Chicken and Wild Rice Burger with Curry Sour Cream Topping

Pairs well with:

Pinot Grigio

You won’t need a bouquet of flowers when you share our Pinot Grigio. This crisp wine with floral aromas is a wonderful way to make an entrance.

Wild rice and I both have our roots in Minnesota. In fact, wild rice is Minnesota’s state grain. While growing up, I fell in love with its nutty flavor. My favorite dishes were (and still are) cream of chicken and wild rice soup, and chicken and wild rice casserole. Those dishes were the inspiration for my burger, which is a summer interpretation of what I consider traditionally Minnesota winter dishes.

Ingredients:

Wild Rice:
1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons Swanson low sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup fast cooking wild rice, raw

Curry Sour Cream Topping:
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
2 tablespoons fresh flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
Pinch kosher salt

Patties:
1 1/2 pounds ground chicken
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
3/4 cup wild rice, cooked
3/4 cup Vidalia onion, finely chopped
3/4 cup celery, finely chopped
3/4 cup almonds, finely chopped

Vegetable oil, for brushing on the grill rack
6 sour dough rolls, split (preferably from Panera Bread)
2 carrots, thinly sliced lengthwise

Instructions:

Directions
Prepare a medium-hot fire in a charcoal grill with a cover, or preheat a gas grill to medium-high.

To prepare the wild rice, in a nonstick fire-proof saucepan, bring chicken broth to boil, stir in wild rice, cover saucepan with lid and move to outer edge of grill, cook for 35-40 minutes. Remove saucepan from the grill and let stand covered 10 minutes. Drain any remaining liquid.

To prepare the topping, combine sour cream, curry, parsley and salt in a small bowl, whisk until thoroughly combined. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until serving.

To prepare the patties, combine the chicken, salt, pepper, wild rice, onion, celery and almonds in a large bowl. Mix well, handling the meat as little as possible. Divide the mixture into 6 equal portions and form the portions into patties. Patties should be approximately 4″ in diameter and 1/2″ thick.

When the grill is ready, brush the grill rack with vegetable oil. Place the patties on the rack, cover, and grill until browned on the bottoms, 5 to 7 minutes. Turn the patties once and continue grilling until done, about 5 to 7 minutes longer. During the last few minutes of cooking, carefully place the rolls, cut sides down, on the outer edges of the rack to toast lightly.

To assemble the burgers, place a generous amount of the Curry Sour Cream topping on the cut side of the roll tops. Arrange carrot slices over topping to completely cover the rolls. Place a burger on each roll bottom. Add the roll tops and serve.