Chasing Adventure

I love food. Not quite as much as Guy Fieri, though I enjoying trying new things (mostly).

Let’s be honest, I enjoy trying new recipes and cooking at home more than just trying new restaurants. There is something to be said about taking something that looks mouth-watering in the magazine picture and making it your own. I don’t usually follow recipes exactly (except with baking, of course) because it’s fun to make it mine.

Sweet Greg has been my guinea pig each time and I think we have only agreed that a recipe was a complete dud once. Changing a few things to suit our preferences makes each and every one of them our own. We’ve had some real winners lately, so I wanted to share some with you in case you needed ideas for dinner tonight. I’ll start with burgers, since we now have 2 favorites!

Mom’s Turkey Burgers

Okay, to be completely honest, I totally stole this recipe from my Mom (thanks Momma!) after she made it for me while we were in FL. I added a couple of different items to the burger mix (similar to my mix), but didn’t change a thing with her sauce. On the measurements, I’m eyeballing everything so it should come with “ish” on each measurement: “1/2T -ish”. One thing I did discover was these burgers didn’t form up as firmly, and I think it’s because it’s ground turkey, not beef. I added a bit more flour and then flash froze them before grilling them. It helped, but I’ll take other suggestions if you have them! This recipe makes 4 burgers.

Burgers:

– 1lb ground turkey (lean)

– 1 medium onion, finely diced

– 1 large jalapeno, finely diced

– 3 garlic cloves, minced

– 1 egg

– 1/2T Worcestershire sauce or coco aminos

– 2T flour

– 1/2t red pepper flakes

– 1/2T Six Gun Grill seasoning (you need this spice in your spice rack)

– 1 avocado, smashed

Special Sauce :

1/2 c olive oil mayo

Juice from 1 lime

Fresh cilantro, finely chopped (the more the better)

A couple of shakes of cumin (yes, that’s a measurement)

4 slices of pepper jack cheese (or flavor profile of your choice)

“Moosh together” (that is how Moms’ recipe card reads (love that chick)) everything to make the burgers. Lay out wax paper on a large board (that will fit in your freezer) and divide the mix into fourths onto the wax paper. Form into burgers and pop into the freezer for about 20-30 minutes. Grill about 5 minutes, then 90-degree turn, then 3 more minutes. Flip and repeat. Timing is dependent on the temperature of your grill, but make sure you cook them to 165 degrees (no medium-rare turkey burgers allowed).

Top with cheese until melted, then dress your burgers up with the special sauce and condiments of your choice. Then, devour. SO good! We went bunless the first go around, and then brioche buns the next time. Both were delish!

We took our regular burgers and sent them to private school (as Mo says). After finally perfecting our recipe, this is a huge family favorite of ours – simple, basic, and easy. Naming credit goes to Mo on this one! This recipe makes 4 burgers.

Mama Katie’s Burgers

1lb ground buffalo (or 93/7 ground beef)

1 large jalapeno, finely diced

1 medium red onion, finely diced

1 garlic clove, minced

1T Six Gun Grill seasoning

1 egg

2T flour

Worcestershire sauce (don’t mix into patties)

Combine, and form patties with a thumb print hole in the middle of each. Cover and let sit in the fridge for a couple hours (marinates the flavors and firms up the patties). After placing them on the grill, fill the thumb print hole up with Worcestershire sauce, and drizzle just a little over the whole petty. Grill and serve however you prefer your burgers!

This photo shows one our bunless nights, topped with cilantro black pepper mayo, and served with pressure cooker beets, sauteed kale all drizzled with balsamic vinegar. Burgers don’t have to be just casual! Drool worthy!

Hope you enjoy our burger night! Next time, casseroles – aka yummy leftovers for days meals!

~Katie