Jerk Turkey Burgers with Slaw

As the weather gets warmer, the smell of fresh-cut grass and barbeque fills the air, and the urge to make a good hamburger becomes an obsession.  What makes a good burger anyways? Is it the ground meat? The spices? The toppings? Or maybe a secret family ingredient?  In my family Uncle Larry’s recipe is a classic (perhaps I’ll share it in a future blog post), but on this occasion we were a little more adventurous and we were still holding on to our recent trip to Jamaica (and our new love of jerk).
I came across this recipe while browsing through one of my new cookbooks, the Food Network Magazine Great Easy Meals: 250 Fun & Fast Recipes (only $15 at Costo), it looked easy and I knew Greg would love the jerk seasoning.  And maybe it was the jerk that inspired Greg to make supper on his own this very evening (lucky me!).  To makes things even simpler, I bought the pre-shredded cabbage and carrots, of which Greg was thankful.  We didn’t have mango chutney on hand, so Greg combined the juice of 1 lime,  1 tbsp of curry powder and 2 tsp of honey (recommended in the printed version of the recipe).
The recipe also called for a little jerk seasoning to be sprinkled on the buns before toasting them on the grill (I declined the extra seasoning, call me a chicken).  We had a wet jerk seasoning, is there a difference in the level of spiciness between a dry or wet jerk seasoning?  Either way, there we no need for the additional spread, there was certainly more than enough spice in the turkey burger, plus the curry in the slaw.  It was almost unbearable and overpowering actually, Greg’s eyes teared-up and his nose was a little runny.  We liked the texture and crunchiness of the slaw, but the green apple was definitely lost in this burger.
I’d say Greg enjoyed these burgers best the next day (no extra seasoning this time), as the cook I guess he earned the right to eat all the leftovers. ~kM

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