Italian BBQ Chicken Burgers

During the Big Bad Wolf book sale last December, I bought Rachel Ray's "The Book Of Burger". I have been eyeing this book ever since it was published more than a year ago, and I was all smiles when I've spotted the only copy that nobody seems to notice or maybe nobody wants it! Lucky me! There was only one copy of this book, and I guess it was meant to be mine!  Big smile!

There are lots of burger recipes (127 recipes), as well as sandwiches and dogs (27 recipes), sliders (29 recipes), sloppies (19 recipes), which are divided into chapters for meat, poultry, seafood, veggie, and there are separate chapters for sides and sauces. There's even a chapter where other chefs like Bobby Flay, Michael Symon and others, share their burger recipes. A lovely book!

My first recipe from this book is Italian BBQ Chicken Burger which I've made for one of our weekend night dinner, using my homemade buns.

You would first need to make the BBQ sauce, which has bacons in it. The recipe calls for pancetta, since this ingredient is not available, I've used bacon instead. The ingredients for the sauce are bacon, onion, balsamic vinegar, light brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce and tomato sauce. Cook till the sauce thickens. Very delicious sauce, though I've got to add in a little more brown sugar to balance out the sourness. 

Another ingredient for the garnish is giardiniera, an Italian hot pickled vegetables, which is new to me. I have however used my Homemade Jalapenos, drained and chopped to pieces.

The chicken burger patties uses fennel seeds which are toasted before mixing into the minced chicken together with chopped thymes, rosemary, chilli flakes, cheese, garlic, poultry seasoning and season with salt and black pepper. Very fragrant from the fennel seeds and these patties are moist and delicious. 
Tip : to ensure that the patties are adequately seasoned, cook half a teaspoon of the mixture to test. Adjust the seasoning to the patties mixture accordingly, if needed.

Assemble the burger! I have used fresh lettuce leaves and added a slice of cheese, place one chicken patty burger, spoon the BBQ sauce over and sprinkle some pickles and sliced onions over. Enjoy!
I like my burger with more Pickled Jalapenos and sliced fresh onions!

For the burger buns, you may refer to my previous post, Hamburger Rolls.

For the pickled Jalapenos, you may refer to my previous post, Pickled Jalapenos.

Italian BBQ Chicken Burgers
(adapted from "The Book of Burger", Rachel Ray)
Sauce :
2 tablespoons EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil), plus more for drizzling
1/4 pound pancetta, chopped (I use bacon)
1 small onion, finely chopped
Kosher salt and pepper
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 cup or 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce

Burgers :
2 pounds ground chicken
2/3 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano cheese (a couple of generous handfuls) (I use Cheddar)
4 cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh thyme, finely chopped
1-1/2 tablespoons fennel seeds, toasted
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning

4 crustry rolls, split
thinly sliced red onions
chopped giardiniera (Italian hot pickled vegetables) (I use Homemade Pickled Jalapenos)
1-1/2 to 2 cups greens (such as arugula, endive and radicchio), chopped

Make the sauce :

Heat 2 tablespoons EVOO, 2 turns of the pan, in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the pancetta and cook 3 to 4 minutes. Add the onion and season with salt and lots of pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to brown, about 10 minutes. Stir in the vinegar, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and tomato sauce. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened.

Make the burgers :

In a large bowlk, combine the chicken, Parmigiano-Reggiano, garlic, rosemary, thyme, fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, and poultry seasoning; season with salt and pepper and mix thoroughly. Score the mixture into 4 equal portions and form them into patties slightly thinner at the center than at the edges for even cooking and to ensure a flat surface (burgers plump as they cook). Drizzle the patties with EVOO.

Heat a large nonstick skillet or grill pan over medium-high heat. Cook the burgers, flipping once, 10 to 12 minutes, or until the juices run clear.

Place the burgers on the roll bottoms and top with the sauce, red onions, giardiniera, and chopped greens. Set the rolls top in place.

CB3/14

I'm linking this with :

Cook-Your-Books #8 hosted by Kitchen Flavours

and

See Ya In The Gumbo @ Ms. enPlace

Souper Sundays @ Kahakai Kitchen

Homemade Pickled Jalapenos

Pickled Jalapenos has been on my list of to-try for ages. I finally got round to it. Making our own is definitely much cheaper than the ones sold in jars from the supermarket, and you can find them only from the high-end supermarkets. Again, this is one item that I am always hesitating to buy, as a small jar is rather costly. Fresh Jalapenos are really not expensive, and Pickled Jalapenos are really so easy to make, so there's really no excuse not to make some, that is, if you like pickles!

