Category Archives: Burgers & Sandwiches

TURKEY BURGER, JAPANESE-STYLE

Posted in Burgers & Sandwiches, Poultry by

If you are a food blogger, you know how it goes. Even a great recipe is made once, perhaps twice, then left behind, living exclusively as a blog post that you read and say to yourself “I must make that again, it was so good!”  But then, some recipes somehow materialize as regular appearances. Usually they hit a magical trilogy: simple to prepare, great flavor, and all the people you cook for happen to love it too. From my reasonably recent blogging past, two dishes hit this jackpot and show up all the time: Eggplant Parmigiana (version from Jeff Mauro), and Turkey Portobello Burgers. The eggplant turned into a once-per-week deal, actually, and I have simplified the preparation even more. I should edit that post to reflect my changes. As to the turkey burgers I can probably make them with one hand tied behind my back. Today I share with you a new version that incorporates Japanese ingredients.  The ticket is a mixture of shiitake mushrooms and red miso. If you are new to miso, maybe you should start with the milder, white version, but if you are a seasoned miso-eater (apologies for lousy pun), go big and go red.


JAPANESE-STYLE TURKEY BURGER
(from The Bewitching Kitchen)

1 pound ground turkey
1 tablespoon red miso
5 ounces fresh shiitake mushroom caps
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ teaspoon sansho pepper (or pepper of your choice)
1/4 tsp salt
fresh cilantro leaves to taste

Place the mushrooms, miso, olive oil, sansho pepper, salt and cilantro leaves in a food processor and process until it all forms a paste.

To prepare the burgers, mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.  Knead the meat until it becomes sticky and binds together; divide the mixture into 4 equal parts, forming a burger patty with each fourth of the mixture. Place in the fridge to set for about 30 minutes (or longer, but then cover lightly with plastic wrap.

Grill to your liking, about 5 minutes per side.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I have a thing for grill marks. In my mind, without them, grilled food won’t taste good. It is obvious I eat with my eyes first. For that reason, I am always adding a touch of honey or maple syrup to all my marinades, and often add some in a turkey burger mixture. In this recipe, miso does the job nicely, look at the beauty of those grill marks!

The other interesting bit of this recipe is that, contrary to ground beef, you don’t need to use a light hand forming the patties. The type of muscle fiber and fat content of turkey meat makes it behave in a totally different way. In fact, if you massage it well, and get the meat to be more fully compacted, the texture will be better. This tip was mentioned in America’s Test Kitchen during a show on turkey meatballs, and in a great book called The Japanese Grill (I told you I am in a Japanese-obsessive mood, didn’t I?). I proved it to myself with these burgers – massaged the living bejesus out of the meat. It ended up with perfect texture.

We rarely have bread with our burgers, and in fact, according to The Japanese Grill cookbook, a turkey burger must be served only with a little sauce, as if it’s a steak. Bread is considered a big no-no. Of course, if they see I added Velveeta on top of mine, they would prevent my entry into the country. I really want to go some day, so let that be our dirty secret…

ONE YEAR AGO: Pumpkin Macarons

TWO YEARS AGO: Slow-Cooked Whole Chicken

THREE YEARS AGO: Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Chocolate Frosting

FOUR YEARS AGO: Pecan-Crusted Chicken with Honey-Mustard Dressing

FIVE YEARS AGO: Bewitching Kitchen on Fire!

SIX YEARS AGO: Cashew Chicken Lettuce Wraps

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Chiarello’s Chicken Cacciatore

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Donna Hay’s Thai-Inspired Dinner

NINE YEARS AGO: Panettone

 

BRUNCH BURGER

Posted in Beef, Burgers & Sandwiches by

We almost never eat at chain restaurants, but there is one situation in which we almost look forward to them: road trips. They usually have fast service, and the menu offers a ton of options. Recently, during our trip to Colorado, one of our stops to charge the car was Hays, Kansas. The charging station is located right by a little Applebee’s.  If you don’t live in the US, Applebee’s is a restaurant chain that started in the 80’s and now has over two thousand spots all over this and 15 other countries. We decided it would be a good option for lunch during our 40 to 50 minute stop to fully charge the battery. We ordered their signature Brunch Burger: beef patty, a thin layer of hashbrown potatoes on top, bacon, cheese, and a fried egg. Ok, now that you’ve read the description you can get up and do a few jumping jacks or else you’ll be a pound or two heavier. We softened the caloric damage by ordering it without a bun. We like it naked (wink, wink). It was so tasty, I could not wait to get home and make my own version. Here it is…

BEWITCHING BRUNCH BURGER
(inspired by Applebee’s)

turkey burgers (use this recipe)
air-fried carrots (use this recipe)
melting cheese (any kind you like, we used Morbier)
sunny side up fried egg
salt and freshly ground black pepper
lettuce and avocado slices
bacon (optional)
hamburger buns (optional)

Cook the burger to your liking. Add cheese in the final minutes on the grill. Place on a plate over lettuce leaves (or a bun, for more traditional presentation).

