Chicken Cordon Bleu Burgers with an Apple Chutney Sauce

My husband has a passion for burgers. And I love to be able to indulge his cravings for a decent burger from time to time. But I am not a burger making queen. My dear Rachael Ray holds that title. One of the reasons I enjoy her cooking and her show so much is because she cooks for the every day people. She makes food accessible and fun ...something you desperately need when your in the kitchen. Let's face it, we don't always want to be in the kitchen cooking. There are days when you just don't feel like it. Today was one of those days for me.

I've known what I was going to cook for dinner tonight most of the week.  Lucky for me, it's a meal I enjoy cooking because it involves different flavors and it mixes things up. But I've been fighting a headache off for the past few days and I really didn't want to cook tonight. But Josh got home a little bit earlier than expected and when I saw him walk in the door...for whatever reason...I got excited to make him this meal, because this meal is a rare treat for him. Tonight I was making Chicken Cordon Bleu Burger with an Apple Chutney sauce...on a burger?? I know, it's different right? It certainly doesn't sound your typical condiment for a burger. But I saw Rachael Ray make this recipe back in 2007 and I've made it several times since it aired and every time I get the same reaction from Josh. His eyes close as he sinks his teeth into the delicious moist burger while chutney drips off the bun and onto his plate and he give a slight groan as he licks his lips and says,
" This is amazing."

I love all the ingredients in this recipe and they are fun to play with. I think the most interesting thing though is making the patties. Ground chicken is a funny thing. It's incredibly lean and moist, which tends to make it on the mushy side when your sculpting your patties...not to mention very very messy. But before we get to the making of the burgers themselves...we have to start with the amaziness that is this burger...The Apple Chutney.  In order to make this delicious concoction,  you need apples, ( the recipe recommends Macintosh, but I used Gala) brown sugar, nutmeg, apple cider vinegar, and whole-berry cranberry sauce. Sounds like a pretty interesting mix of ingredients right? Well, you should smell them together. There is a slightest hint of a bitter smell in the air due to the vinegar...but the sweetness of the apples really compliments the bitterness. You heat up all the chutney ingredients except the cranberries until the apples are tender about 10minutes or so. Once the apples are soft and tender, reduce the heat and add the cranberries and it will thicken up. Then your done with that. It just hangs out on the stove grooving with each other until served on top of the burgers.

You are going to want to remove any and all jewelry on your fingers for this next part, because as I said earlier...it gets a little messy. Combine the ground chicken, swiss cheese, and ham ( I was using leftover honey baked ham from X-mas) some Thyme and grill seasoning in a bowl. Make sure all the ingredients are mixed well through because those are your only seasoning for the chicken itself. I take a little help from Rachael on the next part because it really does help with making the patties be an equal amount for everyone. Once everything is mixed together score the bowl into 4 sections and grab a section and start making a patty shape with your hands. Let me take one step back real quick...make sure your pan or grill is heating up while doing this. I was excited because I got to use my new cast iron grill pan. Place the patties in the pan and don't touch it for another 5-6 minutes...that's all the time you really need on each side of the patty. With that time you can either make some some sort of side to go with it. The burgers themselves are pretty filling so we just had Salt and Vinegar Kettle Chips with dinner. But if you get the recipe off Rachael's site she make a slaw salad and dressing to go along with it.

Here is the last twist to this fascinating meal...instead of buns, were using English Muffins! Who doesn't love an English muffin, they just sound so happy? Toast the muffins up in your toaster oven or in the broiler for just a few moments and then place the patty on the bottom muffin and then layer that wonderful good smelling chutney on top of the burger and place the top of the English on it and your all set. It really doesn't get much better than this meal. What's great about it is, if you don't have a grill or the weather is nasty out ( like it was here today) this meal is perfect for the weather and it works well with being cooked on the stove.