75g of black olives sliced (about 1/2 cup)
Split and toast your ciabatta rolls.  Add a few salad leaves and tomato slices to the bottom of each.  Top each with a hot burger and then some of the yogurt sauce mixture.  Serve immediately. 

Many thanks to Total Greek Yoghurt for inviting me to participate in this challenge!

 

I have a confession . . . I love turkey burgers.  I would choose a turkey burger over a beef burger any day of the week.  Seriously.  Well . . . unless it was an A&W Prime Rib Burger that is.  Those are flippin' gorgeous.  I've only had one of those in my life time and I've been thinking about it ever since!  (Must have been loaded with fat, that's all I can say!)



I used to make a Spicy Turkey Burger for my boss when I worked at the Manor all the time.   They were really good.  I have also made Thai Turkey Burgers which were fabulous . . .  Buffalo Turkey Burgers which were stupendous . . .  and Turkey Burgers with Cranberry Catsup, fabulous Catsup . . . that last one was someone else's recipe and the burgers themselves were just so so . . . but the catsup that I came up with was just wonderful.



I had some ground turkey in the house yesterday and I was craving a turkey burger and so I decided to come up with something a tad bit different than the ones I used to make at the Manor.  I wanted them really kicked up a notch and this is what I came up with.  



Fabulously moist turkey burgers, low in fat and flavoured with garlic, onion, shallots, and chipotle chili paste . . . with a nice slice of spicy mexican flavoured cheddar melted on top . . . tucked into a toasted cheese roll, on a bed of garlic mayo . . . with shredded lettuce, red onions and sliced tomatoes.

 

TO ---- DIE ---- FOR!
'Nuff said.  Make them.  NOW!   I'm not kidding.  No way.  No how.





Crumble your turkey into a bowl.   Add the onion, shallot, garlic powder, onion powder, seasoning salt, black pepper, fresh coriander and chipotle chili paste.  Mix everything well together with your hands, making sure it is well combined.   Shape into 4 flat patties.  Heat a large grill pan.  Spray with some non-stick cooking spray.   Add the burger patties and grill them for about 4 minutes per side, until nicely browned and cooked through.  The juices should run clear.   Turn off fire under the grill pan.  Top each with a slice of cheese, pop a lid on and leave for a few minutes while you toast the buns.   Top the bottom halves of the toasted buns with some garlic mayonnaise, shredded lettuce, red onion slices, and a few slices of tomato.  Place the cheese topped turkey burgers over the tomatoes and place the top bun over all.  Serve immediately.

I like to have mustard and sliced pickles with mine.   My husband,  he likes catsup.

I confess that in the past I have been known to buy ready made burger patties at the shops.  I always bought the best most expensive ones, telling myself that they were sure to be better than the el cheapo ones.  In light of the recent debacle here in the UK with horsemeat having been mixed into minced beef products it makes me cringe just to think about it now . . .

Not that there is anything wrong with eating horsemeat if that is what you choose to do . . . but the important word here is "choose."  I don't choose to eat horsemeat and I think it is pretty disgusting that as consumers we have been subjected to the possibility of eating it without any choice and under the guise of it being "beef," when really it isn't . . . and all in the name of producing larger profits for these big grocery chains.   And as they would have you believe they were also duped . . . and I will give them the benefit of the doubt here, but really . . .  somebody was not doing their job properly because it is something which just SHOULD NOT happen!  It's hust plain wrong, no matter how you cut it.  I think a huge lesson has been learned by everyone involved . . .

I, for one, will never buy any meat from the supermarket again unless I can be 100% sure that it is what it is said to be.  One of our local Butcher's went out of business just prior to Christmas because he said he just couldn't compete with the grocery chains . . . methinks he should have stuck with it just a tad bit longer, because I think he'd be doing very well now.

 

Anyways, I was recently contacted by Westin Gourmet online butchers and asked if I would like to sample some of their products.  Of course I said yes.  I'm not stupid!  And from their site everything looked pretty good from here.

Westin Gourmet have gained awards from The Observer, Consumer Taste Awards and The Guardian. The company started life providing top quality meat for restaurants. Westin Gourmet now offer this wholesale selling to the general public through their website. By selling in trade quantities Westin say they are able to provide high quality meat at reasonable prices.

From their page:

"Each of our specialist cuts are chosen to give you the juiciest, most flavoursome meat available. Our gourmet meat is unrivalled and so are our prices. You can buy your gourmet meat from us at prices that are lower than the standard meat you get from your local supermarket...

We know from experience that grass fed animals which enjoy a happy life produce the juiciest, tastiest cuts. 

That is why we strive to source our meats from only the best suppliers in the industry - farmers who genuinely care about the welfare of their animals – to give you the diversity, the flavour and more importantly the quality you deserve."




