Turkey Burger with Apple Slaw Sitting on Cheese/Cutting Board made by Tom Auld
Thanks to our friend Tom Auld for the gift of the lovely handmade, cheese/cutting board.
For a fresh take on a burger, give these turkey burgers a try. Apple and celery mixed into the turkey meat give the burgers a subtly sweet, aromatic note, while the Apple Slaw provides great crunch.
Ingredients:
1 lb. ground turkey or chicken
1/4 cup small diced apple- I used gala- use whatever you prefer
1/4 cup small diced celery
1/4 cup small diced red onion
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
About 1 1/2 cups of Apple Slaw for topping the turkey burgers
4 fresh hamburger buns, sliced and toasted- use your favorite, whether white, whole wheat, brioche, sesame, or potato buns.
Directions:
In a medium bowl, combine the turkey with the apple, the onion, celery, the mustard, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper. Gently mix with your hands and form four 1/2-inch-thick patties. Make an indentation in the center of each one with your fingers to make the surface of the burger concave.*
Concave Surface of Burger
In a 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat until shimmering hot. Cook the burgers until golden-brown on one side, about 5 minutes. Flip, and continue cooking until the internal temperature reaches 165°F on an instant read thermometer, 5 to 9 minutes more. If you choose to use the barbecue, heat the grill to 400 degrees F, place burgers on the grill, they will take about 5 minutes on each side, make sure the internal temperature is 165 ° F.
Serve the burgers in the buns, topped with the Apple Slaw.
*TIP: Grilled burgers, whether beef, chicken or turkey, tend to bulge in the center as they cook because their edges contract from the heat, leaving the center nowhere to go but up. They often look misshapen and cook up smaller than the bun, and the thicker center takes much longer to cook than the edges, which can become well done and dry in the meantime. Rather than flattening the burgers with a spatula, which presses out all their lovely juice, try forming your burgers a little differently. Begin by making a flat patty that’s 1/2 to 1 inch wider than the bun, since shrinkage is inevitable. Next, make an indentation in the middle of the patty with several fingers so that the top is concave. This way, when the center bulges, it will end up being about the same thickness as the edges and the burger will cook more evenly.
