The Other Burgers – Summer Burger Recipes Without Beef

Memorial Day has come and gone and outdoor grilling season is officially open setting a summer mood. However, it’s amazing how quickly Americans have embraced a wide range of food options to grill once they were offered a seemingly endless variety of grills to cook on, as has happened in the past few decades. No longer is it just an outdoor activity limited to using charcoal or gas. Now we can grill in the fireplace, on the stove, on the counter top or sunken in it, even take a portable one to the dining table. We can use a variety of woods for flavor or electric coils for convenience, and we’ve taken advantage of all of these innovations, learning as we go. A friend, known for his conventional approach to cooking, recently told me he was experimenting with different woods for plank grilling fish!

Nevertheless, the lure of enjoying the warm sunny weather, while keeping the heat and mess of cooking out of the kitchen is irresistible, especially if it involves entertaining. Although we have expanded our recipe choices to include many things beside beef, the fact still remains that for most of us the “B” in burger stands for beef. With the predicted future of beef prices, that is not good news, because burgers are still the simplest things to make and eat for an outdoor meal.

So I’m offering a few options to consider for this summer’s cookouts but these five are only a start. Even among them you can make variations. The Pork and Turkey burger toppings can be switched. The cranberries can be replaced by sliced, sweet, ripe fruit like mangos and peaches, or they could be add-ins on the mustard glazed burgers. All the seasonings in the lamb recipe can be replaced by simply brushing the meat with mint sauce** before and during cooking and eliminating the cumin from the mint-yogurt sauce at the end. The cooked peppers and onions can be added to the chicken recipe as toppings. Parmesan or Mozzarella can be added to the sausage burger. As I always say – the possibilities are endless, use your imagination and you’ll be a family hero.

There are a few tips to ease your path.

1. The ground meat sold in rolls. Both in the freezer and in the meat counter are essentially condensed. They are too compact to stretch to the required portions and too brittle to hold up under grilling. That’s why I advise the butcher ground meat found in packaged in the meat counter.
2. Poultry is dryer than other meats and may need a binder to insure it’s stable enough for the grill. Egg is the best option to bind it, but other things may help as well or in addition to egg.
3. Cooked rice, leftover mashed potatoes or milk dampened fresh breadcrumbs are good choices added in the ½ cup to l lb. meat ratio. All will bind meat, and if needed, stretch it to fit the required amount. Remember though, these things are neutral in taste and may dilute the flavor you want to achieve. Be sure to taste to see if you need to increase the seasonings.
4. Dried breadcrumbs are usually recommended to bind ground meat, but grilling things, especially poultry is a special case. Standing up to the grate on a grill is different than being cooked in a pan and the dryness makes a patty difficult to turn over, and can make it unpleasant to eat.
5. One way to make it easier for the meat on skewers to hold together on the grill grate is to dip the filled skewers into boiling water for a second or two before putting them on the grill—just long enough for the egg to set and bind them.
6. Bamboo skewers need to be soaked before using, but soak a pack at a time, and freeze them, then there will always be some ready.  Remember to grease them so the meat will slide off without breaking.

 

I put a couple of recipe notes at the end to help. Here’s to a new grilling season, with some new choices to make it easier and more fun!!

 

 

Tuscan Sausage Burger: Serves 4

• 1 lb. Sausage – hot or sweet but preferably fresh ground from the meat counter, or large sized commercial brand parries but not that sold in plastic covered rolls.*
• 1 lg. onion halved and sliced
• 1 lg. green bell pepper in julienne
• 1 Tbs. oil
• Lemon pepper or salt and pepper
• 1 lg. tomato in 4 slices
• 4 Romaine lettuce leaves
• 4 ciabatta rolls

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Form the sausage into 4 patties and chill. Microwave the oil, onion pepper and seasonings about 2 min. until soft. Set aside. Grill the meat over hot coals 10-12 min, until done.  Place each patty on a split roll and top with pepper mix, a tomato slice and a doubled over lettuce leaf.

• This type of meat is too finely ground to make a good patty for grilling without the adding considerable binding agents to give it body.

 

Mustard Glazed Pork Burgers: Serves 4

• 1 lb. ground pork
• 1 tsp. dried thyme or sage
• 1/3 cup Dijon mustard
• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 Tbs. cider vinegar
• Salt and pepper
• 4 pretzel rolls or whole wheat Italian rolls

Mix the mustard, honey and cider together. Actually this is best if both types of mustard are used in equal portions. Microwave for 1 min. to bind flavors and make glaze into a sauce. Mix the meat with the herbs and seasonings and divide into 4 patties. Grill the pork as for any burger, over hot coals until done through, about 10 min. A minute before the meat is finished, brush the top of each patty with the glaze; split the rolls and put cut side down on the grill to toast a bit.
Serve patties on the rolls and pass the glaze as a sauce to spoon on the burgers.