Add a good layer of air-fried carrots (or roasted in super hot oven), top with a fried egg, well-seasoned with salt and pepper.

A little Sriracha adds a nice punch. Avocado slices sprinkles with lime juice and Tajin go well with it too.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

No air-fryer? Use a 425 F oven until done…

Comments: The turkey burger recipe became my default ever since I blogged about it. This time I made two very small changes, using regular mushrooms instead of Portobello and cilantro instead of parsley. Other than that, exactly as posted. I don’t worry too much about precise amounts. I grabbed one of those little boxes of mushrooms pre-sliced from the grocery store, and after processing with the other ingredients, added that mixture to one and a half pounds of ground turkey.

The air-fried carrots are considerably lighter than hashbrown potatoes, but of course if you’d like to indulge, go for the Applebee’s version. What really makes this recipe amazing is the fried egg. The warm yolk forms a natural, luscious sauce and turns this burger into a very satisfying and complete meal, even without any bread. Phil is already lobbying to get it into our weekly rotation. And I will be more than happy to make it happen…

ONE YEAR AGO: Mango Salsa with Verjus

TWO YEARS AGO: Raspberry Bittersweet Chocolate Chunk Brownies

THREE YEARS AGO: Scary Good Pork Burgers

FOUR YEARS AGO: Review of exercise program Focus25

FIVE YEARS AGO: Celebrate Wednesday with a Thai Seafood Curry

SIX YEARS AGO:  Post-workout Breakfast

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Semolina Barbecue Buns

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Lavash Crackers

 

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TURKEY PORTOBELLO BURGER

Posted in Burgers & Sandwiches, Poultry by

This will be a bit embarrassing. I’ve made this recipe four times since December, a pretty strong endorsement as I tend to follow the “cook and move on” mode.  Last week I wanted to make it again, so I did a quick search on the blog but came up empty-handed. Puzzled, I went to the index page, and it wasn’t there either.  I concluded I failed to add it to the index page and also did not tag it with the appropriate search words. But then a troubling thought hit me: what if… what if… I simply forgot to blog about it?  Could it be possible?  Only one way to find out. I went to my computer and almost fell off my chair: the pictures were all there, but straight from the camera, never optimized for publication!  Yours truly is officially losing it, but she’s not alone: John from The Bartolini Kitchens  recently had the exact same thing happen to him. We are now virtual siblings, and that makes me happy. So, before I forget everything about ground turkey, mushrooms, and burgers, allow me to share a great recipe that is now part of our regular rotation.

Turkey Portobello Burger

TURKEY PORTOBELLO BURGER
(slightly modified from FoodTV Network)

1 large Portobello mushroom cap
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped shallot
3 tablespoons lightly packed fresh parsley
1 1/4 pounds ground turkey
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
zest and juice of 1/2 lime
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
cheese slices (optional)

Use a spoon to scrape out the gills from the underside of the mushroom cap. Cut the cap into 1-inch pieces and transfer to a food processor. Add the shallot and parsley and pulse until chopped.

Transfer the mushroom mixture to a large bowl. Add the turkey, olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, lime zest, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste; gently mix with your hands until just combined. Squeeze lime juice all over and mix very gently. Divide into 4 balls, then lightly press into 1-inch-thick patties. Put on a large plate, cover and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.

Heat a grill to medium. Brush the grates with olive oil. Grill the patties, undisturbed, until marked on the bottom, 4 to 5 minutes. Give the patties a quarter turn and cook until marked again, 4 to 5 more minutes. Flip the patties and grill until cooked through, 6 to 7 more minutes; and if you’d like top each with 2 slices cheese during the last 3 minutes of cooking.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

patties

Comments: As everybody knows, the problem with turkey burgers is that they can be too bland and dry. Who wants that, right? You can deal with the issue in many ways, in fact I have several recipes in the blog with a juicy outcome. But it’s hard to resist a recipe with the title “Perfect Turkey Burger” although I’m usually skeptical of this type of hype. What I love about this recipe is the depth of flavor given by the Portobello mushroom.  My only modification was to add some zest and lime juice because the citric flavor goes well with the burger. Plus, it gives the meat just a little more moisture.  I have made it without resting the patties in the fridge – they are a tad fragile, but if you are gentle, it works.  I imagine you could make them early in the morning and leave in the fridge the whole day, if that suits your schedule.

Turkey burgers are on our menu at least twice a month, and although I am always looking for different takes on it, it’s been hard to move away from this recipe. I say why change a winning team?