A box arrived from them on my doorstep last Thursday afternoon.  Everything was packed properly and perfectly chilled when it arrived.  Another plus was the use by dates on each package, which were of a reasonable time length.  Too often things like this arrive and you feel like beating your head against the wall because all of the use by dates are within a few days and there is no way on earth you are going to be able eat all that meat in just a few days and really . . . you want to be able to cook it fresh from fresh . . . not frozen.  So this was a big plus with me.

My package contained quite a variety of things so look for my review of these products over the next week as I don't want to do it all at once.   That would be overkill.



Today I'm going to tell you about their burgers as that was the first thing we decided to try.    They were pretty decently sized burgers as you can tell.

 
 

It was very obvious from the packaging that  Westin Gourmet take their sourcing very responsably.   They can tell you via their labeling where the meat was slaughtered, which batch it came from, where it was minced, cut, etc.  I cannot recall seeing that kind of information on any supermarket packet.  I do know that when I go to the Butcher there is a sign on the wall saying which farm has supplied his meat for that week.

The burgers looked like a good mix of fat to lean.  A juicy burger should always have a fair quantity of fat in it in order for it to be moist and succulent.   Note . . . that doesn't mean gristle . . .   these burgers were a nice mix, and nicely sized and cooked up beautifully.



I decided to make a special mushroom and onion topping for them . . . which I layered on both the buns and the burgers themselves along with some fine strong British cheddar . . .



Some of this went on the bottom toasted bun half . . . and then was topped with my own special burger sauce and some shredded lettuce . . .

 

Before being topped with the burgers, which I had also topped with some of the mushroom and onion mixture and some  more cheddar . . . then grilled just so that the cheese melted down the burger . . .



in the most delicious way as  you can see . . . doesn't that look good???

But would they live up to what they looked like???

 

I have to say, no word of a lie . . . these were the tastiest burgers I have ever eaten.  There was no gristle at all . . . they were just moist and delicious . . . no fillers, nothing in there that shouldn't have been in there.  We both gave them 10 our of 10 for being the tastiest burgers we have ever had the pleasure to eat.  Now that's a tasty mouthful!



 *Special Sauced Mushroom Cheese Burgers*
Makes 4 servings
Printable Recipe

The best burgers you could ever want to eat.  Lovely sauce.  Flavourful toppings.   Delicious altogether!

Special Sauce:
4 TBS no fat mayonnaise
2 TBS Heinz tomato ketchup with roasted garlic, thyme and honey
(alternately you can use 2 TBS regular ketchup and 1 tsp sweet chili sauce)

For the mushroom onion topping:
1 TBS butter
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 pound of white button mushrooms, trimmed and finely chopped
125 ml white wine (1/2 cup)
1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

4 quality beef burgers
salt, pepper and garlic powder if desired
strong white cheddar cut into 8 (1/4-inch thick) slices large enough to cover a bun
and a burger
4 burger buns, split and toasted
shredded lettuce (optional)

First make the mushroom and onion topping.  Melt the butter over medium heat in a large skillet.  Add the onions.  Cook, stirring frequently, for about five minutes or until they soften.  Tip in the mushrooms.  Cook for a few minutes, then add the white wine and Worcestershire sauce.  Bring to the boil, then cook until all of the liquid has evaporated, stirring often.  Remove from the heat and scrape into a bowl.  Set aside while you cook the burgers.

Wipe the pan out and spray lightly with a low fat cooking spray.  Add the beef burgers and cook for about 4 minutes per side, until golden brown and cooked through, seasoning with some salt and pepper and garlic powder if desired.  Set aside and keep warm.  Heat the grill to high.

Place the toasted bun bottoms on a baking tray.  Divide the mushroom mixture in half and spread the bun bottoms with half of the mixture, dividing it equally amongst the four bottoms.   Top each with a slice of cheddar.   Take the remainder of the mushroom mixture and divide it equally over the top of each cooked burger,  mounding it in the middle.  Top them with a slice of cheese as well.  Slice the  baking tray and the pan with the burgers in it under the grill.  Grill until the cheese is bubbling and melted.

Remove each bun bottom to four heated plates.  Top each with some shredded lettuce if using, then a portion of the special sauce.  Place a cheese and mushroom topped burger on top of each and then place the toasted bun tops over all.  Serve immediately.

Westin Gourmet Steak Burgers are made from highest qualith, grass fed 100% British Beef and can be purchased in 4, 6 and 8 ounce sized burgers, in packs ranging from four in a pack for the  4 ounce ones to 10 in a pack for the others, and ranging in price from £2.27 per serving to £3.37 per serving.   That's not bad for an award winning burger.  You really do get what you pay for people, and I love knowing that what I am eating is what I think it is . . . you cannot put a price on honesty, integrity and full disclosure.   It is what it is, and I like that.

