11.21.2009

Week 3, Recipe 2: Thai Turkey Burgers

Warm Pineapple Salsa Ingredients:
one whole pineapple, cored & peeled
½ red onion, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
½ tsp. dried basil, or 10-15 fresh basil leaves cut into strips
Crushed red pepper flakes
Sesame oil

Turkey Burger:
1⅓ pounds lean ground turkey breast (do not use extra lean - it is too dry)
1 inch fresh gingeroot, peeled and grated, or 2 pinches ground ginger
2 - 3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
2 tsp. curry powder
Salt, to taste
2 scallions, finely chopped

Bibb, Boston, or red leaf lettuce for topping
English muffins

1) Heat sesame oil over medium to medium-low heat.  Add crushed red pepper for about 2 minutes.  Saute onions over low heat until slightly browned. Add pineapple & dried basil (if using in lieu of fresh) and cook approximately 2-3 minutes until warmed through.
2) Combine all turkey burger ingredients in a large bowl. Shape into 4 patties. These can be cooked in a skillet for approximately 4 minutes on each side or on a preheated grill. Top burgers with warm salsa and lettuce and serve.


Results: This recipe is adapted from Rachael Ray's book Classic 30 Minute Meals.  I used dried basil instead of fresh & EVOO instead of sesame oil (which is about $6 for a small bottle!!! YEAH RIGHT!!).  I was a bit nervous about the pineapple salsa because I'm not big on sweet flavors in my food but the savory spices mellowed out the pineapple.  The basil gave it a great flavor.  If I made these for Rashan I'd probably use even more curry because they had nice heat but he likes even more!  Or I'd put jalapeno in the pineapple salsa.  I also used onions instead of scallions.  My mom & I both really liked these burgers.  As you can see I served them with crinkle-cut fries (my fave).

6 comments:

Ginae said...

yum yum this sounds and looks really yummy. i will definetely try it. i tend to get lazy with cooking when the recipe requires a lot of ingredients, and especially those I don't have already at the house...but this one looks too good to pass up.

Not so Anonymous said...

Ok...this one is being made in the Not So Anonymous household TONIGHT. I'm going to add Jalopenos to the salsa. We likes it hott over here, lol!

Miss Snarky Pants said...

I never had a turkey burger in my life but these pics here make me wanna eat one like yesterday!!!

Jameil said...

ginae... very yummy! i had all of these ingredients in the house so i was ON IT! sometimes i sub ingredients for things i know will give a similar flavor.

nsa... ah yeah!! let me know how it turns out! (even if you don't like it)

ms. b... that is criminal! get up on that! turkey burgers are delish! my mom used to use ground turkey in the place of beef a lot when we were kids & didn't tell us for a long time. We never knew the difference! Lol.

Ginae said...

made these tonight Jameil..they were a hit! i didn't use english muffins for the bread though..i had forgot to buy those when i was at the store...used sesame buns..still was good though! i'm already thinking about when i'll make them again...

Jameil said...

yay!! i'm glad they worked for you!