This week is all about burgers! Turkey burgers, chicken burgers, beef and pork burgers! If you’re looking for some new and really good burgers for your next BBQ… look no more! I am posting this recipe again as it was one of my first blog posts I made and one of my favorites as well. I can’t think of a better way to start burger week than with this recipe!
These are hands down the best turkey burgers EVER! This is my recipe that I have been making for a number of years now and we think they ROCK! They are moist and FULL of flavor, you don’t usually get both of those things in a turkey burger, so go ahead give these a try!
Makes 4 burgers
INGREDIENTS
20 oz. ground turkey
Salt
Pepper
1 tsp. cumin
1/4 cup crushed tortilla chips or Panko crumbs
1/2 cup diced sweet onion
4 Tablespoons chopped cilantro
3/4 Tablespoon chipotle pepper (found in the seasoning’s aisle)
1 teaspoon garlic
1/2 cup all natural applesauce
4 Kaiser rolls or any burger bun you like
Chipotle Mayo
Mayonnaise
Chipotle seasoning
Cilantro
Salt
Pepper
Garlic
I do not measure any of it. Start with the mayo and add whatever amount of each ingredient you like. Jim is not a huge fan of cilantro, so I do not add that to the mayo if he is home. If you don’t want it too hot, be cautious with the chipotle seasoning.
For the Burger
Mix ALL ingredients, except for the buns, and form into four patties and grill. Grill buns if desired
OPTIONAL TOPPINGS
Avocado
Tomato
Lettuce
Any Mexican style cheese
Enjoy,
This is a little bit of a follow up from Sean’s guest post yesterday! When I was at the Portsmouth farmer’s market, I also bought a bottle of Marcia’s Jamaican Jerk Anything Sauce. This sauce is a little less spicy than the jerk sauce Sean used for the chicken wings, but it still has some heat to it!
This is a picture from the farmer’s market of some of the food Marcia smokes and sells while at the market!
I marinated some boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the “anything” sauce for a couple of hours and grilled them over medium heat until cooked through. Served them over a salad of mixed greens, chopped pecans, crumbled cheese and dried cranberries. You might be wondering where that salad picture is?! Well..I cooked the chicken the night before I made the salad and packed Jim and I the salad for lunch and well…while at work, I remembered that I TOTALLY FORGOT to take the finished picture! Well, it happens, but you get the idea! I also drizzled a little bit of the “anything” sauce over the greens as a dressing but be cautious and use it sparingly so you don’t over power the entire salad!
Support your local farmers and craft people. Now find a market near you!
Enjoy!
I am so thrilled to have a guest post today from my friend Sean. Sean and I met when he started working at the same high school as I do. Sean is a police officer for the City of Dover, NH and is currently assigned to the high school as the school resource officer. Sean and I became fast friends with our love for good food. Sean is not only a great cook, (he makes a killer pulled pork, among many other things!) but also an avid hiker, tough mudder competitor and a fun loving Dad! I hope you enjoy Sean’s post and have the chance to try some of the great products we taste tested! Thanks for the tasty wings and the guest post Sean! I am looking forward to many more of your creations!
Let me start this off by saying I am no BBQ master or anything of the like. I am simply a guy who loves to grill and smoke food. Again, I am no expert in the field, but I know what I like, and that’s a good jerk seasoning and I’ve been on a mission for years to find that perfect one that suits me. I also have a soft spot for exotic and non-traditional BBQ sauces, and have found that usually the locally made ones have been the best by any mass produced ones I have tried over the years.
So a week ago or so I was asked by my friend Anne to try out this local jerk seasoning she came across. I have been privileged to be on the receiving end of some of her cooking. Trusting her judgment, I would often bring her some of the fruits of my labor from the weekend and usually the following day I would get some of her cooking in return and I have never been disappointed. She and I have been trading our weekend creations for several months now and some of the folks around us at work often roll their eyes when we get deep in conversations about food!
Onto this jerk seasoning… Anne had procured some Marcia’s Jamaican Jerk Sauce and had asked me to smoke some chicken and try out the sauce. Marcia’s Jerk Sauce is locally made next door to me in Portsmouth, NH. Well how can I say no to this? It’s a win win for me and I was excited for this jerk. So I set some time aside for the following Sunday. I went to a local high end market in Portsmouth NH near where I live called McKinnon’s. Anyone who has ever been there can attest that this place has anything a person can want for cuts of meat. McKinnon’s has a lot more than just meats, but that’s what I was there to get. I selected some meaty looking wings and two other sauces I’ll mention later.
