January 30: Paella Burgers and Spanish Fries with Pimiento Mayonnaise

1 sack (16 to 18 ounces) extra-crispy-style frozen fries
1 1/2 pounds ground chicken breast
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
1 teaspoon hot sauce
   Zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 1/2 tablespoons grill seasoning, such as McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning
   Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
1/2 pound chorizo, casings removed, cut into 4 3-inch pieces and butterflied
4 jumbo shrimp (8 count per pound), peeled, deveined, and butterflied
   Coarse salt
4 Portuguese rolls (slightly sweet rectangular crusty rolls), or other crusty bread or roll, split
1 small jar pimiento peppers
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 cups chopped romaine lettuce

Preheat the oven and prepare the fries according to the package directions.

Preheat a large griddle or nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.

Place the chicken in a bowl. Chop the parsley and add it and the garlic to the bowl with the chicken. Next, add the chopped onions, paprika, hot sauce, lemon zest, and the grill seasoning.

Pour a healthy drizzle or EVOO around the outside of the bowl. Combine the mixture and form 4 patties. Place the patties on the griddle and cook for 5 minutes on each side.

Place the chorizo on the griddle alongside the burgers.

Cook for 5 minutes on each side. Transfer to a platter and keep warm.

Squeeze about 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice over the shrimp, then season them with a little coarse salt and drizzle them with EVOO. Grill the butterflied shrimp alongside the burgers, 2 minutes on each side, weighing them with a small skillet and canned goods.

Remove the patties and shrimp and add to the chorizo, loosely tenting to keep warm. Drizzle the rolls with EVOO and place cut side down on grill. Weight the rolls down and press to toast and char them on both sides.

Place the pimiento peppers and mayo in a bowl, add some lemon juice, a dash of hot sauce, and a pinch of salt. Combine.

Mound some chopped lettuce on the roll bottoms, then top with chorizo, chicken patties, and shrimp. Slather the bun top with pimiento mayo and set in place. Serve extra mayo with the fries for dipping.

4 SERVINGS

Well, these burgers turned out well, but there were several changes I made to the recipe. The last time I made it I didn't  like it that much because the pimiento mayo was sickening. I guess because the original recipe calls for 1 cup of pimientos, 1 cup of mayonnaise, 2 teaspoons of hot sauce, parsley, lemon zest, and salt. First of all, it made way to much and I had to throw away 1/2 of it. Also it was too hot and it ruined my burger. So this time, I cut back the ingredients and used lemon juice to lighten it and I used just a dash of hot sauce. The recipe also says to puree it, but I just stirred it with a spoon. It was pretty good this time.

Another thing I changed was the Spanish Fries. The recipe says, "Melt [3 tablespoons] butter together with [4 cloves] chopped garlic over low heat until the garlic sizzles in the butter. Remove the fries from the oven and place in a large bowl. Add [1/2 cup] chopped parsley to the bowl and pour the melted garlic butter over the fries, then season with salt and toss." I didn't think perfectly good oven fries need to be fattened up with butter, and it's another hassle that is probably better to be avoided.

Aside from the fries and the mayo, I didn't change much else except that she uses cooked chorizo, and I didn't buy that kind (I didn't know they sell it cooked). So I lengthened the cooking time of the chorizo. I didn't change the amount of meat for the burgers in the recipe, but I didn't have enough, so I used significantly less than 1 1/2 pounds. It was enough for us because of the meat in the shrimp and chorizo.

Just one more thing about this recipe, and a reason I'm altering the ones in this book: she calls for 4 teaspoons of paprika. In the recipe she says, "add the chopped onions, 2 teaspoons of the paprika," etc. Then I can't find where she uses the other two teaspoons. Either she forgot to mention it, or it's a typo. I don't know, but some of the recipes get confusing, so I just put what I think works best.