Turkey Burgers

Last night at 6:30 I started brainstorming dinner. Yup, at 6:30. My hub is so completely patient with this quasi-idiosyncratic behavior of mine; he leaves me to my devices knowing I will pluck some sort of fantabulous dinner out of my...refrigerator. Or as was the case last night, my freezer. And, we ate by 8! This madness is what happens when you sneak off to...

...a 2-hr matinee with a friend at 3:30. Crazy Heart, fyi, is superbly acted. Bridges and Gyllenhaal meshed beautifully, and Roger Ebert was right--"The movie knows more about alcoholism than many films do." And the music! Really great!

So, back to the 6:30 PM turkey burgers. While, yes, it was 8 o'clock before we sat down to eat (not the end of the world when you really think about it), we had a beautiful, really yummy dinner, and my hub and I enjoyed a really nice cocktail together (just one!) while I prepped and chopped my essentials. This is my most favorite way to enjoy a martini - the sips are savored and last forever in between chopping, grating and mixing. And, we're talkin' one, not three - s'much better for the liver! Now just to get the triglycerides down....

Here's what I pulled out of the freezer:

12oz organic ground turkey

4oz (8 slices) prosciutto (naturally raised by experienced organic farmers)

From the fridge:

fine bread crumbs (~1/2c) (I make my own, and thus keep them in the fridge)
parsley (chopped ~1/4c)

hard cheese (~1/3c) (parmigiano reggiano, from a friend who was in Boston's north end a short time ago)

1 lg egg, beaten

milk, cream or any non-dairy alternative that moves you (~3 Tbsp)

mango-red pepper chutney (~1/4c)

tomato paste (~1 Tbsp)

From the pantry:

evoo
rosemary

thyme

s & p

For the sides:

sm whole potatoes, ~1-1/2lb

bulb garlic

fresh broccoli

The first thing I did was get my 12oz. chub (packaging term for the tube-like shape) of frozen turkey and package of prosciutto into a bowl of water in the sink. It doesn't take any longer than maybe a half hour to thaw small quantities of meat this way, and it's completely unnecessary to run (i.e. waste) water over it as is demonstrated in culinary classrooms and restaurants kitchens around our country. To think of all that water being wasted just for thawing poorly planned meals.... That said (i.e. here's my disclaimer), don't use this method for thawing a 3lb chicken. It'll take too long to thaw appropriately, allowing for greater risk of bacterial pop growth.

Next I scrubbed up the golf-ball size yellow potatoes that I picked up at my local winter farmers' market (fm) last weekend. Got them dried off with a tea towel, halved and tossed in the evoo. Added some kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, dried rosemary and thyme from last fall's garden, and a bulb of garlic (also from the fm). Lopped off the top of the garlic and drizzled evoo over it, then gave it a little cap of foil. (The garlic will be perfect for making a jar of honey & roasted garlic organic local butter for tonight's hostess gift that I'll bring to a friend's. She likes hers with a hint of cayenne pepper and sea salt.)

Once the spudskies were in the oven (375, uncovered in a large roasting pan, for a total of 45 minutes, tossed half way through, and made sure those cut sides got full contact with the pan), I got the broccoli rinsed and prepped for my steamer and started in on prepping the ingredients for turning the ground turkey into burgers of spectacularness.

I chopped the parsley, grated the cheese, mixed the chutney and tomato paste together, and beat the egg. Put it all into a medium bowl, then added the bread crumbs and my herbs & seasonings. Gave it all a quick, gentle mix.

By now the turkey was 98.7654321% thawed (nothing the heat from my hands couldn't handle). I added it to the bowl of previous ingredients along with the splash of cream (I actually used a new non-dairy alternative for cream; it worked nicely) and mixed it all up until consistent in texture.

I got a large pan heated up over medium heat, as well as my steamer basket turned on for the broccoli.

I made 4 equal patties, and wrapped each one in 2 pieces of prosciutto. Made an 'X' with the two slices, placed the burger in the center, and wrapped up like a little present. Could you leave the prosciutto out? Of course.

I added a glug of evoo to the pan, waited until it shimmered, then placed each burger in and gave 'em 4-5 minutes to caramelize on the first side.  By now my potatoes were ready, so I killed the heat on the oven and opened the oven door a bit. I also dropped my broccoli into the steamer.

Next I flipped the burgers, turned the heat down and covered the pan, and let them cook another 5-6 minutes (these were plump burgers, and with prosciutto wrapped around 'em, they easily required 10-12 minutes of cooking). They're done when they give ever so slightly the press of your finger. Cook longer if you're worried about anything, as all those wet ingredients will protect them from drying out.

Plate 'em up yum!