So on Sunday afternoon I set up my smoker which is a Weber 18.5″ Smokey Mountain. I can’t say enough about this smoker, but that’s not what this review is for. I decided to go with a combination of apple wood and pecan wood for the chicken wings. I purposely didn’t use any salt or rubs on the wings as I wanted the true flavor of the wood and the sauces I was about to use. So while the smoker was setting up, I laid out the three sauces I was going to use. While I was at McKinnon’s, I decided to grab a few more sauces to have a variety of wings because I probably bought about six pounds of them!
The other two sauces I went with was another jerk sauce and a BBQ sauce. The jerk sauce is Helen’s Tropical-Exotics Island Jerk, which I think is out of Florida. I have used this before in the “hot’ version on some smoked pulled pork and really liked it. McKinnon’s was out of the hot one so I went with the regular one. The BBQ sauce was a gamble, but the fact it was local (Maine) and it was called Beast Feast Maine Apple Bourbon BBQ Sauce, I had to try it.
So the wings were smoked for a little over an hour at around 220 degrees and they were divided up and given a bath in each respective sauce and left to sit for about ten minutes. I’m not submerging them for ten minutes.
What can I say about Marcia’s Jerk Sauce? This has been some of the best jerk I have had in years, if not ever. I found it to have a great kick and loaded with flavor. I found the consistency a little thicker than others I have tried, but I liked this better as more of the sauce sticks to the wings better! Also, I added about two ounces of water to the sauce just to loosen it up a little. Even looking at the ingredients, there are no preservatives, no added sugar, or high fructose corn syrup. This is a major plus to me. Anyone who likes jerk should really give this stuff the time of day.
Helen’s Tropical-Exotic Jerk Sauce is also very good. A little watery, but still full of flavor. The ingredients say things like “tropical spices” like it’s some huge secret. Personally, I don’t like when things are labeled like this and it has some added things like caramel color. All in all, a solid sauce and I would still use it again, but my new “go to” will be Marcia’s.
Okay, the Beast Feast Maine Apple Bourbon BBQ Sauce. All I can say is wow! If you are not a bourbon fan, you probably won’t like this stuff, but luckily for me…I do. The ingredients list is a plus as well. No added junk and they even use a local (to where it’s made in Maine) coffee-apple bourbon. I will certainly be using this again and was very impressed with the distinct apple bourbon flavor.
One other thing I started doing when I use the smoker is, I’ll smoke three to four bulbs of garlic for about an hour and a half. I prep the bulb by simply exposing the the tops of the cloves and putting them on the top rack of the smoker. I then store the garlic and add to just about anything like pizza, eggs, quinoa, or whatever you add garlic to. You can easily pick up the smokiness in what you add it to. Just a little spin off of the typical roasted garlic.
I’ll wrap this up by thanking Anne for allowing me the opportunity to write on her blog. This was a great experience and like I said…it’s a win win for me! Thanks again Anne!
Sean
Thanks again Sean! I look forward to tasting many more dishes!! If you want to buy some of Marcia’s Jerk Sauce you can find her at the Portsmouth NH farmers market or on line at www.jamaicanjerkshack.com
NOTE- if you like crispy wings you can put them in a deep fryer for a couple minutes and you will have the most moist, smoked and crispy wings!!
Enjoy!
The posts this week are all about farmer’s markets! A couple of weeks ago
my friend Rosalie went to a farmer’s market in Northern NH and brought me home a fantastic product that she has used many times and really enjoys! She bought me some Chipolte Cream Sauce from a company called Vermont Signature Sauces. They have a number of products and sauces and after tasting the cream sauce I am looking forward to trying more!
Rosalie and I also went to the Portsmouth NH farmer’s market. It is one of my favorite farmer’s markets. They have a number of
farms and vendors, along with live music and plenty of food to sample along the way. Not to mention a beautiful view! With spring in full motion and summer just around the corner, help support your local farmer and find a local farmer’s market near you ! In my area alone we have 6-7 in the immediate area. (Dover, Durham, Portsmouth, Somersworth, Milton and Rollinsford to just name a few.
