indian-spiced chicken burgers
Poultry, Sandwiches January 25th, 2010
I’ve had a recipe for Indian-spiced chicken burgers bookmarked in my Great Food Fast cookbook since I bought it, shortly after it came out. A couple Saturdays ago I took inspiration from it and made my own version. The boys wouldn’t touch it so I made them plain chicken burgers and they were quite happy with them. (My seven-year-old did try a bite, to his credit, but didn’t care for them.)
Indian-Spiced Chicken Burgers
First, make the cumin yogurt sauce so the flavors have time to come together. You’ll need:
1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
handful of chopped cilantro
salt and pepperCombine the first three ingredients in a small bowl, stirring well. Add salt and pepper to your taste. Set aside.
Next, gather your ingredients for the burgers:
1 package of ground chicken breast (approx. 1 lb.)
4 scallions, thinly sliced
2 jalapenos, seeded and diced
2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
1/2 tsp. red chili powder
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
1 Tbsp. ground coriander
salt and pepper
mini pitas
chopped onions and tomato
Cumin yogurt sauceIf you’re cooking these burgers outdoors, pre-heat your grill to medium-high. I just cooked mine on the Foreman Grill (yes, I still have one!) and it worked out just fine. Now, combine the ground chicken, scallions, jalapenos, ginger, lemon juice, chili powder, cumin, turmeric, coriander, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Stir everything together really well then let the mixture sit for about 10 minutes.
Gently form burger patties. I made mine more oblong in shape to better fit inside the pitas. Season the patties with a little salt and pepper if you desire and then grill until the ground chicken is opaque throughout the burger. That should take about 3-4 minutes per side. I grilled mine on the Foreman for about 8-10 minutes total.
Cut four pitas in half and warm them either on the top rack of your grill or in a toaster oven. Don’t overheat them or else they’ll get too crispy. Place two patties in each pita half along with diced onion and tomato. Add a healthy dollop of the cumin yogurt sauce and serve.
While these were very tasty, they didn’t have the curry flavor I’d imagined. Instead they had the flavor and texture of falafels. They were still really good and we went back for seconds. I’m going to come back to these and see if I can tweak the flavor further. I might use ground turkey next time. It doesn’t dry out as much as the chicken, and the extra bit of fat holds flavors better I think. Still, a good lunch.
Fish Point Sandwich
Fish, Sandwiches March 8th, 2008
Lemon butter:
4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons white wine
Fish:
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup heavy cream
4 (6-ounce) fillets of sole
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons butter
4 slices white sandwich bread
Fresh parsley sprigs for garnish, optional
To make the lemon butter: Melt 4 tablespoons of butter over low heat in a small saucepan. Add the lemon juice and white wine. Keep the sauce warm on a corner of the stove.
To prepare the fish: Whisk the eggs with the heavy cream in a large bowl. Put the flour in a separate bowl. Dredge the fillets in flour; shake off any excess then put the fillets into the batter.
Heat 4 tablespoons butter in large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. Lift the sole out of the batter, allow the excess to run off, then gently lay the fillets in the pan. Cook, turning the fish once, until the sole is flaky and the crust is crisp and golden brown, about 3 minutes per side.
While fish is cooking, toast the bread and cut each piece in half diagonally (corner to corner). Arrange the toast points on 4 plates–2 per plate. Lift the fish from the pan onto the toast points. Drizzle the fish with lemon butter and serve immediately garnished with a sprig of fresh parsley, if desired.