Chicken (or Turkey) Burgers with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Holly brought this for our June 2010 meal exchange and I am so excited to try them. She was making them the other night when we stopped by to play and they smelled yummy!

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

1 1/4 pounds ground chicken
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons very finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus more for brushing
2 teaspoons chile powder
Salt
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons hot water
2 tablespoons chopped salted peanuts
4 round ciabatta rolls, split and toasted
Lettuce, for serving

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine the ground chicken with 1/4 cup of the chopped onion, 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon of the chile powder, 1 teaspoon of salt and the garam masala. Using slightly moistened hands, form the ground-chicken mixture into four 4-inch patties.
In a medium saucepan, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of chopped onion and 1 teaspoon of chile powder and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Add the coconut milk and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and whisk in the peanut butter and hot water. Stir in the peanuts and season the sauce lightly with salt.

Light a grill or preheat a grill pan. Brush the chicken burgers with vegetable oil and grill over moderately high heat, turning once, until they are golden and crusty and just cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes. Spread the peanut sauce on the rolls. Top with the burgers and lettuce, close and serve.

Recipe by Grace Parisi, Food & Wine Magazine

Burgers Stuffed with Goat Cheese, Sun-dried Tomatoes and Basil

This was my contribution to the most recent meal exchange (June 2010). When we made these on the trial run, Tim got the grill too hot and he charred them a little (sorry, honey - they were still good). The sausage has some fat and it is easy to get a good flame going on these, so either use lower heat for longer or maybe even cook them on the stovetop. I think if you cook them in a pan on the stove, with the lid on - they would cook through and retain all the juices vs. them all dripping out on the grill.

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef sirloin
1/2 pound raw Italian sausage removed from the casing(s)
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 ounces soft goat cheese
3 sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
3 fresh basil leaves, sliced
4+ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions:

Mix the beef, sausage and salt together. Be careful not to over-work the mixture. It can be helpful to coarsely chop the beef and sausage with a knife and then loosely toss together before mixing more thoroughly with the salt.

Divide into four equal 1/2-pound pieces. Remove about 1/5 of each half-pound portion and set the small pieces aside. Use your hands to shape each of the remaining four portions into a "flattened bowl" shape into which you can put the filling.

Remove the sun-dried tomatoes from the oil and slice.

Place 1/4 of the goat cheese into each burger, and then top with sun-dried tomatoes and basil.

Flatten each of the four small reserved pieces of burger mixture into flat disks. Place a disk on top of the filling for each burger, and then work the burger mixture closed with your fingers.

Flatten the burgers further as much as possible without risking breaking the seal to the stuffing.

Throw them on the grill. Enjoy!

These burgers must be fully cooked because of the sausage used in the mixture.

Author: Russ Faulk, Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet