Thursday 27 April 2017

Turducken Burgers

The Cajun holiday roast—a chicken stuffed inside a duck, stuffed inside a turkey—gets a summery burger twist (and no deboning of birds is required). Buy good-quality ground turkey and chicken and packages of the sliced, smoked and dried duck at a butcher shop or specialty food stores. If you can’t find the smoked and dried duck, you can use a smoked duck breast with the skin and most of the fat trimmed off and chopped fine for the burger patties. You may want to use grilled prosciutto slices for the topping instead of the duck breast, as duck breast won’t crisp up. For ease, if you prefer not to stuff and layer the patties, you can combine the ground turkey and chicken and chopped duck all together with the egg mixture and form mixed patties instead. The Cherry Barbecue Sauce is worth making from scratch as it sets off the burgers just perfectly. Sweet potato fries are a most suitable side dish, along with some grilled sweet peppers.  The Cherry BBQ Sauce is very versatile and absolutely delicious!




1 egg
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp (10 mL) chopped fresh thyme and/or sage
2 tsp (10 mL) Dijon mustard
¾ tsp (4 mL) salt
½ tsp (2 mL) freshly ground pepper
1 lb (500 g) ground turkey
1 lb (500 g) ground chicken
1 pkg (85 g) smoked and dried sliced duck breast
½ cup (125 mL) dry bread crumbs
Cherry Barbecue Sauce (recipe follows)
6 hamburger buns, split
½ cup (125 mL) mayonnaise
1 cup (250 mL) thinly sliced cabbage
Sliced pickles

1 Blend egg, garlic, thyme, mustard, salt and pepper with a fork in a bowl. Transfer half to another bowl. Add turkey to 1 bowl and chicken to the other.

2 Finely chop about two-thirds of the smoked duck. Add half to the bowl with the ground chicken. Divide the remaining chopped duck into 6 equal-sized small piles and set aside.

3 Sprinkle half of the bread crumbs over the chicken mixture and half over the turkey. Gently blend chicken mixture with a fork just until evenly combined (do not overwork). Repeat with the turkey mixture.

4 Divide chicken and turkey mixtures each into 12 equal portions (use your kitchen scale if you have one). For each burger patty, flatten 2 portions of chicken into small patties about ¼ inch (5 mm) thick. Place 1 portion of the chopped duck in the centre of a chicken patty and sandwich with second patty, pressing to seal together. Press 2 portions of the turkey into patties slightly larger in diameter than the stuffed chicken patty. Sandwich the turkey patties around the chicken patty and pinch edges to enclose the chicken. Pat to an even ¾-inch (2-cm) thickness. Place on a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining chicken, chopped duck and turkey mixtures to make 6 patties in total. Make a divot in the centre of each patty with your thumb or the back of a spoon. Cover and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes or for up to 8 hours.

5 Preheat barbecue grill to medium.

6 Place patties on oiled grill with the divot up. Grill for 5 to 6 minutes or until juices just start to bead on the surface. Flip over and grill for about 5 minutes or until meat thermometer inserted horizontally into centre of burger registers 165°F (73°C). Brush burgers with Cherry Barbecue Sauce on both sides. Cook for 30 seconds on each side to glaze.

7 Meanwhile, grill remaining slices of smoked duck until crispy and toast burger buns.

8 Spread mayonnaise on bottom half of buns and top with cabbage, pickles and a burger patty. Spread more barbecue sauce on patties and bun tops. Place crispy duck on patties and replace bun tops.

Makes 6 burgers

CHERRY BARBECUE SAUCE

Homemade barbecue sauce with the fruitiness of cherries makes a fabulous glaze and condiment for Turducken Burgers and other grilled poultry or pork. Red sour (also called tart) cherries are available fresh for a short time each summer, usually at farmers’ markets or produce markets, and also pre-pitted in pails at farm markets and grocery stores. You need about 12 oz (375 g) by weight. If using the pre-pitted cherries, which pack into cups more tightly, use 1½ cups (375 mL) drained cherries plus about ¼ cup (60 mL) of the juice. Sweet cherries are tasty, too; you just need to use less sugar to avoid an overly sweet sauce.

4 large plum tomatoes, about 1¼ lbs (625 g)
2 tbsp (30 mL) butter
½ cup (125 mL) finely chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp (5 mL) minced ginger root
½ tsp (2 mL) ancho chili powder
2 cups (500 mL) pitted sour (tart) or
sweet cherries (halved if large)
⅔ to ¾ cup (150 to 175 mL) packed brown sugar
½ tsp (2 mL) pickling salt or kosher salt
½ tsp (2 mL) dry or Dijon mustard
¼ tsp (1 mL) freshly ground pepper
Pinch celery seeds
1 bay leaf
¼ cup (60 mL) cider vinegar
2 tbsp (30 mL) tomato paste

1 Plunge tomatoes into a pot of boiling water for 30 seconds. Immediately transfer to a bowl of iced water and let cool. Cut out cores and peel off skins. Scoop out seeds and discard. Coarsely chop tomatoes.

2 Melt butter over medium heat in a deep saucepan. Add onion and sauté for 3 minutes or until softened. Add garlic, ginger and ancho powder and sauté for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and cherries. Stir in ⅔ cup (150 mL) sugar if using sweet cherries or ¾ cup (175 mL) sugar if using sour cherries, salt, mustard, pepper, celery seeds, bay leaf, vinegar and tomato paste. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often.

3 Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring often, for about 30 minutes or until tomatoes and cherries are very soft and sauce is thick. Reduce heat and stir more often as the sauce thickens to prevent burning. Discard bay leaf.

4 Purée with an immersion blender in the pot or transfer to an upright blender. Return to pot if necessary.

5 Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently (watch carefully as it will splatter), for 10 to 15 minutes or until sauce is thick (it will thicken more upon cooling). Let cool. Transfer to a clean jar and refrigerate for up to 1 month.

Makes about 2¼ cups (560 mL)

From Food and Drink Summer 2015

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