Southeast Style Asian Turkey Burgers (with No Cheese!)

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I know! Blasphemy! Burgers without cheese is crazy talk. But these burgers don’t even need any cheese. Really. Besides, what kind of cheese would work here? The only kind I could think of was cream cheese. But again, no need. These burgers are great just like this.

I played with the herbs here — the original called for 1/4 cup mint, 1/4 cup basil and 1/4 cup cilantro. I used about 1 tbsp mint, 1/4 cup basil and 1/3 cup cilantro. I also add a few splashes of Worcestershire sauce. The original recipe is from Gourmet Magazine.

The burgers are garnished with a Asian cucumber slaw, just like the one I usually serve with Seared Tuna.

For pickled cucumbers
1/2 an English cucumber, peeled and diced
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp pickled ginger (optional) — if you have a container of sushi lying about, use the ginger in there
A pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

Mix everything together. Taste and add more of any of the above if needed. Set aside (in the fridge) until ready to eat.

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For burgers
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 slices firm white sandwich bread or two baguette slices or plain breadcrumbs
1 pound lean ground turkey
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro sprigs
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1 tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp Tabasco

For Grilling
salt & pepper
olive oil
1 tbsp chili garlic sauce
1 tsp honey
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 avocado, pitted and sliced
4 light hamburger buns

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Prepare your grill or heat up your grill pan. Use a food processor to make the breadcrumbs — or just use store bought bread crumbs.

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Use your hands to mix the garlic with bread crumbs and remaining burger ingredients until just combined (do not over mix) and form into four 1-inch-thick patties. edited to add Ah! I forgot to mention the Rachael Ray trick here — divide the meat in your bowl by scoring it into 4 sections. That way each burger is roughly the same size.

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If you want to grill the buns, do it now. Spread a little may on the bottom buns and top with lettuce, tomato and some avocado slices. Set aside.

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Mix chili garlic sauce, vegetable oil and honey. Brush lightly on the burgers. You can also use a bottled glaze or just olive oil. It’s pretty flexible and up to you, I was just playing around with the above ingredients and thought they worked pretty well. Season them also with salt and pepper and grill on a lightly oiled rack set 5 to 6 inches over glowing coals about 5 minutes on each side, or until just cooked through. If using a grill pan, liberally brush the pan with olive oil and grill each side for about 5-6 minutes or until done.

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Transfer burgers to buns and top with drained cucumbers. Put the lid on.

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Don’t worry, it flattens down a bit!