Next week I will be in Orange Beach, Alabama, for The World Food Championships. I am honored and excited to once again be representing Louisiana. The World Food Championships is the world’s largest food competition. There are 10 categories and 40 teams within each category. In order to compete in the competition, one must first win a qualifying event. This year I won my spot in burger with the Taste of America challenge. To meet the challenge requirements certain foods and spices had to be infused into the final dish. Two of the items were chicken and spicy ground sausage. Give a Louisiana girl chicken and sausage and immediately jambalaya comes to mind. But then I realized I had leftover dirty rice. So I thought, why not–leftovers for the win! I named my chicken and pork dirty rice burger, Cajun Dirty Bird.
There are a few components to the Cajun Dirty Bird, but all relatively easy to put together.
Cajun Dirty Bird Burge
Ingredients
- 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 carrot, shredded
- 3 cups Cole slaw mix
- 2 tsp hot sauce (or less depending on spicy preference)
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
- ½ tsp Cajun Spice Blend
- 1/2 cup Mayonnaise
- 1 TBSP White Wine Vinegar
- 1/4 tsp White Pepper
- 1/8 tsp Salt
- 1/8 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp Whole Grain Mustard
- 1 tsp Light Brown Sugar
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tsp Prepared Horseradish
- 1 green onion, diced
- ½ lb hot bulk sausage
- ½ lb chicken breasts, cubed
- 1 cup of leftover dirty rice
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 green pepper, minced
- 1 stalk celery, minced
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tsp Dirty Rice Seasoning
- 1 TBSP Olive oil
- 4 Brioche Buns
- Four whole pickled okra
- 1/2 cup cornmeal
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 TBSP Cajun seasonig
- oil for frying
Instructions
- Put red onions and Cole slaw mix into a glass bowl. Pour 3 cups boiling water over mixture. Cover bowl and let stand for 5 minutes. Drain. In a small bowl, add hot sauce and Spice Blend and whisk in olive oil and red wine vinegar. Pour over Cole slaw and onions. Toss well to coat. Cover and chill in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
- Mix all ingredients together and chill.
- Add 1 tsp olive oil to skillet over medium heat, saute onion, pepper, celery, and garlic until wilted, about 5 minutes. In food processor, grind chicken, sausage, and rice together. Remove to bowl. Using hands, lightly blend in onion, pepper, celery, garlic, and seasoning into meat mixture. Form into patties. Place in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Heat cast iron skillet with remaining olive oil over medium high heat until shiny. Add burgers, Cook 4 minutes. Flip. Cook 4 additional minutes.
- Mix together flour, cornmeal, and Cajun seasoning. Toss okra. Fry until crispy, about 1 minute.
- To Assemble: Spread top bun with remoulade sauce, mound slaw on bottom, top with burger, garnish with pickled fried okra, if desired.
Put Your TO COOK IS TO CREATE Thinking Cap On: No leftover dirty rice? Simply use leftover rice. Have leftover jambalaya? Use it. Simply add it to the food processor. Don’t have any hot bulk sausage? Use what sausage you have on hand. Smoked, green onion, even boudin are good choices. Have leftover boiled shrimp or boiled crawfish? Dice it and mix into the remoulade sauce. Have olives or love radishes? Slice and add to the spicy slaw for a tangy kick. No red wine vinegar? Use apple cider vinegar. Have blackened seasoning? Coat one side of burgers before cooking. Don’t have any pickled okra? Use pickled green beans or pickles. Have leftover slaw? Make Cole Slaw Salmon Burgers
FOOD FUN: Competing at the World Food Championships is the ultimate thrill for me. Want to get into the action? Head to the Wharf at Orange Beach, Alabama November 7-11, 2018 or follow all the excitement at The World Food Championships website or stay tuned to my Facebook page.
