This recipe for Cajun turkey burgers will work just as well with chicken or beef. I like using turkey because it’s low in fat and tends to have more flavour than chcken (in my opinion!)
Serves
4
Cooking time
30 mins
Ingredients
1 lb of turkey mince, or blend the same weight of breast/leg meat
1 tbsp each of paprika, ground cumin and ground coriander
1 tsp each of garlic powder, dried oregano, all spice and cayenne pepper
1 large onion finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 egg
Groundnut or vegetable oil for frying
First get a large bowl mix the chopped onion, fresh garlic, egg, turkey and Cajun spice mix, you need to make sure that the onion is very finely diced and that everything is well mixed together, it is best to use your hands to do this.
At this stage it is always sensible to check for seasoning to make sure you are happy with the flavour so take a small piece of the mixture to make a tiny burger and fry it until cooked before tasting, this should only take a minute or so on each side.
If you need to add salt do it now before forming the meat into the four burgers, simply split the meat into four even pieces and roll them each into a ball before shaping them into meat patties. Its best not to make them too thick so that they can cook evenly. Place them on a large plate so they are not touching and cover with cling film, leave them for half an hour or so if you have time, it just helps them stay together.
When you are ready to eat simply fry the Cajun turkey burgers over a high heat, rather than adding vegetable or corn oil to the pan rub it on the meat, it will stop the pan smoking, alternatively you can do them under a grill or on a barbecue. Serve on a bun with lettuce, cheese and jalepeno’s. If you want to jazz up your burger dip it into flour, then egg then panko breadcrumbs before you fry it.
Very simple and tasty alternative to a classic, if you want more information on Cajun food then this is a pretty good place to start http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cajun_cuisine