we’re growing poblanos.
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did you say you are growing poblanos???? OH, my… I think my heart just missed a few beats…. 😉
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Yes! We have poblanos, habaneros, cayenne, ring o fire, and sweet peppers. One of the few crops doing well this year.
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That’s just wonderful! We only have Serrano peppers, they did ok – but let’s say we are real beginners as gardeners…. Phil planted it all, I barely look at the plants to avoid killing them… 😉
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You’ll find each year is different, keeps you on your toes!
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You’ve given me so many ideas with this recipe Sally, I’m excited. At some point turkey burgers fell of the grid and I think they need to come back into play :D. The poblano dressing sounds scrumptious and I’ve been trying to figure out a way to use up our garden jalapeno (so beautiful and fresh) that I may well do a little sub here for the sauce and prepare it for tonight’s dinner. I’m thinking I might try roasting the chile too this time… eee! I just had breakfast and I’m already hungry for dinner. Thank you for the inspiration!
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Oh, I hope you make the dressing, roasting the chiles makes a huge difference, I think..
glad to have inspired you, as your Inspired Edibles does that to me A LOT! 😉
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I selected this recipe from Lynsey’s blog when I was assigned her back at the beginning of my SRC “career”. It’s still a favorite to this day! Yum.
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oh, that is too cool! Great minds pick alike! It’s a great recipe, no doubt!
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I want this burger now and it is only 9 am. It looks fabulous! Great pick!
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I often suffer the same problem when reading blogs early in the morning…. 😉
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This sounds delicious Sally! The pepper yogurt combo is genius. We haven’t had a turkey burger in ages. Better make this one before – gasp – grilling season ends. I too am not thrilled by the turn in the weather. I had to wear a jacket today. 😦
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I am wearing jeans. No shorts. I am starting to growl at people.
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