Cajun Chicken Burgers w/Creole Mustard

By KeyIngredient

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp (30 mL) olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) smooth Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp (5 mL) well drained hot prepared horseradish
• 2 lbs (1 kg) boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1 tsp (5 mL) sweet smoked paprika
• 1 tsp (5 mL) dried oregano
• 1 tsp (5 mL) dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp (1 mL) cayenne
• 6 oz (175 g) thinly sliced Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeño
• 6 burger buns, split
• Baby spinach and sliced tomatoes to serve

Preparation

Step 1

1 In a small skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring often, until onion is softened but not browned, about 5 minutes. Add all but ½ tsp (2 mL) garlic. Cook, stirring, until fragrant but not browned, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat and let cool completely.

2 Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together mustard, horseradish and remaining garlic. Set aside.

3 Trim any large pieces of fat from chicken thighs but don’t trim all fat; you need some to ensure burgers are moist. Cut chicken thighs into ½-inch (1-cm) pieces.

4 In a large bowl, toss chicken with onion mixture, paprika, oregano, thyme, cayenne and salt and pepper to taste.

5 In a food processor, pulse half of chicken mixture about 12 times or until coarsely ground with some larger pieces. Tip ground chicken into a second large bowl. Repeat with remaining chicken mixture. Combine ground chicken mixture gently with your hands.

6 Form about 1 tbsp (15 mL) of the chicken mixture into a tiny patty. In a small nonstick skillet, cook patty over medium heat, turning once, until no longer pink inside, 3 to 5 minutes. Taste cooked patty and add more paprika, oregano, thyme, cayenne, salt or pepper to raw chicken mixture if necessary.

7 Preheat barbecue to medium.

8 Form chicken mixture into 6 evenly sized burgers. Place chicken burgers on well-oiled grill. With an oiled spoon, make an indentation in centre of each burger (this helps burgers to cook more evenly). Grill burgers, turning once, until a meat thermometer inserted horizontally into centre of a burger registers 160°F (70°C), 8 to 10 minutes. Just before burgers are done, top each with cheese, dividing evenly.

9 Grill burger buns until lightly toasted. Spread buns with Creole mustard. Top bottom half of each bun with spinach and tomato slices. Add a burger to each bun then replace tops.


Makes 6 burgers