Rockit-Inspired Turkey Burger

The minute I spotted a pretzel baguette at Whole Foods I knew I had to recreate my favorite turkey burger of all time from Rockit Bar and Grill in Chicago.  Rockit serves theirs on a pretzel roll topped with red onion, sliced avocado, and spicy mayo with a side of the mouth-watering sweet potato fries, so I was on a mission to do the same.  I used my new cookbook bible, The New Best Recipe, for a twist on the traditional turkey burger (they add ricotta cheese to theirs) and Ore Ida's NEW Sweet Potato French Fries to cut down on time. They melt in your mouth and aren't that bad for you.

Here's how you make the turkey burgers:

Quick Turkey Burgers:

Serves 4:

1 1/4 lbs lean ground turkey

1/2 cup ricotta (I used part skim)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp dijon mustard

1 tbsp canola oil

Toppings:

1 avocado, sliced

1 small red onion, sliced thinly

1 pretzel baguette or 4 pretzel rolls, sliced in half

Other:

Ore Ida's Sweet Potato French Fries (about 1 bag to serve 4)

Combine the turkey, ricotta, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard in a medium bowl  until well blended.  Divide meat into 4-8 burgers depending on the size you want to achieve.  Lightly toss each portion from hand to hand to form a ball, then lightly flatten the ball into a 1-inch thick patty. 

Heat a large, cast-iron skillet (or heavy skillet) over medium heat until very hot. Swirl the oil in the pan to coat the bottom.  Add the burgers without moving them until the bottom of each is dark brown and crusted, 3 to 4 minutes.  Turn the burgers over and continue to cook until the bottom is light brown but not yet crusted, 3 to 4 minutes longer.  Reduce the heat to low, position the cover slightly ajar on the pan to allow steam to escape, and cook 8 to 10 minutes longer, flipping once if necessary.  Watch closely as ricotta tends to burn easily.

While the patties are cooking, assemble the rest of the sandwich: Cut the baguette into burger-sized buns, and place on a plate.  Top with red onion, sliced avocado, and finally a (finished burger) topped with spicy mayo sauce (recipe to follow).  Serve with sweet potato french fries.  You can add some brown sugar if you want to get the Rockit effect.

Here are the french fries to look for at the market:

And the recipe for spicy mayo:

Spicy Mayo:

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp chili powder

2 tbsp fresh lime juice

1/2 cup light mayonnaise

1 large clove of garlic, crushed

Chop the crushed garlic wtih salt and press it to the side of the knife until mashed.  Scrape the garlic into a small bowl and stir in chili powder, lime juice and mayonnaise. Set aside.

Finally, here's how mine looked: