Chicken Cobb Burger

I recently joined a cooking group called Dinner Divas. The best part about the group is there are no rules. You can make the recipes, or not. You can take as many breaks as you want. The whole point is to see how many different ways people can make the same recipe. The first recipe was for a Chicken Cobb Burger:


I loved the concept, so I was excited to make this burger. I've never cooked with ground chicken before and seriously considered making this with ground beef instead, but in the end I stuck with the ground chicken. It worked out very well. The flavors were incredible. SP was supposed to be out for dinner tonight but he came home just as I was sitting down to eat. He hadn't been interested in this meal (hence why I was making it when he wasn't home) but as he watched me eat he said it looked really good. I'll definitely be making this again for the both of us.

My one complaint was my own fault - the burger was just too big. Eating it was quite a challenge. Just look at this inside shot:


The problem was I doubted myself. The package of ground chicken was one pound, so I started out using half the meat with the intention of freezing the rest. But then the patties looked so small that I decided to use the full pound, which made two half-pound burgers. Once I added all the toppings it was just too much. Next time I'll make 1/4-pound burgers for sure.

Below is the recipe with my slight modifications. A few other women have already made the recipe and I took a few notes from each of them, mainly from Sissy, who had the brilliant idea of making the avocado into guacamole and the dressing into a mayo-based spread.

Chicken Cobb Burger
Modified from a recipe by Bobby Flay

For the burgers:
4 strips bacon
1 pound ground chicken
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese
2 burger buns, split and toasted
2 small tomatoes (I used tomatoes from my garden
1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted and mashed
1 small clove garlic, minced
Fresh lemon juice

For the dressing spread:
1/2 cup mayo
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Dash of sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup spring mix

Preheat the toaster oven to 400 degrees. Place the strips of bacon on the toaster oven pan lined with foil and cook until crispy, about 15 minutes.

Put the ground chicken in a bowl and add the chopped parsley, salt, pepper and ricotta cheese. Mix well and form into balls (I made two, but this should have made four). Stuff a little of the gorgonzola into each ball of meat then forming a patty around it. Heat a non-stick griddle over medium-low heat and cooked the burgers until they are golden brown on both sides, covering them with a pot lid so they cook all the way through.

Whisk together the mayo, vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, Worcestershire, sugar, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Once the bacon is cooked, drain on paper towels and toast the buns. Put some of the dressing spread on both bun halves, then top with some lettuce, the burger, and finish with some guacamole, tomato and bacon.