Thursday, April 23, 2009

Turkey Burger Heaven

Yesterday I decided to make dinner for Eug. Ali and I went to Trader Joe's on Tuesday afternoon for a shop and I picked up a whole lot of goods including ground turkey, spawning the idea for turkey burgers. I did some research on recipes. I actually liked Off the Broiler the most, though I didnt really follow the recipe from this site I did like the inclusion of onions, garlic and mustard into the patty itself. Plus the pictures were a nice guide. So my burgers turned out to be one of a kind- they almost tasted like beef! For the meal, I made spiced turkey burgers topped with pickled onions, home fries and a big green salad with lemon and olive oil dressing. The salad was not eaten, but I enjoyed it today for lunch!

For the potatoes I used small red potatoes and thanks to my birthday present I didn't have to to slice or dice anything- thank you Cuisinart Pro! You have made my life oh so much easier. I threw in the potatoes, garlic and onion into the food processor and then they went straight into the pan.
Ingredients:

  • 1lb of small red potatoes
  • 1 small/medium red onion
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • lots of salt and pepper
  • 2 dashes of red chili flakes
  • 1/2-3/4 cups of olive oil (maybe more, you just need to lightly glaze all of the potatoes)
  • a few dashes of cayenne, old bay or any spice you like
How to:
  1. If you are lucky enough to have a food processor, use it to slice the potatoes, garlic and onion. If not, slice the potatoes into 1/4 inch slices and finely dice the garlic and onions.
  2. Place the mix in a bowl and add the seasoning
  3. Put the frying pan on mid-to-high heat and fry away. Just keep an eye on them
  4. I like them very crispy and a little burned, so I cook them for about 30 minutes while I work on the rest of the meal
  5. Serve with breakfast, lunch or dinner. Ketchup is a nice side, but great alone too!
Pickled Onions:
  • 1 cup red-wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice (optional)
  • 1 small red onion, halved and very thinly sliced
How to:
  1. Whisk vinegar, brown sugar, salt and allspice in a medium glass bowl.
  2. Alternatively, bring the mixture to a boil in a small saucepan on the stove. Add onions and toss to coat.
  3. Put them in the fridge to chill
The Burger:

Ingredients:
  • 1 pound 93%-lean ground turkey
  • 1/2 red onion (minced)
  • 1 tsp of lemon zest
  • 2 cloves of garlic (minced)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
  • 1/2 tsp olive oil
  • 2 tsp reduced sodium soy sauce
  • 1-to-2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 dallop of mustard
How to:
  1. Place all ingredients in a bowl and combine.
  2. Refrigerate for 20 minutes
  3. Make into 3-4 patties
  4. Spray the pan and fry each side for about 6 minutes
  5. Make sure to cook all of the way through, turkey, just like any poultry, shouldn't be eaten under cooked
Burger toppings:
  • Bun (lightly toasted)
  • Swiss cheese (or Eug did a cheese combo)
  • Pickles
  • Pickled onions
  • Honey mustard (preferably mustard cup)
  • Ketchup
  • Tomato (on a side note, below are pictures of the weirdest tomato ever! I have never seen anything like this and think it must be a mutant, so obviously Eug and I both had to try it. If I die today, at least I was well fed)

The burger almost looks like beef. The trick is you need to add oil and maybe egg whites to keep the turkey moist. Always a tricky feat.

1 comment:

  1. Hey girl! Lovin' the site!! Feel free to come over and cook with me! :)

    ReplyDelete