Chicken Apple Burgers

Every year, when their apple orchard yields tons of tart crunchy apples, my in-laws host an apple fest at their East Hampton home. Every couple is responsible for creating one delicious dish that features apples as the key ingredient. Since we have some great bakers in the family, it's become a habit for me to always make savory dishes. This year was no different as I took on the challenge of making chicken apple burgers. Everyone was pretty impressed with the burgers which I topped with a sweet maple sauce, especially myself who ended eating three!

Burger Ingredients

1 lb ground chicken

2 apples, peeled, cored and diced

2 large garlic cloves, diced

1/4 cup diced celery

1/4 cup diced onion

2 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped

2 tbsp maple syrup

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup Panko bread crumbs

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter

salt and pepper

Maple Sauce Ingredients

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons real maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Start by dicing the apples, onion, celery and garlic. Remove the thyme leaves from their stems and chop finely. Cook all ingredients in a pan over medium heat with a tbsp of butter and a tbsp of olive oil until softened.

While the vegetables cool, make the creamy maple sauce to drizzle over the burgers by combining the mayo, mustard and maple syrup. This sauce might be one of the yummiest I've ever made... and so simple too!

When the vegetables have cooled, mix them with the ground chicken then add the maple syrup, egg and panko crumbs. Season with salt and pepper and mix well. Scoop into patties using 1/4 cup portions.

Heat a grill pan with 2 tbsp of olive oil over medium high heat and place the patties on the grill. Cook about 2-3 minutes on each side, or until the patties are no longer raw in the middle.

Top patties with maple sauce and, if you have some left over ingredients, make an apple slaw by tossing together some sliced apples with a little bit of thyme, celery and onion! The slaw ingredients will tie in nicely with the burger's flavors! This meal is great for those who are lactose intolerant, just leave out the bit of butter and replace with some more olive oil!

What to Make With Steakhouse Leftovers

How many times have you been in a steakhouse and ordered more juicy meat than you can handle finishing? It happens. Often! Last week at dinner, my husband ordered a filet, and took the leftovers home. As usual, it was my job to make him a nice sandwich using the leftovers for work the next day. I'm not going to post a recipe for this one since it's kind of easy, but all I did was.........

slice open a nice ciabatta roll and spread a little pesto on both sides...

saute some onions and red peppers to pile on top....

slice and layer the leftover steak on...

and top with fresh arugula and tomato slices!