How many times have you asked the question: “What would you like for dinner?”
Usually, in my house, the answer is, “I don’t know, what do you want?” That is not inspiring for the household chef. However, if pressed for an answer, there is at least a 75% chance it will be, “Let’s have burgers.” There is a 70% chance the answer to that will be no, but for my guys, hope springs eternal. Last night they got their wish – kind of….
I made shrimp burgers and I have to say the response was quite enthusiastic! The inspiration was a shrimp burger I had for lunch years ago in New Orleans, which I remembered as a very unique and tasty dish. My son loves fried shrimp more than anything and it occurred to me that this would be a perfect recipe to make for him. The ingredients are simple, why play around with something that already tastes so good. I did have one sort of bright idea; there are always too many hamburger buns in a package for my family so I used one to make breadcrumbs. For seasoning I went with onion, lemon juice, and a little Old Bay. For serving, a beautiful tomato from the vegetable stand, arugula from the garden, an onion slice and some easy to make tarter sauce, were the perfect compliments. In truth, the food processor did most of the work. In retrospect the only complaint was that I should have made extra, they would have been eaten. A final winning point is that shrimp burgers are delicious and very similar to a crab cake, only much more affordable. Wait, one more advantage, so easy to make. Give it a shot and expect rave reviews.
Ingredients
1 ¼ lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
Hamburger buns
¼ onion
Juice of ½ a lemon (save the other half for tarter sauce)
¼ cup mayonnaise
½ tsp Old Bay Seasoning (or more to taste)
5 Tbsp butter
For serving: tomato slices, onion slice, lettuce or arugula and tarter sauce (recipe follows)
Directions
Pulse on hamburger bun in the food processor to make fine crumbs.
Place in a mixing bowl.
Add onion to processor and chop finely. Add to breadcrumbs.
Add shrimp and pulse to a rough chop. You do not want shrimp paste! (You can do this by hand)
Mix shrimp, breadcrumbs, onion, lemon juice, mayonnaise, and Old Bay.
Form into patties about ½ inch thick.
If you have time, let them rest in the fridge for ½ an hour.
In a large skillet, melt butter over medium high heat.
Preheat oven to broil.
Brush a little butter on each side of hamburger buns, place on a cookie sheet and lightly toast under the broiler.
Sauté shrimp burgers in remaining butter until nicely browned and crisp about 3 minutes a side.
Serve immediately.
Tarter sauce: Mix ½ cup mayonnaise with 2 Tbsp pickle relish and remaining lemon juice.
