Chi-key Burgers 

A Meliks' Original © Recipe

I was searching online for a different kind of chicken burger recipe and one caught my eye. It was Tex-Mex themed and used lime juice in the burger patties - sounded delicious! However I noticed it called for store-bought guacamole seasoning as an ingredient. No thanks. I decided against following the recipe and made up my own, but I still used the theme. They ended up being my personal favourite of the three sliders I served at my party - and the easiest to make!

Serving size: 6 burgers or 18 sliders

Ingredients:

3/4 lb ground chicken
3/4 lb ground turkey
Juice of 1/2 of a fresh lime
1 white onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
2 green chillis, finely chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped
1 cup cilantro, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. If grilling, preheat your grill to medium-high heat. If cooking on a stove, heat a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat.
2. Place chicken and turkey into a medium bowl. Sprinkle with lime juice.
3. Add all vegetable ingredients, salt and pepper, and mix together with your hands.
4. Shape your mixture into patties as desired. If grilling, cook for 8-10 minutes on each side. If using a stove-top, place patties in frying pan and cook for 8 minutes on each side, until the meat turns golden brown. Cut through a patty to ensure it's fully cooked.
5. Top with you favourite ingredients and serve! 

I love the citrus-y taste of the lime, combined with the chillis and peppers. For the Super Bowl, I served these with a thin slice of cheddar cheese, and some extra spicy salsa. They'd taste great topped with tons of veggies too! Enjoy!

Indian-Style Veggie Burgers 

A Meliks' Original © Recipe

The great thing about this recipe is how easy it is to customize - you can add or remove almost any of the veggies however you prefer. I like to put lots of pepper in mine to give them an extra kick. I also normally double the recipe and toss the extra burgers in the freezer, they are great for a quick weeknight dinner!

Serving size: 4 burgers or 12 sliders

Ingredients:

1 (16oz) can black beans, drained and dried
1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 white onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup corn
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1-2 eggs
2 tbsp chilli powder
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp cumin powder
1-2 tbsp hot pepper sauce, or chilli sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2-1 cup breadcrumbs

Note: this recipe is most successful if you remove as much moisture as possible from the black beans, red pepper, and white onion before you combine them. If you use a food processor to chop the pepper and onions, putting them through a fine strainer can help remove unwanted moisture.

Directions:

1. If grilling, preheat your grill to high heat and lightly oil a sheet of aluminum foil. If baking, preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and lightly oil a baking sheet, or line your baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, mash your black beans with a fork or potato masher, until the mixture is thick. 
3. Add your red pepper, onion, corn, cilantro and garlic, and mix well.
4. In a small bowl, mix together the egg, chilli powder, cayenne pepper, cumin powder, hot sauce, and salt and pepper.
5. Add the egg mixture to the bean and veggie mixture. Stir together until combined. Add the breadcrumbs and mix together until the mixture is thick and sticky. Add extra egg and/or breadcrumbs as desired.
6. Shape your mixture into patties as desired. If grilling, place the patties on the oiled foil sheet and cook for 8-10 minutes on each side. If baking, bake in the oven on the oiled baking sheet for the same amount of time. When baking, I like to fry the burgers in a small amount of oil for about 3 minutes on each side after baking - gives them a bit of crunch and some extra flavour!

Now your burgers are ready to serve! Dress them up however you like. My preferred method is to eat them without a bun, topped with tomato and avocado. Tastes great served with a fresh green salad and some homemade french fries. For the Super Bowl, I served them topped with a slice of tomato, and some homemade corn and barley relish (see the picture above).

 

The 8 Days of the Super Bowl

The Superbowl is a great opportunity for cooking AND sports lovers, like myself, to put on a great party and combine your two interests. Personally, during most of the year I find myself cooking for my girlfriends, and I try to make my recipes more gourmet. For the Super Bowl, I have all my male friends over, and it gives me the chance to experiment with some new recipes that are more pub-style, which can be a fun change.

To celebrate this great occasion, I'll be posting 8 different recipes that I prepared for my Super Bowl party (4 this week, and 4 next week). This week I'll cover the mains, and next week the apps.

I started planning my menu weeks in advance. More and more people seem to be coming up with eating specifications - I found myself having to work with people who had the following restrictions: could not eat beef, could not eat pork, could not eat meat, could not eat non-Halal meat, could not eat shellfish, could not eat gluten, could not eat dairy. Damn! I thought the best approach would be to provide a variety of dishes instead of trying to conform them all to follow those restrictions. For mains, I thought a great option could be my veggie burgers, a recipe which I've been perfecting over the past 6 months and which has gotten a lot of great feedback. Those burgers would satisfy a lot of the restrictions above. But serving burgers at a Super Bowl party? I wanted everything to be finger food, to minimize mess and cleanup. So I made the burgers into sliders! Once I got that idea, I decided my main course would be a trio of sliders: Veggie Burger sliders, Chi-key (chicken + turkey) Burger sliders, and Pulled Pork sliders.  I served them with pizza and fresh rolls, and it ended up being the perfect amount of food for 12 hungry men.