Their Ethos is that the whole Westin Team works super hard to ensure their produce is bred responsibly and tastes great.  You can't get much better than that.

Up next . . . a tasty roast beef.

 

I am a relative newcomer to the delights of Thai food. I had never eaten it at all until a few summers ago when the Toddster and I went for a meal at a Thai Restaurant in downtown Chester. I fell in love at first bite.

 I just adore Thai flavours! Especially Thai Green Curry . . . oh wow.  Green chilies, fish sauce, lemon grass . . . lime leaves.  Just smelling it starts my taste buds into tingling.  I love the stuff!

 

We all want to be a bit healthier today and using minced turkey instead of beef in your burger is one way of doing that.  As you know I am a real fan of British Turkey!  It's low in fat, tastes nice, is better for you than eating red meat and is usually a lot cheaper as well, and in these uncertain economic times, that is always a plus.

 

A few months back I developed a Buffalo Turkey Burger recipe for the British Turkey Association, which was simply fabulous.



Another favourite of ours are my Spicy Turkey Burgers, which have sort of a Mexican Flair, with real Tex Mex flavors and a guacamole garnish.



Today I decided to take the lovely flavors of a Green Thai Curry and put them into a turkey burger and we were both well pleased with the results!!!  They were so easy to do to!!  All I did  was to mix some bottled Thai Green Curry Paste into my turkey mince, shape it into patties and then grill them.



They smelled heavenly when they were grilling too.  Todd came downstairs sniffing the air with a smile on his face wanting to know what was for supper!
With a sliced tomato garnish and a few homemade condiments like this  delicious lime mayonnaise . . .



and this fabulous homemade cucumber pickle . . . they went down a real treat.
We both thoroughly enjoyed them.  In fact Todd loved them so much he had two of them!
They were moist and juicy with just the right amount of spice for us.  Of course you could up the heat by adding a touch more curry paste.



Just look at that juicy burger . . . the colors of the cucumber and tomato setting it off perfectly . . . and that creamy mayonnaise . . . Oh so good.

A bit messy to eat . . . but well worth it I'd say!  These are a new favourite in this house for sure!



 *Thai Turkey Burgers*
Makes 4
Printable Recipe

As well as being the simplest to make, these are the tastiest turkey burgers!  Delicious with a tangy lime mayo dressing and a lovely cucumber pickle garnish!

500g of ground turkey (about 1 1/4 pound)
(try to use a mix of breast and thigh meat)
2 TBS green Thai curry paste
(or more depending on how spicy you want them to be)
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

For the Lime Mayo Dressing:
145g of good quality mayonnaise
(I use Hellman's, low fat works fine)
the finely grated zest of a small lime
1 TBS fresh lime juice
1/4 tsp fine sea salt

For the cucumber pickle
1 TBS rice wine vinegar
pinch of fine sea salt and fine white sugar
a handful of fresh coriander leaves, coarsely chopped (cilantro)
1 small shallot, peeled and very finely sliced
1/2 of a medium sized English Cucumber, very thinly sliced (peel or not as you like)

1 ripe tomato sliced
4 soft white  rolls, split and toasted

 

Place the turkey into a bowl.  Add the curry paste and about 1/4 tsp each of salt and pepper.  Mix well with your hands to blend.  Shape into four 1/2 inch thick patties.  Set aside.

To make the lime mayo, whisk all of the ingredients together in a small bowl until thoroughly combined.  Set aside.

Stir together all of the ingredients for the cucumber pickle in medium bowl. Set aside to allow the cucumber to marinate while you cook the burgers.

Lightly oil a grill pan, and heat over medium high heat.  Add the turkey burgers and reduce the heat to medium.  Cook over medium heat for approximately 6 to 8 minutes per side, until any juices run clear.

Lightly spread both sides of the toasted rolls with the lime mayonnaise.  Top the bottom half of each with one cooked burger.  Top each burger with a slice of tomato and a portion of the cucumber pickle.  Place the bun halves on top and serve.  We like chips with ours, but you can have whatever you like, potato salad is also nice.

What makes a perfect burger???   They may be considered "Fast Food," but making a perfect burger is somewhat of an art form . . . I don't believe that you get too many really good burgers in fast food joints actually . . . how can you??  They pump them out like cookie cutters . . . the main aim being to cook and sell as many as possible as they can.

 

I want a burger that tastes of something . . . that tastes of beef . . . that has flavour and texture . . . moist and delicious. The key to a really good burger is to use a medium fat coarsely ground grade A beef . . . ground brisket  or chuck makes a great burger.