I found this recipe from David Lebovitz's website, which he adapted from "Michael Symon's Live To Cook" by Michael Symon and Michael Ruhlman. 

The Jalapeno pepper are first washed, cleaned and wiped dry. Make a few slits in each Jalapeno. Place them in a clean preserving jar. 

The brine is made by bringing to boil, the vinegar, water, sugar, salt, bay leaves, coriander seeds, black peppercorns and garlic. When the brine starts to boil, turn down heat and allow it to simmer for about 5 minutes, to infuse the flavours. Pour the brine over the Jalapenos in the jar. Place the lid on and let cool. Refrigerate for at least a week before consuming.

Pickled Jalapenos can be used in just about anything that calls for pickles. Just cut them up and use them in your Quesadillas, burgers, hotdogs, in pastas, even eaten with fried noodles, just as we love eating our local noodles with sliced pickled green chillies. 

The Pickled Jalapenos are very crunchy. The little red chilli is not crunchy at all, maybe because the red chillis are ripe, when I use to pickle them, even though they are very firm when I plucked them off the plant. Next time, I'll just stick to fresh Jalapenos for my pickles!

I cooked some fried beehoon (Chinese rice vermicelli), and had the Pickled Jalapenos, chopped up as a condiment. 

Give this a try. You could sliced up the fresh Jalapenos if you like, before soaking them in the brine instead of leaving them whole.

I've made about half a recipe from the original recipe below, using about 8 medium sized Jalapenos and 3 small red peppers from my own garden. These Pickled Jalapenos are great, really crunchy and not too sour. 

Pickled Jalapenos
(source from : David Lebovitz)
1 pound (450gm) fresh jalapeno peppers, washed (or another chile pepper in place of the jalapenos)
2-1/2 cups (625ml) water
2-1/2 cups (625ml) vinegar (David used white distilled vinegar, and so have I)
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons coarse salt, such as kosher
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds
3 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tablespoons black peppercorns

1. Stab each pepper three times with a sharp paring knife and place them in a large glass preserving jar.
2. In a non-reactive saucepan, bring the other ingredients to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for five minutes.
3. Remove from heat and pour the brine over the peppers. Place the lid on the jar and let cool. Once cool refrigerate for at least a week before using, if possible. (You can use them sooner, but Michael says they're worth the wait).

Serve whole, with Mexican dishes, or remove the seeds then chop and use to season any recipe that is improved by a little bit of sweet heat.

Pizza Muffins

It's "Time For Tea" at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC). This week is all about tea, either hot or cold, or any savoury and sweet dishes or snacks that are perfect with a cuppa tea. That is easy! There are lots of recipes from Donna Hay that are just perfect for tea, and it is actually quite difficult for me to narrow it to just one, finally decided to make these Pizza Muffins, as I happen to have all the ingredients at hand and also because it has been quite awhile since I last made any savoury muffins. And muffins always goes well together with a cup of warm tea, for me, one of favourite, Earl Grey tea.

Just like any other muffins, these are made in just minutes. Ingredients that can be found in your favourite pizza, pineapple, ham, cheese, tomato paste, it's all in these muffins. More cheese are sprinkled over before baking, and while these are baking, the cheezy aroma filled the kitchen! I've made half a recipe and got 7 muffins.

Freshly baked Pizza Muffins. It's time for tea!

Eaten while still warm, the top crust is cheesy-crispy. The texure is soft and moist, sweet pineapple with salty ham and cheese, really good, with a cup of warm tea. Maybe the next time, I might add some chopped onions, capsicum and oregano herbs, for that extra pizza feel!

Want to join me for a cuppa?

Pizza Muffin
(adapted from : donnahay.com)
3 cups (450gm) self-raising flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1-1/2 cups (180gm) grated cheddar
150gm ham, chopped
2/3 cup (150gm) chopped pineapple, drained
2/3 cup (160ml) vegetable oil
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 eggs
1 cup (250ml) milk

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). Place the flour, baking powder, 1 cup (120gm) cheese, ham and pineapple in a bowl and mix to combine. Place the oil, tomato paste, egg and milk in a bowl and whisk to combine. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Spoon into 12 x 1/2 cup-capacity (125ml) muffin tins and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 30 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Makes 12.

To view what the others are making, Time For Tea, drop by I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC).

I'm linking this post to Little Thumbs Up event, where the ingredient for this month is Cheese, organized by Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY, hosted by Alice of I Love.I Cook.I Bake

OT3/14