Irish Foodies Budget/Leftover Cookalong Part 1

A new year and what better way to start it off in Carol-Anne’s Kitchen than with a frugal meal. The theme for the Irish Foodies Cookalong this January is ‘Budget/Leftover’. As I am not at home in my kitchen in Ireland, I can’t rifle through mammy’s cupboards so I’m cooking on a budget this month. Which is so easy to do here in Doha. The great thing about living here is that the supermarkets are amazingly cheap, so I had no problem finding some nice bargains to pick up for dinner.

After milling over all of the possibilities I could do for the cookalong, I decided upon Pork and Turkey burgers with Sweet Potato wedges. I had never seen this recipe anywhere before and only discovered one recipe when I searched for it online. So, I put a little recipe together in my head and off I went to the shops.

 

The pork I used in this recipe is sausage meat that comes all the way from ‘Declan’s Family Butcher’ in Fairview, Dublin 3. The man behind the scenes is famous amongst the locals, he’s no doubt a charmer and definitely knows how to keep his customers happy. While I was visiting Dublin over the Christmas, I had the pleasure of tasting Declan’s homemade meatballs, roast lamb and now some good old fashioned sausage meat.

The sweet potatoes I used are actually white. When I was rummaging through a mound of them in the shops, I noticed they were white under the skin. They had the consistency of parsnip before cooking and after, they were slightly floury with a lovely sweet taste. I have never seen or used a white sweet potato before so they were a pleasant surprise to use this time.

After nearly chopping off a finger in the middle of making dinner with new knives and maiming two others, the boy had to step in and save the day. Where would I be eh?

So here is what I used for the Pork and Turkey Burgers with Sweet Potato Wedges:

1 lb Organic Sausage Meat – 3 Euro

340 g Organic Ground Turkey – 1.90 Euro

2 red onions, diced – 20 Cents

Handful of chopped fresh sage – 50 Cents

6 cloves of garlic – 5 Cents

Handful of bread crumbs – 10 Cents

2 large sweet potato – 30 Cents

2 large potato 20 Cents

Thyme – 2 Cents

Rosemary – 2 Cents

Olive oil – 40 Cents

Ciabatta roll – 70 Cents

Kerrygold butter – 1 Euro

Lettuce – 45 Cents

Tomato – 15 Cents

Handful of grated cheese – 70 Cents

Dollop of Ballymaloe Relish – 50 Cents

Total Cost being 10.29 Euros which made 5 dinners of Burger and Wedges with a side salad.

For the Wedges:

Heat oven to 200 °C.

Heat a roasting tray with oil in the oven.

Chop the potatoes and sweet potatoes into wedges and bring to a light boil. Drain and transfer on to the roasting tray covering them with 2 cloves garlic, thyme and rosemary, salt and pepper.

Place in the oven for 35 minutes

 

 

 

 

 

For the burgers:

In a mixing bowl, add in the ground turkey and sausage meat

Throw in the diced onions, chopped sage and breadcrumbs.

Mix together and grate in two cloves of garlic.

 

 

 

Pour in a handful of breadcrumbs and combine.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Form into patties and leave to rest for a few minutes.

When the wedges are about 10 minutes from being finished you can start on the burgers.

Heat up a pan with oil and add in the burgers.

Brown on each side and let them cook for a further 7-8 minutes to cook through. You might want to check inside the burgers before serving, just to be sure.

 

 

 

 

While the burgers were cooking, I rustled up some garlic ciabatta toast. Grate two cloves of garlic and mix with Kerrygold butter. Spread on the ciabatta bread and place in the centre of the oven for 10 minutes.

When everything is ready, toast the burger buns under the grill and assemble it all together.

I added a dollop of Ballymaloe relish on to the burger bun as well, just for that extra kick. Put the burger on and some grated cheese, I used Monterey Jack cheese. Lettuce and tomato to finish and get ready to gobble.

 

 

 

 

To be continued……