ADD INS:  Baby spinach leaves, mixed baby greens or sprouts.

 

Turkey-Cranberry Burgers: Serves 4

• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 1tsp. dried, crushed rosemary
• 1 egg – fork beaten
• Salt and pepper
• 1 can whole berry cranberry sauce
• 1 small onion chopped
• 1 Tbs. oil – divided
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Lemon pepper or 1 tsp. lemon zest
• 4 whole wheat rolls- -preferably Italian with crisp crust

Mix turkey, rosemary, egg, salt, pepper and divided into 4 patties.  Chill. Cook onion in 1 tsp. oil in a saucepan over medium heat until soft, about 1-2 min. Drain oil off the onions and add sauce to the pan. Simmer until liquid reduces to thicken, gently fork crushing the berries if necessary to make it into a spreadable consistency. Add lemon pepper to taste and pepper to give a bit of bite.

Grill meat over hot coals about 10 min. brushing with the remaining oil to prevent sticking. Split rolls and place cut side down on grill to toast a minute before meat is done. Serve turkey on rolls and pass sauce.
ADD INS: Sliced tomato, shredded lettuce OR Coleslaw—Deli is fine–about 2 Tbs. per burger

 

Chicken Taco Burgers: Serves 4

• 1 lb. ground chicken
• ½ cup cooked rice, cold mashed potatoes or milk dampened fresh bread crumbs for binding
• 1 egg – fork stirred
• 2 medium tomatoes thinly sliced
• ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• ¼ head iceberg lettuce – shredded
• 4 rectangular Italian rolls about 3 inches each
• 4 skewers

Mix the meat, egg, seasoning binder, and divide into 8 equal portions. Roll each into a ball, flatten into a sausage shape and thread on a skewer. Chill to firm. Grill over hot coals about 8-10 min, turning regularly until done brushing meat with oil to prevent sticking. Download chicken onto rolls, two meat portions per roll and pass the tomatoes, cheese yogurt and lettuce. If it makes serving easier, mix the cheese into the yogurt.

 

Lamb Ka- Burgers: Serves 4

• 1 lb. ground lamb
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 2 Tbs. garam masala*
• 1 Tbs. chopped fresh mint
• 1 small onion finely chopped or grated
• Dash cayenne pepper
• ¼ tsp. lemon pepper or to taste
• 1 Tbs. oil
• 1 loaf thin French bread cut into (4) 3 inch sections and slightly hollowed out or rectangular rolls
• 4 skewers
• 2 medium tomatoes sliced thinly
• 1 medium cucumber thinly sliced
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 3 Tbs. chopped fresh mint
• ¼ tsp. cumin powder

Mix the first 7 ingredients together, shape into 8 small balls and flatten them slightly to form sausage shapes. Thread them on skewers and chill until ready to cook. Can be done one day ahead if well covered. Mix the last 3 ingredients and chill 30 min. to let flavors meld. Gill the meat over hot coals for about 10 min. until done, rotating regularly and brushing with oil to prevent sticking. Unload the meat from the skewers onto the rolls and pass with the sliced tomatoes, cucumbers and yogurt dressing.

• * Garam Masala is available in most stores, including Wal-Mart. It’s one thing that’s cheaper to buy then make, but if you keep an extensive spice shelf the recipe is: Fork stir to combine-1 tsp. cumin, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1 ½ tsp. coriander, 1 ½ tsp. cardamom, 1 ½ tsp. black pepper,  ½ cloves, ½ tsp. nutmeg. Covered in plastic or glass keeps for a month in a cool, dark place.
• Mint Sauce; Lee and Perrins make a good one, but to do your own: Remove heavy stems from a bunch of mint and wash well. Cover the mint with cider vinegar, and bring to a boil, reduce heat add sugar, or sweetener to taste. Simmer until mint is cooked, about 4 min. Cool and blend until leaves are very fine. Bottle in glass (I use clean salad dressing bottles), cool completely, cap securely and store in a cool dark place. Keeps for years. Also good on vegetables, on fruit and in salads.

 

NOTE: Since this sauce contains sugar which burns quickly, use it sparingly and mixed with a bit of oil to prevent the meat sticking to the grill until the final 2-3 min of cooking. This is really a case where the cook must exercise judgment, because the size of the meat rolls, the heat of the coals and the distance of the grate from the fire are variables. Just keep an eye on it.