ONE YEAR AGO: Raspberry Ricotta Cake

TWO YEARS AGO: In My Kitchen, April 2014

THREE YEARS AGO: Whole-Wheat Pasta with Lemony Tomatoes and Spinach

FOUR YEARS AGO: Blood Orange Duck: A work in progress

FIVE YEARS AGO: Grilled Mahi-mahi with citrus marinade

SIX YEARS AGO: Memories of Pastéis (and my Dad)

 

SECRET RECIPE CLUB: TURKEY-CHORIZO BURGER WITH GREEN CHILE DRESSING

Posted in Burgers & Sandwiches, Poultry, Secret Recipe Club by

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

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

composite

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.

dinnerserved1

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.

Turkey BUrger Sally

And, of course, I was a super happy camper next day, look at my lunch!

MyLunch

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

SCARY GOOD PORK BURGERS

Posted in Burgers & Sandwiches, Pork by

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A few weeks ago I shared with you a recipe for light brioche burger buns, and promised a future blog on a pork burger that was a perfect match for those buns. The inspiration for this recipe was a show by Giada de Laurentiis on FoodTV, but I made enough modifications to call it my own. Pork and green apples make a nice pas de deux, and to give the patties a little more spice I added a small amount of chorizo, an ingredient I’ve been using a lot lately. It packs so much flavor, but its heat is not overpowering, especially if you use it sparingly. These burgers were scary good. Scary in the sense that they almost gave me a heart attack. Read on, my friends. This post proves what I suspected for a long time. In a previous life, I was a merciless serial killer.

PorkBurgers

PORK BURGERS WITH APPLES AND CHORIZO
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

2 pounds ground pork
1/2 link (about 1.5 oz) fresh pork chorizo (Mexican type)
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and shredded
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/2 inch piece of ginger, grated
1 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl.  Do not pack the mixture too tightly.

Form into 6 medium-size patties. The mixture will be soft.   Place the patties over parchment paper and refrigerate until it’s time to grill them.

Grill them about 5 minutes per side on grates lightly coated with oil.   If you want to add a slice of cheese, do so on the final couple of minutes of grilling, or as soon as you remove them from the grill, keeping them tented with foil. Serve with tomatoes, lettuce, or any other topping you like.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments:  I prepared these burgers at the end of an intense working day. I was doing experiments that require very precise timing, and once started, cannot be paused until the very end. Every reagent has to be in its spot, ready to be quickly grabbed and used. Once the prep work is all done, I take a deep breath, start the chronometer, and hope for the best.  It’s hard to have a totally flawless experiment, but that day the stars were perfectly aligned, and flawless it was. I drove home feeling on top of the world, ready to stretch the super-accurate timing to dinner preparation. Phil had to stay for another hour working in his office, so my plan was to welcome his arrival home with a nicely set dinner table, juicy pork burgers all ready.

patties

I made the patties, refrigerated them, worked on a couple of side dishes, and walked outside to light the grill.  Under one of those gorgeous Kansas sunsets,  I opened the knob of the gas tank, and lifted the lid of the grill to turn the flames on. The last thought that popped in my mind was “life is good”. And then, it quickly wasn’t anymore. Life had just gifted me a gargantuan mouse prancing over the grates. He froze when he saw me, and just as I let out a screech with the potential to wake up newborn babies in Tokyo, the creature jumped off passing one inch from my left arm, landed on the ground and disappeared into some bushes. Deja vu all over again. The worthless quadrupeds that I feed on a daily basis  went hiding inside their dog house.  Apparently they do not handle well hysterical screaming. I know, inconceivable. That marked the end of a perfectly timed meal. Instead of juicy burgers, Phil encountered a distraught wife who refused to step outside into the backyard to finish the dinner.

mouse1

Due to the profound psychological trauma this situation caused me, I was unable to use the grill for a couple of weeks. Now I go through a process of kicking the door that encloses the gas tank a couple of times, then banging on the grill lid four or five more times before opening it. I am sure the neighbors worry about my mental state in case they catch a glimpse of my routine. Granted, a foreigner can get away with a lot. For all they know, that might be a common pre-grilling performance back in Brazil.   That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

Back to food. These burgers were pretty tasty. I made them a second time recently and grated the apples a little finer, not sure which version I liked best, though.  There’s some visual appeal to the bigger shreds of apple peeking at the surface to say hello.  No matter how you decide to treat the fruit, the combination of pork, green apple, chorizo, a touch of ginger was spot on.  No need to use egg as a binder if you refrigerate the patties and handle them gently.  If you are feeling tropical enough, do the Brazilian thing, and release your frustrations on the lid of the grill before you light it.  One never knows….   😉

ONE YEAR AGO: Review of exercise program Focus25

TWO YEARS AGO: Celebrate Wednesday with a Thai Seafood Curry

THREE YEARS AGO:  Post-workout Breakfast

FOUR YEARS AGO: Semolina Barbecue Buns

FIVE YEARS AGO: Lavash Crackers