OceanSpray Winner - Spicy Cranberry Chicken Sidekick Sliders with Spicy Cranberry Aioli

Contest:  OceanSpray NE Tailgate Contest  Source:  Denise LaRoche 1st Place Winner  I attended the OceanSpray New England Tailgate Contest live Cook Off as an alternate.  I loved the experience of talking to the 3 cook off contestants.  It was my first actual conversation with people who compete in this little world of contesting.  Denise was very nice and seemed to be a seasoned contester.  I promised myself if I ever won any money I would splurge and spend the whopping $25 to become a member of CookingContestCentral.com.  Denise and Danielle, two of the three finalist are members of this site and highly recommended it to me.  Love it so far!  In addition to listing every possible contest available in the country, It also lists all the winning recipes and provides a great community of support for contesters.  Now I can actually follow up on the contests I enter and make the winning recipes.  It is a great way to improve my entries and learn what winning recipes are made of. My blog has been neglected the past few weeks, but it is not because I haven't been cooking.  My little test kitchen has been hopping here; I am working hard on a new contest with Jimmy Dean sausage.  I will share the my entry once it is complete as well as the misses, there were some bad ideas with this one.   The following is a great recipe that won the OceanSpray NE Tailgate contest.  It is so so simple, it seemed too simple to be a winner until I tasted it.  Really a flavor is exceptional and more complex than the recipe would have you believe.  The whole family loved it.  I think my Thanksgiving Quesadillas could have given this a run for its money had I made the final 3, but this is truly a winning recipe.  No pictures, all came out terrible.  There is a big expensive camera, that we can't afford, on the top of my Christmas list.  I can hope!   SPICY CRANBERRY CHICKEN SIDEKICK SLIDERS WITH SPICY CRANBERRY AïOLI

INGREDIENTS:
SLIDERS
1 pound ground chicken
1/2 cup chopped Ocean Spray® Fresh Cranberries
2 tablespoons taco seasoning mix
Salt and black pepper
Vegetable oil
8 miniature egg knot rolls or other small rolls
8 lettuce leaves

AÏOLI
4 cups Ocean Spray® Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon taco seasoning mix

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat grill to medium heat.

Place chicken in large bowl. Add cranberries and 2 tablespoons seasoning mix. Shape into 8 small patties; sprinkle with salt and pepper. 

Lightly brush grill grate with oil. Grill patties for 8 minutes on each side or until well done. Lightly brush cut sides of rolls with oil; grill until lightly toasted.

Place cranberry sauce in food processor; pulse until finely chopped. Add mayonnaise and 1 tablespoon seasoning mix; pulse until blended. Place 1 patty on bottom half of each toasted roll. Top each with a leaf lettuce and generous dollop aïoli. Cover with top halves of rolls. 

Makes 8 servings.

Ocean Spray 2010 Tailgating Recipe Contest Winner
Denise LaRoche