Southwest Turkey (or Chicken) Burgers

Mmmmmmmmm, mmmm, good. Turkey burgers are often dry or flavorless but, rarely, they can be phenomenal. This is one of those phenomenal turkey burgers. Full of flavor and moist.

Southwest Turkey/Chicken Burgers
Modified from Epicurious

1 pound ground turkey or chicken thighs
1 can of NM Hatch Green Chiles (with liquid)
2 tsp chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

To the ground meat, add all the ingredients above. Form into patties and grill or pan fry. If you make them particularly thick, form a hole in the center to make sure that all surfaces cook through before drying out. (A trick I actually learned from Costco.) I recomend topping with quacamole or adobo chili mayonnaise/aioli. I enjoyed mine on a bolillo loaf (above) while Dave went the more traditional route on a potato bread bun. Mmmmmmmmm...

Hawaiian Bread

A new twist old fashioned banana bread. This bread combines coconut, pineapple, macadamia nuts and bananas to make a moist loaf of bread with a variety of textures and flavors that all blend together to make an excellent bread.

Ingredients:
2 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup macadamia nuts, chopped
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup cooking oil
1/2 cup apple sauce
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple
1/2 cup coconut, toasted
2 bananas, mashed

Servings: Makes 2 loaves (16 Slices)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 and grease and flour two 9x5" loaf pans.

Combine flour, soda, sugar, salt, and nuts in mixing bowl, and blend. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

Bake at 350, for 1 hour

Nutritional Information: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=1616824

Recipe From: http://www.food.com/recipe/chris-hawaiian-bread-257940

I was looking for "authentic Hawaiian" desserts for Supper Club and found that other than Hupia, no one has much of anything! So then I broadened my horizons and found this recipe online. I thought it sounded fairly "Hawaiian" with the pineapple, macadamia nuts and coconut and decided to give it a go.

It turned out to be a fantastic experiment. I modified the original recipe and toasted the coconut because I think it gives it a richer flavor. I also replaced half the oil with apple sauce for a healthier option. The bread came out moist and delicious without all the extra fat. If you wanted to cut a few more calories I think you could easily cut out another 1/2 cup of sugar or bake this with Splenda and the recipe still wouldn't lose anything as the sweetened coconut adds a bit of sugar itself.