Buffalo Chicken Burgers

I asked the boy what he would like for dinner, even repeats, he said Shrimp Scampi!  I said, I have no desire to peel all those shrimp!  He suggested burgers next; I didn't have many 'to try' burgers I was really interested in. Perhaps it was dinner last night at Holligans, a local place famous for its wings, or perhaps it was a vague memory of a Bobby Flay buffalo burger, or perhaps I just had a craving, but I decided on Buffalo chicken burgers. I read several recipes (ok read dozens of recipes), and after consulting with the hubby, we decided on this method. We kind of made it up as we went along, and each step had some debate. (The main one I'm thinking of was I wanted some minced celery in the patty. Yes, I lost that argument ;). We liked the end result, and it was remarkably similar to a wing, but it wasn't a wow meal. The boy said 4, I said 3, hubby said 3.5, so 3.5 it averages out to. The muenster cheese, which we added because we thought we needed some sort of melty cheese, was totally superfluous. Next time, we'd leave it off.  For me, the thing I am happiest to add to the repertoire is the ranch dressing. I'm not a huge ranch fan, but I did dig this one, and it helped use up some of the buttermilk hanging out in the fridge. 

Buffalo Chicken Burgers

1 Lb  Ground chicken 

1/4 cup Buffalo  wing sauce plus more for drizzling

1 scallion, minced 

salt, fresh ground pepper, &  granulated garlic to taste (I think we used 1/2 tsp, 1/4 tsp, 1/4 tsp respectively but didn't measure.)

1.5 Ounce blue cheese, crumbled 

1/2  cup to Panko breadcrumbs

4 slices Munster cheese

Ranch dressing (recipe follows)

Shredded coleslaw 

4 hamburger buns

Mix slaw with ranch dressing. (Do this to your liking. We don't like too much dressing). Mix together chicken through the Panko  form the mixture in to patties. (It was pretty sticky). Brush some of the "drizzling" buffalo sauce over the patties. (Watch for cross contamination. Don't use the sauce that had the brush that touched raw chicken on anything else). Cook until done. (Ours took 5-7 minutes a side). We then used a clean brush to add a bit of buffalo sauce to the patty.Meanwhile, toast the buns.   We then topped them with the muenster and closed grill to let them melt.  Put a bit of ranch on the bottom bun, top with patty, then the coleslaw, then drizzle with the wing sauce to taste. 

Homemade Ranch Dressing

 Ingredients

1 clove (to 2 Cloves) Garlic
Salt To Taste
1/4 cup Italian Flat-leaf Parsley
2 Tablespoons Fresh Chives
1 cup (Real) Mayonnaise
1/2 cup Sour Cream
Buttermilk (as Needed To Desired Consistency)
White Vinegar (optional, To Taste)
Worcestershire Sauce, To Taste (optional)
Fresh Dill (optional, To Taste)
Cayenne Pepper (optional, To Taste)
Paprika (optional, To Taste)
Fresh Oregano (optional, To Taste)
Tabasco (optional, To Taste)

 (I didn't add any of the optional ingredients and I only added a little bit of the buttermilk.  Why?  Well I thought there was a lot going on with the burger and wanted as simple a ranch dressing I could get, and I thought that thicker would work better on the burger.  I will thin it with more buttermilk when I use it as salad dressing tomorrow)

Mince the garlic with a knife and then sprinkle about an 1/8 to ¼ teaspoons of salt on it and mash it into a paste with a fork. Chop the parsley, chives and any of the optional herbs very finely and add to the garlic.
In a bowl combine all ingredients, adding other optional ingredients as you wish, tasting frequently and adjusting seasonings as needed. Chill for a couple of hours before serving, thin with milk or buttermilk if desired.
(Don’t overdo the garlic or you’ll be up all night, emailing me about your heartburn.)