Southwest Turkey Burgers from Rachel Ray
While I do love seeing which burger my cohort Brian will try next on his quest for the best in the metroplex, I can’t shake the feeling that he’s being a little… biased. His choices so far have been undeniably tipped on the red meat side of scales. What about turkey? Veggie? Salmon? Inspired by all the political buzz of the conventions, I feel compelled to make my case for a delicious white meat burger! I don’t want to start a little dish war, but it’s gotta be done.
It might be a surprise, but I’ve turned to catastrophe-chef Rachel Ray for this one. I can’t even begin to touch on the subject of her as a TV personality, commercial entity, or “chef.” I have a strange hate/love/hate feeling towards her that would take up another post entirely. But, say what you will about her “EVOO” and “choups” (chowder + soup), she is the champion of making all different kinds of burgers. Salmon, lamb, “tur-chicken,” you name it.
This recipe for southwest turkey burgers was recommended to be by a friend who said “it’s actually… surprisingly… really great.” I decided to give it a try because I was intrigued and motivated by Ratatouille who says that anyone can cook” (even deranged people who use the word “sammies” a lot).
Sure enough, they were good. Awesome even. The sauces, peppers, onions, garlic, and fresh herbs make the meat very juicy, which can be a concern when you’re cooking a lean meat like turkey. The ingredients mixed in added so much flavor, the burgers really didn’t need condiments when they were done. I added a little more hot sauce and skipped the bacon because, after all, aren’t we using turkey to be a little healthier?
The only danger with these is that because of all the extra ingredients, they were a little hard to form together. We threw in one egg and that definitely helped. If you’re going to cook these in a pan, you’ll be completely fine. However, if you’re doing this on a grill, make sure you form them nice and tight.
Either way, do try these! They are… actually… surprisingly… really great.
Southwest Turkey Burgers
From 30 Minute Meals with Rachel Ray
8 slices turkey bacon or turkey bacon with black pepper or applewood smoked bacon
1 1/3 lbs. ground turkey breast (the average weight of 1 package)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 large shallot or 1/4 red onion, finely chopped
2 tbs. chopped fresh thyme leaves or 1 tsp. dried thyme leaves
2 tbs. chopped fresh cilantro leaves (optional parsley may be substituted)
1/2 small bell pepper, green, red or yellow, seeded and finely chopped
1 serrano or jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
2 tsp. (2/3 palm full) ground cumin
1 to 2 tsp. cayenne hot sauce, several drops (recommended: Tabasco)
2 tsp. grill seasoning blend (recommended: Montreal Steak Seasoning by McCormick)
Vegetable oil or olive oil, for drizzling
1/2 pound deli sliced pepper jack cheese
4 crusty kaiser rolls, split
Chop your garlic and veggies.
Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat until crisp. Wipe excess grease from pan and return skillet to heat.
While bacon cooks, combine turkey meat, garlic, shallot or onion, thyme, cilantro or parsley, bell pepper, serrano or jalapeno pepper, cumin, hot pepper sauce, grill seasoning or salt and pepper. Divide mixture into 4 equal mounds then form meat into patties. Drizzle patties with vegetable oil to coat. Cook in skillet over medium high heat for 5 to 6 minutes on each side. Place sliced cheese over the patties in the last 2 minutes of cooking, use 1 or 2 slices for each patty, as you like.
Pile cooked cheeseburgers into buns. Top cheeseburgers with 2 slices of cooked, crisp bacon or turkey bacon and lettuce.
These burgers sound tasty!
You have me convinced. I’m going to give these burgers a whirl.
Cooks Illustrated recommends putting ricotta cheese in the mix for turkey burgers. They come out really juicy and good. Maybe a combination of the two recipes would be tasty because theirs didn’t have much additional flavoring.
i am so glad you liked them! and now you know that they are… actually… surprisingly… really great.. for yourself. come to austin?
Ricotta is a great idea! Thanks Margie!
mmmm! definitely going to steal this recipe
does “30 minute meal” seem like a realistic moniker in this case?
thank you everyone for reading! let me know what you think when you give these a try. the addition of ricotta does sound great!
and jen… no. i don’t think that 30 will do it in this case
i eat this.
I will say that these burgers can definitely hold their own against the best beef burgers I have had. I wasn’t a believer in turkey at first but these brought me on board.
I totally have a love/hate thing going on with RR, too. With my hub being gone for dinner coming up soon, I’ll have to give these a whirl. Mr. P is all red meat, all the time, but these look awesome to me!