An Accidental Rachael Ray Sighting

This past Saturday I attended the Printer's Row Lit Fest in Chicago with a friend.  Lit Fest is a really cool yearly event where tons of authors from all kinds of different genres give talks or demos (in the case of cookbook authors).  And its free!  So anyway, my friend and I were planning on seeing some Young Adult and Children's authors because that's her field.  In between events she suggested that we go into the library to use bathrooms that weren't port-a-potties.  This turned out to be a really smart idea because as we were headed downstairs to the bathrooms, a Lit Fest volunteer handed us tickets to the supposedly sold out Rachael Ray event.  It was less than 5 minutes before the talk was supposed to start and the only seats left were in the first and second rows so we got to sit nice and close to the action.  We were definitely in the right place at the right time!


As for the talk itself, it was pretty interesting.  Rachael was there to promote her new book The Book of Burger which is a really fun concept for a cookbook.  One thing I can take away from her talk is how she feels about food photography.  She thinks that food pictures should look a little bit messy and like you could dive right in and eat them.  Now that I've had a chance to page through her book, I totally agree.  Those burgers look delicious!  Its really great that she embraces the idea of home cooked food even down to the food actually looking like it was prepared at home.  I read a lot of cookbooks and I really admire how her food always looks like something I could do myself.


On a non-food note...she also looks amazing!  I can only hope to look as good as she does when I'm in my 40's.  If that is what cooking with so much EVOO will do for you, I'll start buying it by the gallon.


So in honor of my unexpected encounter with Rachael Ray and her burger book, I'm sharing my recipe for Jerk Chicken Burgers.  These use lettuce and flat leaf parsley from my garden.

Jerk Chicken Burgers

This recipe makes about 3 medium sized burgers.  


1 lb ground chicken
2 tablespoons jerk seasoning
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
Pepperjack cheese
Sliced pineapple rings
Sliced tomato
Any variety soft lettuce (I used butter crunch because that's what I was growing)
Sandwich sized Hawaiian buns


Mix chicken with jerk seasoning and chopped parsley and shape into patties.  Grill or fry patties until thoroughly cooked.  Meanwhile, throw the buns on the grill too to toast them lightly.  You can grill the pineapple rings too if you like.  Top burgers with a slice or two of cheese and lettuce, pineapple and tomato.