Burgers (But Not Really)
If my husband has control of the remote, there are one of two things that are on the television: ESPN or the Food Network. It has become background noise, and I will randomly hear “.. ON THIS EPISODE OF DINER, DRIVE INS and DIVES!” echo around the house. On a particularly lazy Friday night, we watched as Guy Fieri visited a seafood-based food truck specializing in shrimp burgers. Say what you want about Guy and his frosted blonde tips, but the show is great for showcasing a wide array of cooking techniques, tips and recipe hacks. I decided at 8:17PM that I was going to make shrimp burgers for Sunday dinner.
I won’t lie, this recipe had quite a few steps. You’ll need to dice the vegetables, blend half of the shrimp and roughly chop the other-after deveining and peeling almost three pounds of shrimp. It’s imperative that you blend half of the shrimp in a food processor since that will be the “binder” that keeps your burgers together. I feel like I have already lost about half you (so, like three readers). If you can stick it out, the results are delicious and such a great alternative to traditional burgers. This is perfect for pescatarians who still want to feel appreciated at a cookout.
Ingredients:
Shrimp Burgers (makes 8 fist sized burgers)
•3lbs of shrimp, deveined and peeled (I use wild caught)
•1 small white onion
•1 small red bell pepper
•1 small green pepper
•2 ribs of celery
•2 carrots
•Handful of fresh parsley
•One bunch of fresh chives
•1 fresh bay leaf
•Fisherman’s Seafood Spectacular spice blend
•1 packet of Old Bay crab cake mix
•Lemon pepper
Remoulade Sauce
•1 cup of mayonnaise
•2 tablespoons of ketchup
•2 tablespoons of dijon mustard
•1 tablespoon of lemon juice
•1 tablespoon of chopped flat-leaf parsley
•1 tablespoon of hot sauce
•2 teaspoons whole grain mustard
•1 teaspoon of garlic powder
•1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
•1 teaspoon smoked paprika
•1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Directions:
1.Make the remoulade sauce the night before and place it in the refrigerator to chill.
2.Peel and devein the shrimp, then pulverize the first half in a food processor until smooth. Roughly chop the remaining shrimp using a knife or kitchen scissors.
3.Mix the two shrimp together, and season with half of the contents of the Old Bay crab mix, lemon pepper, Fisherman’s seasoning, and kosher salt.
4.Once the shrimp mixture is well incorporated, place in the refrigerator to chill.
5.Sweat the onions, celery, carrots, bell peppers, parsley, chive and bay leaf over medium heat in 2 tablespoons of EVOO. Set aside and let the vegetables come to room temperature before mixing with the seasoned shrimp.
6.Once the vegetables have had time to rest, remove the bay leaf and mix together with the shrimp and form into fist-sized patties.
7.In a large cast-iron skillet, add in 3 tablespoons of canola oil and 3 tablespoons of EVOO. Fry the patties on med-high heat for three minutes on each side, then put the skillet in the oven and bake the shrimp burgers for 10-12 minutes at 375 degrees. Shrimp burgers are done when pink all the way through.