This weeks CEimB recipe was chosen by Peggy of Pantry Revisited. 

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Vegetarian Stuffed Turkey Burger

I wanted to make this Ellie Krieger recipe for my parents before they headed down to South Carolina.  I knew my father would enjoy them, but my mother was a big question mark because, although she loves cheese, she only loves Extra Sharp Cheddar and NOT melted.  In addition to those two restrictions, my mother has an allergic reaction to various spices.  I accommodated her taste preferences by substituting the extra sharp cheddar for the mozzarella and, because we weren’t sure if she would react to red bell pepper, we substituted onion.  Those items were used to stuff her burger. Did the melted cheese turn her off? No. Her burger was a success.

The burgers made for me, vegetarian version, were made according to the recipe but with the following:  1. Gimme Lean Sausage for the turkey 2.  I added a chopped chipotle pepper in adobe sauce to the mozzarella and red pepper stuffing.  Along with the mozzarella, I added goat cheese. YUM!

I didn’t have red roasted peppers so I simply finely chopped a red bell pepper to stuff in the vegetarian and regular version of the burgers.

The burgers made for my father and Ted had a dash of Worcestershire sauce added along with 1 egg. *See below

The Ellie Version of Stuffed Turkey Burger

The Ellie Version of Stuffed Turkey Burger

In Savour magazine, the September 2009 issue, one article discusses the burger: “the perfect food. ”  Offered are some tasty topping and ingredient suggestions with the different flavors they might add to the burger. 

  1. Cheddar cheese – offers a hint of caramel (I’ve never notice…but..whatever)
  2. Goat cheese – offers “tang”. Okay.. I get that.
  3. Roasted red peppers – offer a smoky, sweet accent.  Wish I could have experienced that… next time.
  4. 1 egg – helps to keep the burger moist as it cooks.
  5. Dash of Worcestershire sauce – added for tang and depth of flavor
  6. Sliced tomatoes – a “meaty, sweet presence between beef and bun”
  7. Onions – briefly soak in ice water to temper intensity.

In Ellie’s recipe  on page 218 of “The Food You Crave”, she makes the burgers with only 6 ingredients:  ground turkey, red roasted peppers, part skimmed mozzarella cheese, salt, pepper, and whole wheat buns.  A total of 310 calories with 7 g fat.  Not bad!  

The result of the Great Stuffed Apple Crumble Turkey/Non-Turkey Burger:  4 out of 4 thumbs up.  We all were absolutely thrilled with the results.  However, dinner was not put on the table without setbacks:

  • My mother first asked for a plain burger.  As you just read, I made adjustments.
  • The rolls my parents bought were “hoagie” rolls. Ok – we cut them in half.
  • Ted went to start the grill. No propane.
  • Preheat oven to broil.  When my burgers were done, we put the rolls in and well….
Ted's burned buns

Ted's burned buns

The rolls were kind of forgotten.  Upon opening the oven after smelling the burn, flames flew out of the chamber.
Dad said if I had been a better photographer, I would have captured the moment. 
 Ted said, we were lucky he didn’t make a dash for the back door with flaming buns in hand, dropping each fire bomb along the way.   
We were all lucky that there were 4 buns left that we could still use.
The stuffing in the Vegetarian Version of the burger

The stuffing in the Vegetarian Version of the burger

This easy recipe, made challenging in the AC kitchen turned out GREAT!
Good pick Peggy!
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