Turkey burgers with wow appeal and our best carrot cake recipe

Entertaining during summer should be a relaxed affair. Choose dishes that require little preparation but deliver on wow appeal. Your only job is to revel in your guest's praise

This turkey burger has major wow appeal. Picture: Bríd O'Donovan

Turkey burgers with chanterelles and Gruyère

recipe by:Currabinny Cooks

These burgers break the rules by actually having flavour. Use whatever cheese you like and if you don't like mushrooms, don't include them!

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 5 mins

Total Time

 15 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 2 shallots  

• 25g butter, plus extra to fry the shallots  

• 450g lean turkey mince

• 150g streaky bacon, finely chopped

• 1 egg  

• 30g breadcrumbs (made from slightly stale bread)

• 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves  

• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce  

• 2 tsp lemon zest  

• 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated

• good pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper  

• 200g chanterelle mushrooms

• 1 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

• olive oil

• To serve:

• 4 thin slices of Gruyère

• 4 brioche buns

• mayonnaise

• a handful of mixed leaves (rocket, watercress, baby chard)

Method

1. Peel and dice the shallots, then sauté in a frying pan with a little butter until softened. Put into a large mixing bowl with the turkey mince, bacon, egg, breadcrumbs, thyme, Worcester sauce, lemon zest and Parmesan. Season well with salt and pepper and mix thoroughly.

2. Form 4 equal-sized burgers with your hands and place on a plate in the fridge for 30 minutes.

3. Preheat your grill.

4. Put 25g of butter into a large pan on a medium-high heat, add the chanterelles and cook for around 5 minutes until soft. Add the parsley and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a plate and drizzle over a little olive oil.

5. Fry the burgers in the pan over a medium heat, cooking for around 5 minutes on each side or until cooked through. Place a slice of Gruyère on top of each burger for the final 2 or 3 minutes of cooking.

6. Split the brioche buns and toast under the hot grill, then spread mayonnaise on both sides and add some salad leaves. Place a cheesy burger on the bottom half of each, load with the chanterelles and put the top piece of brioche on. Serve immediately.

Courgette with toasted almonds and feta

recipe by:Currabinny Cooks

This is definitely our favourite way of eating courgette as it retains the bright, summery flavour and crunchy texture

Servings

2

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Total Time

 10 mins

Course

 Starter

Ingredients

• 2 green courgettes

• 1 yellow courgette (or another green courgette)

• 1 lemon

• 1 tbsp rapeseed oil

• 200g feta, crumbled

• handful of mint leaves, chopped

• handful of basil leaves, chopped

• 50g almonds, toasted

• 1 tbsp pink peppercorns

• salt

• pepper

Method

1. Spiralise the courgettes into flat long ribbons. If you don’t own a spiraliser then use a vegetable peeler to peel the courgette into thin ribbons.

2. In a large bowl, mix the courgette ribbons with a good pinch of salt, the rapeseed oil and the juice of one lemon. Leave for 10 minutes to let the lemon juice ‘cook’ the courgette ribbons.

3. Crumble the feta into the courgette and add the pink peppercorns, chopped basil and mint.

4. Put a frying pan on a medium-high heat and add the flaked almonds. Keep the almond flakes moving on the pan until they start to turn golden around the edges and you can smell them, around two minutes. Remove the almonds from the pan and add to the salad.

5. Serve the salad preferably with the almonds still warm.

Wholemeal spelt carrot loaf with orange Mascarpone icing

recipe by:Currabinny Cooks

This combination of brown spelt flour, carrots, coconut and subtle spices is enough to make for the perfect carrot cake that combines beautifully with thick, zesty Mascarpone

Servings

10

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 25 mins

Total Time

 40 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• 100g wholemeal spelt flour

• 110g soft brown sugar

• 2 eggs

• 75ml rapeseed oil

• 175g carrots, grated

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1 ½ tsp bread soda

• 50g dessicated coconut

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

• ½ tsp ground nutmeg

• For the icing:

• 250g Mascarpone

• 2 tbsp icing sugar

• juice and grated rind of 1 orange

• chopped walnuts, for decoration

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line a loaf tin.

2. Grate the carrots finely then in a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar into a thick creamy batter. Slowly pour the oil in while you whisk until the batter is well combined.

3. In a bowl gently whisk the dry ingredients except for the carrots. Add the dry ingredients in 3 batches folding into the batter and then add the grated carrots, stirring gently to combine.

4. Pour into the lined loaf tin and bake for 25 minutes.

5. Meanwhile combine the ingredients for the icing firmly in a bowl.

6. When the cake is done, cool on a wire rack and then using a spatula cover the cake with the icing and sprinkle over the chopped walnuts.