On to the Vermont Signature Sauce review of the Chipotle Cream Sauce. I simply sliced up three boneless, skinless chicken breasts into bite size pieces and browned them up in a large saucepan and cooked the chicken through. I then added the cream sauce and warmed everything through and served over jasmine rice! This made dinner so simple and the sauce was delicious. The sauce was creamy and a little smokey. I served this with a small side salad and dinner was on the table in about 20 minutes!
Vermont Signature Sauces also known as La Maison Gourmet Gravies has eight sauces currently to choose from. They have Burgundy Peppercorn, Chipotle Cream, Coconut Red Curry, Marsala with Mushrooms, Pomegranate with Saffron, Savory Orange and Sherried mushrooms. I think I will be trying the Coconut Red Curry sauce next!!
If you want to try these delectable sauces they can be found at various markets and store as well as on line at www.vermontsignaturesauces.com
Tomorrow, I have a special guest post. So stay tuned for another farmer’s market find and another product review!
Enjoy!
When our husbands are away, my friend Rosalie and I get together for a day of fun and this day could not have been a more beautiful day to spend in Portsmouth NH. We started our morning off with brunch at Michelle’s on Market Square. If you have never been to Michelle’s it is open for Brunch Friday through Sunday 9:00 am to 2:00 pm and open for dinner Wednesday through Saturday from 5:00 pm to close. Closed Monday and Tuesday. Michelle’s is a family owned and operated restaurant that is a mix of French country and Mediterranean cuisine. When you walk into Michelle’s you walk right into the open kitchen area, I loved that! We could see and talk to the owner and chefs! We sat upstairs in the bar area by a window overlooking the hustle and bustle of Portsmouth! It did not take Rosalie and I long to know exactly what we wanted. Although the brunch menu had some of the typical brunch items they had some with a twist too! I had the Lobster benedict ($15.00) and Rosalie had the seafood crepes.($20.00)
The lobster benedict is your typical Benedict with a toasted English muffin, poached eggs, hollandaise sauce with huge pieces of lobster. This was served with pan roasted fingerling potatoes. I can’t believe I am saying this, as I have had my share of Lobster over the years but this was hands down the best lobster I have ever had. The lobster was so tender, juicy and full of flavor. My dish was seasoned perfectly, eggs poached just right! This dish alone will bring me back time and time again!
Rosalie enjoyed her seafood crepes as much as I loved my lobster Benedict !
Her crepes were filled with lobster, scallops and shrimp. The crepes were finished with a wild mushroom sherry sauce. Rosalie and I are good friends and we share all our food, so needless to say this day was no different and her seafood crepes were incredible. Lots of seafood and the sauce…..oh, the sauce…so good!! That sauce brought that dish together and gave the dish a nice sweetness. We were thrilled with our brunch experience and I am sure you will be too.
I took a little time to look over the dinner menu and they have some great looking menu items! For their appetizers they had soups, salads, a cheese board made with seasonal produce, and another item that caught my attention was the steak tartar. The steak tartar is minced filet, seasoned with red onion, capers, Dijon, worcestershire, parsley, Manchego cheese and served with a raw egg yolk and a warm baguette! How good does that sound?
On to the small plate section, they have a burger with bacon and cheese, four cheese Mac and cheese, and also have poutine! My son loves poutine so this is right up his ally! Their poutine is served with pulled pork, cheese curd and a Demi glacé . Another menu item on the small plate section is a salmon BLT! I really liked the sound of this! Salmon with tomatoes, fresh artisan greens with lemon herb aioli served on a croissant! YUM!
On to the Entrees! They have house made pasta, roasted half chicken and a seafood Provencal that I know my husband Jim would love! The seafood Provencal has lobster, shrimp, scallops and mussels tossed with fresh Bucatini pasta in white wine, lemon butter and parsley sauce. Everything looked and sounded delicious. Although we went for brunch, you can see I already have some favorites on the dinner menu and we will be going back for those. You can find Michelle’s on Market Square at 10 Market Square in Portsmouth N.H. After our brunch we went to the Portsmouth farmers market! More about that next week!
Enjoy!
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