Turkey Burgers - or Dumpling Filling

It's true, I'm a sucker for ground turkey. I'm not really sure why, perhaps because it's relatively rare compared to ubiquitous German pork. It's slightly healthier, it tastes simmilar to pork, but really, I think I just like turkey. And ground turkey is easier to prepare than roasting a whole bird.

Normally, I favour turkey burgers with grilled figs but the local green grocer didn't have figs. I scoured online & found an idea (it's far too forgiving to be an actual recipe) for turkey potstickers. I didn't feel like making the dumpling skins myself, and it was a cold day outside so I wasn't about to buy them. I made burgers.

Asian Turkey Burgers
(adapted from The Fortune Cookie Chronicles)

1/2 head napa cabbage, chopped
300g ground turkey
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 chopped scallions
1tsp minced garlic
1tsp minced ginger
Kimchi
1 shredded carrot
1 1/2 tsp light miso
2 Tbsp mayonnaise
2 rolls with sesame seeds on top

Sautee cabbage to get rid of moisture.
Mix cabbage, turkey, soy, sesame oil, vinegar, scallions, garlic & ginger in a bowl. Form into 2 patties. Grill. Meanwhile, mix mayonnaise and miso. Slice open rolls, spread a bit of miso mayo on each half. Remove burgers from grill, place on roll. Top with Kimchi & carrot.

I was not only enamored with the burgers, I was also enamored by the blog from Ms. Lee.

After clicking through a few pages, I realized I needed to order the book. While I don't normally plug anything except local farmers, I can only recommend this book. I, like many people, love Chinese food. Ms. Lee does not talk about Chinese food, she talks about the Americanization of Chinese food - a concept which can be applied to other countries as well, to varying degrees. The life of an immigrant is hard, one often is confronted with a lack of acceptance. Degrees and qualifications are not recognized; locals think that you are a threat to the local economy and will take away jobs from citizens (this is something that I have not only been subject to, it is something that I see going on around me). Ms. Lee explains how the Chinese have become more American that apple pie (When was the last time you ate apple pie? she asks. When was the last time you ate Chinese food?) and shows the evolution of restaurant workers; from illegal immigrants, to restaurant owners, to parents of children who are not to own restaurants.

At least I got to think about something while eating my turkey burgers. And by the way, even though it is a popular substitute for pork in Chinese recipes, turkey isn't Asian.

So Long, my Fair Avocado!

Avocados are more difficult to find here that in North America, and they are often unripe in the store. They need to wait on the counter until that perfect moment arises - but sometimes, I'm too late. That was the case with this green trooper.

I realized that it's finally time to send off the avocado on my counter, but I wanted to do it right. I think I bought this avocado to take with me to work - it was supposed to be my out from cafeteria food. I had high expectations of it and I let it down. It needed to make it up to the avocado. I wanted to give it a Mexican avocado in-tummy-ment. The best way to do this, I thought, was Mexican burgers, with homemade salsa & guacamole.



Mexican Burgers
250 g ground beef
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp chopped garlic
1/4 tsp chilli pepper
1/4 tsp paprika

Mix all ingredients together. Allow to sit for 30 minutes. Shape into patties & grill.

Salsa
150g red & yellow tomatoes, seeded & chopped
2 tsp chopped fresh coriander
1 small red onion, chopped finely
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp lime juice
1/2 tsp or more chilli pepper, depending on taste

Add all ingredients together, allow to marinate for 30 min.

Guacamole
1 dying avocado (must be very ripe)
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp chilli spices (mix of cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, chilli powder)
2 tsp lime juice
salt & pepper to taste

Mash all ingredients together.

Arrange burgers on a tortilla, cover with guacamole & salsa & try to eat.

It was a fun tribute to a fruit that held so much expectation. It still has a comrade in the fruit bowl. I will take him to the hallowed halls of my office tomorrow. Maybe not. Maybe the dying plants on my desk will scare it too much.

Bul Go Burgers

It's July. This means burger season. If I have to go out in the rain to grill my burgers, so be it. It's summer.

There's a little supermarket not too far from my home. They don't have everything there, but they do have great veggies & the beef is freshly ground. I go in, with the plan of making korean-style beef burgers, I come out & feel as though I will be swept away with the flood rains pouring through the city. No matter, I have everything I need (an umbrella), so I walk home, start cooking & hope that rain will stop.

Bulgogi Burgers with Sweet Potato & Zucchini Fries

330 g ground beef
2 Tbsp red wine
1 Tbsp each minced garlic & ginger
1 green onion, chopped
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp panko (or regular breadcumbs)
1 sweet potato, peeled & sliced thinly
2 zucchinis, sliced thinly
1 medium onion, sliced
Kimchi

Mix beef, wine, garlic, ginger, green onion, soy & panko together, shape into patties & allow to sit (covered, in the fridge) for 30 minutes.
Make zucchini & sweet potato chips: add slices to hot oil & drain.
Sautee onions unitl translucent.
Grill burgers.
Serve burgers with Kimchi (store bought) and cooked onion rings.

Hopefully these rains will stop for more than a few hours. There was a day of sun this week, maybe there'll be another one soon.

Burger Bonanza

In other parts of the world, it is the beginning of summer. In Germany, it is not. This week, my colleague told me with an earnest face that she honestly believed it would snow (and "why on earth are you wearing that summer dress?"). Maybe I'm in denial, maybe it's because I grill year round, but the last couple of weeks, I've been doing burgers.

Sometime a while back, I found good avocadoes & had to make some guacamole. Underneath, beef patties that had a little bit of red miso mixed in.


Recently, I went out to dinner at the Bootshaus in Heidelberg. I ordered the turkey burger from the menu. What surprised me was the turkey. It wasn't ground, it was 2 (or 3?) slices of marinated turkey in a bun with toppings. Juicy, tasty, a fun new idea.

Later, I found ground turkey in the supermarket. Quite the score here in Germany. I was thinking of grinding my own turkey, that's how seldom the stuff is in the stores. I took 300g of ground turkey, 3 tbsp mango chutney (a friend made it last year & gave me 3 jars), 1/2 a sauteed onion, zest of 1 lemon, a handful of chopped parsley, Old Bay spice, tobasco & chili powder. Topped off with 1/2 a grilled fig. Unfortunately my grill ran out of gas half-way through, but these are a definate remake, if I ever find the ground turkey again.


Cathy, at Accountants can cook? made some meatballs recently which seemed like the good start of a burger (the irony being that she herself grew tired of burgers). I adapted them & made patties:
300g ground beef
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1 Tbsp Oyster sauce
3 Tbsp chopped green onion
2 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp minced ginger
1 egg
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
soy sauce
coconut milk (they looked like they needed liquid)
chili powder

To satisfy carb-o-phobic tendencies (I should actually be going for a run right now), I made a Baji-like pancake
2/3 c chickpea flour
1/3 c regular flour
1 chopped chili
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
1 Tbsp oil
salt to taste
water to mix.

I made a pancake like batter out of everything, then I made pancakes. Then I topped my pancakes with my burger, then with bean sprouts, then with Kecup Manis (my new Indonesian score) & then I ate it. Pretty simple stuff. I have a funny feeling this would go best with pork, though.There you go, burgers. Now all I need is some good weather to go along with them...