Jamaican Jerk Chicken Burger

Summer is here, baby! At long last, the heat has come out. It gets steamy here in Kentucky, and the rain fall can be incredible! (The humidity is so thick, that sometimes, when you're running your air conditioning in the car, it starts to SWEAT on the outside of the vehicle. Like your ice cold soda pop glass. Crazy.)

In honor of the heat, I made a meal with a powerful hot pepper-powered punch, Jerk Chicken Burgers. These things were awesome! And really not that difficult to make. Don't be intimidated by the ingredient list. Assembly is simple, and you can be eating in about 30 minutes.

Jamaican Jerk is a barbeque glaze made with allspice and Scotch Bonnet Peppers, which are some of the hottest peppers in the world. No, you're not going to be finding any Scotch Bonnie's here in Owensboro, KY, Small City USA. So, instead of chopping up one of those bad boys, I substituted red pepper flakes and a couple dashes of cayenne pepper. These burger patties can be made without the heat however, if you'd prefer not to have it.

For my topping sauce however, I did add Captain Rodney's Scotch Bonnie Pepper Boucan Glaze. 3 TBS Mayo, 2 TBS lime juice, 1 1/2 TBS Captain Rodney's. A great, tangy sauce with just a bit of heat. I highly recommend making the sauce to top the burgers off. Make the sauce!!

The seasoning I made first, then added the ground chicken meat. (Ground chicken, not chicken breast, FYI. More flavorful, holds together better when grilling.) Wet your hands when making the patties, makes it much easier to shape and stops the sticking to your skin. Also oil the grill before placing your patties down - they will stick badly without it. Cook about 5 minutes on each side, flipping only once to get those pretty grill marks. Flip carefully, too. They won't hold together like a hamburger patty.

Garnish with the sauce, lettuce, tomato, and onion. These chicken burgers are quite hot.  Have a refreshing margarita on the side to cool it down.

This plate above is literally about 30 seconds before I started eating. I paired the burgers with grilled avocado and baked mango chunks. Fantastic.

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Jamaican Jerk Chicken Burgers

by Katie Tillwick June-6-2013

A Caribbean delight that doesn't hold its punch in the heat department.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground chicken
• 1 TBS dark brown sugar
• 1 TBS soy sauce
• 1/4 heaping tsp ground allspice
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 TBS grated ginger
• 1/2 tsp fresh thyme
• 2 TBS fresh lime juice
• 1 green onion, finely minced
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• Sauce:
• 3 TBS light mayo
• 1 1/2 TBS Captain Rodney's Boucan Glaze
• 2 TBS lime juice

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients except ground chicken. Once well blended, add chicken and mix thoroughly. Divide into 4 and make into firm patties. 2. For sauce, mix mayo, glaze and lime juice until smooth. 3. On oiled grill, cook each patty 5 minutes at least on each side. Flip only once, and take care when doing so, as chicken patties will not hold together as well as hamburger meat. 4. Allow to rest a few minutes. Garnish buns with lettuce, tomato and onion, and a heaping tablespoon of sauce.

Yield: 4 servings