 

I like to add grated onion and minced garlic to my burgers, along with some mustard, salad dressing and herbs.  You can use parsley, oregano, basil, summer savoury, marjoram . . . you want an herb that goes well with beef and all of those are winners.  I also add an egg to help bind it all together, but you can leave it out if you want to.

 

Next you will want to use a very light hand when mixing them together and shaping them.  Handling them too much toughens the meat.  Light and easy is the way to go.  I pop a little dimple into the centre of my burgers before cooking.  This helps to keep them flatter when they are cooking.  I don't like my burgers to be too puffy.

 

You want to cook them from a chilled state and try hard to refrain from pressing them with a spatula when you are grilling them.  Pressing them only forces out the juices and you don't want to do that.  You want them to retain as much of their meat juices as possible.

 

Grilled until golden brown on both sides and tucked into a toasted bun with your favourite toppings, you have a burger worthy of being called a GREAT burger!  Today I added a slice of Leicester Cheese to the top of each and let it melt down and then I topped each with some fresh sliced mushrooms that I had fried in a bit of butter.  Some lettuce and freshly sliced tomatoes and we were good to go!

 

 *Perfect Burgers*
Makes 4

It is wise not to use totally lean ground beef when making a burger.  You want a little bit of fat to help keep them moist and flavourful!

1 large free range egg
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 small onion, peeled and grated
1 clove of garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 TBS creamy Caesar salad dressing
1 pound medium ground beef

Beat together the egg, mustard, onion, garlic, salt, pepper and salad dressing  Crumble the beef into a bowl.  Add the beaten mixture and gently mix in with your hands or a fork.  Try not to handle it very much.  Use a light touch.  Gently shape into 4 balls,  Flatten out to burgers about 3/4 of an inch thick.  Make a depression in the centre of each burger.  This helps to keep them from  puffing up too much whilst cooking.    Lightly oil a grill pan.  Heat until hot.  Cook your burgers for 6 to 8 minutes per side, until they are cooked through and no longer pink inside.  Don't press them with a spatula whilst cooking.  This causes juices to be lost.  Once done tuck them into warm toasted buns and serve immediately along  with your favourite toppings.

 

I got a new cookbook the other day. ( Shhhhh . . . don't tell Todd. He thinks that my cookbooks proliferate all by themselves, and I'm not about to tell him the difference! )  I read an article about the 50 best cookbooks in the UK, and this was on the list . . . I read the reviews about it on Amazon and then I thought, why not and I went for it!

 

If this first recipe I tried out in it is any indication of the calibre of recipes in this book, Todd's in for a real treat!  I made these sausage burgers today from the book, adapting it slightly.  She called them "Festive Pig in a Bun." but it's hardly Christmas, so they can't be festive today for us.  I just called them fruity sausage baps.  A rose by any other name and all that!

 

She also used crusty buns, but as you can see I used soft floured sesame baps.  I did toast them.
She didn't add any salad leaves.  I added a bed of rocket and I have to say it went very well with the meaty fruitiness of the burgers.  I love rocket.  It's a bit spicy and meaty itself!

 

She recommended perhaps having them with a sprinkling of Stilton. I didn't have any and they tasted fine just as is, but I can definitely see where some stilton melted over top would be a fantastically delicious addition.

 




But my darlings . . . they were fabulous just as is.  They were moist and succulent, with little bits of fruity sweetness, and a moreish little nuttiness from the pinenuts.  I can  tell  that the leftovers are going to be every bit as good, perhaps on their own with a small dollop of mayonnaise???  *Oink* Oink*  Come to mama!




*Fruity Sausage Baps*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

These are sooooo simple and very tasty.  Scrummo yummo!!

8 of your favourite British Bangers
(Use a good lean, well flavoured one, a generous pound in weight)
80g of dried cranberries (Scant cup)
80g of pinenuts (2/3 cup)
4 toasted baps (split in half and toast under the grill, toasting one side only)
(Rolls)
Fresh Rocket Leaves (Arugula)

Preheat the oven to  200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6.  Line a large baking tray with baking parchment.  Set aside.

Skin all of the sausages and discard the skins.  Place the meat into a bowl.  Chop the cranberries finely and add to the meat, along with the pinenuts.  Mix well together with your hands.  Shape into 8 balls, flattening the balls into patties.  Place onto the prepared baking tray.

Bake for about 25 minutes, until golden brown and crisped up on the outsides.  They should not be pink on the insides and the juices should run clear. 

Place a  toasted bap bottom on each of four plates.  Top each with a handful of Rocket and two sausage patties.  Top with the top bun halves.  Serve immediately.

WE had ours with potato salad and coleslaw and they were fabulous darlink!