Maple Chipotle Turkey Burgers with Carmelized Red Onions

I felt like I had to share this one...they came out so, so good.

First of all, the ingredients, links where available:

I’ll give you quantities and amounts for 4 4 oz. burgers, even though I made 6 oz. burgers.  :)

1 lb. ground turkey.  Lower the fat the better, as you will be adding a bit of fat with the next ingredient.
1 tbsp. Basil Oil.  You may of course substitute anything you like, but add some fresh basil if you don’t use basil oil.
1.5 tbsp Chipotle powder.
Salt (to taste)
Fresh chives (to taste)
Garlic powder (to taste)
10 dashes Worcestershire sauce
Maple Chipotle Grille Sauce
Red onions (I’d say one large per pound of meat, more if you really love onions)
Sargento pepperjack cheese (pre-sliced)

Prep:

Big bowl.  Ground turkey inside.  Add the oil or finely chopped fresh basil if you’ve skipped the extra oil.  Hey, it’s only a tablespoon, hardly any fat or calories really.  I’m using it to help keep the burgers a bit moist, but mostly to add that sweet basil flavor.  Now add 1 (only one!) tablespoon of the chipotle powder, plus the salt, garlic powder, a good handful of finely chopped chives and half (5 dashes) of the worcestershire sauce.  I used a teaspoon each of salt and garlic powder per pound of meat, but your taste (or sodium intake requirements) may vary.  Mix thoroughly.  I use my hands.  Don’t overmix it.  That makes the burgers tough.  After it’s mixed, make patties and place them on wax paper.  Stack ‘em up and let ‘em rest in the fridge while you move on to the onions.

Slice your onions in thin, 1/8th inch slices.  I like to slice the onion in half first, then slice ‘em into slices.  That way, after they’re cooked, you get nice-sized onions that don’t fall all the hell off your burger.

Heat the pan on high.  For this I used a really good non-stick pan.  Add your oil; I use a little fat-free cooking spray, specifically a garlic-flavored one, but you can sweat them down with whatever oil you like, or none at all if you gots the skills. Toss the onions in, and sprinkly with a bit of salt (flavor plus it will extract some of the water) and the rest of the chipotle powder, plus the other five dashes of worcestershire.  As soon as you’re done stirring that in, reduce the heat to medium.  You want to slowly extract the water and sugar from these.  On my stove with the crappy burners it took 25 minutes to get them a nice, caramelized brown without getting crispy.  You do NOT want to fry them!  No crisp.  Just soft, sweet oniony goodness.  Lots of stirring, once every three minutes or so, depending on the power of your burners.  You’re looking for translucent onions with loads of stickiness and a sweet flavor.

Back to the burgers: I grilled them.  You can cook them however you like, but make sure they are thoroughly cooked...this isn’t beef!  It will taste awful if it’s medium or rare.  We topped them with a slice of Sargento pre-sliced pepperjack cheese.  Oddly, I found that to be a bit spicy and Donna thought it was perfect, so you can top them with whatever your taste dictates.

Don’t forget to toast the buns.  Important!  Now, assemble the deliciousness: use the Maple Chipotle sauce like it was ketchup, top with a healthy dollop of onions and if you like - and I did - a sprinkle of some of those chopped chives.  Eat.  Repeat if necessary.  :)

Total calories for one SIX ounce burger, served on a basic kaiser roll, using the brands of ingredients I listed:  607.  If you make 4 oz. burgers, it’s 523.

We didn’t even bother with a side dish here, but some fresh corn-on-the-cob done in a spicy boil, maybe served with some herbed butter if you’re eating butter?  I could see that as a massively awesome side.

Posted by JimK at 06:50 PM on August 19, 2007
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