My wife asked me to cook dinner for her birthday, and only required that I make something I thought she'd like. I have no culinary training, but I'd been playing with the idea of rethinking the turducken (a southern Thanksgiving dish), so I decided to try it.
After a discussing possible ideas with friends, I chose to cook turducken burgers (or more accurately, turducken sliders, a.k.a. mini-burgers). I can't really duplicate how I came up with the recipe. Suffice it to say it involved web research, trial and error, instinct, and guesswork.
But when grilled as suggested and topped with cheddar cheese, my homemade turducken sliders were absolutely amazing. Probably the best burgers I ever ate, and that includes the $18 burger at Craigie on Main.
So without further delay, here is the recipe.
(Note: just to cover myself legally, please make sure you handle the birds and/or meat carefully, practice proper sanitation, wash your hands and utensils often and liberally, and cook the burgers completely. If anyone asks for a "medium rare" turducken burger, give 'em a dope-slap and cook it all the way through. You will both feel better in the end.)
Ingredients:
Once you have all the ingredients as listed, crank up your gas or charcoal grill to full heat. While the grill warms up, here is what you do.
Slice 7 of your burger buns in half, and place them on a plate.
In a large bowl, use your hands to mix all three meats together, working them for about a minute until they are pretty well integrated. They will be slightly different colors, so it should be easy to tell.
Add the butter, garlic, sage, and parsley to the meat and mix that for about a minute or two, until the ingredients are fully integrated.
Get a plastic or glass cutting board (don't use wood!). Divide the mix into 7 portions (about 3 oz. each), shape them into small burgers, and place them on the cutting board, separated by at least an inch on each side. Size them so they will fit on the buns -- they will not shrink much during cooking.
Once the burgers are on the board, season to taste with salt and pepper (fresh ground pepper if you have it).
Pour some vegetable oil into a small bowl, and brush each burger across the top. This will be the side that goes on the grill, and the oil is there to make sure the sliders don't stick. Note: before you start cooking, check that you have enough oil to brush the other side before flipping.
Bring the cutting board with burgers, the oil and brush, the sliced cheese, and the buns out to the grill. Also take a holding plate for the cooked burgers.
One at a time, place the burgers on the grill, oil-side down. Close the lid, and set your timer for 3 minutes. I cooked them 3 minutes on a side, but that's just a guideline -- your results may vary. While you wait, this is a good time to put the cutting board in the sink or dishwasher and wash your hands again.
When the timer goes off, open the grill, quickly brush each burger with oil and flip them (it might produce some flames, don't worry as long as it doesn't get out of hand). Close the lid and set your timer for 3 more minutes.
When the timer reaches 1 minute (or 45 seconds if it's a macho grill), put the buns on the grill, place some sliced cheese on the burgers, and close the lid again. Depending on how powerful your grill is you might have to remove the buns after 30 seconds. You want them toasted, not scorched.
When the timer goes off, check one of the burgers for doneness (there should be NO PINK at all -- we're dealing with poultry here!) and either cook them a bit longer or remove them to the holding plate.
Believe it or not, that's it. Put 'em on the buns and eat 'em while they are hot. I served them without any condiments -- though you're free to improvise, *I* sure did :)
I hope you like yours as much as I did mine. Butchering and grinding the duck was challenging, but well worth the effort. The turducken burgers sort of reminded me of buffalo burgers, but when combined with the cheddar cheese they surpassed the best I ever tasted.
Please let me know if you try this recipe and especially if you come up with any good variations or suggestions to improve the turducken sliders.
Happy eating!
- Scott
So without further delay, here is the recipe.
(Note: just to cover myself legally, please make sure you handle the birds and/or meat carefully, practice proper sanitation, wash your hands and utensils often and liberally, and cook the burgers completely. If anyone asks for a "medium rare" turducken burger, give 'em a dope-slap and cook it all the way through. You will both feel better in the end.)
Ingredients:
- 7 oz. ground turkey
- 7 oz. ground duck
- 7 oz. ground chicken
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped
- 3 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
- 2 1/2 tablespoons butter, softened but not melted
- 2 small garlic cloves, finely minced (about 1 1/2 teaspoons)
- your favorite vegetable oil (I used olive oil)
- salt and pepper for seasoning
- cheddar cheese (the good stuff, you won't regret it), sliced
- small buns/rolls (about 2" square, with a crust that isn't too hard)
Preparation:
Once you have all the ingredients as listed, crank up your gas or charcoal grill to full heat. While the grill warms up, here is what you do.
Slice 7 of your burger buns in half, and place them on a plate.
In a large bowl, use your hands to mix all three meats together, working them for about a minute until they are pretty well integrated. They will be slightly different colors, so it should be easy to tell.
Add the butter, garlic, sage, and parsley to the meat and mix that for about a minute or two, until the ingredients are fully integrated.
Get a plastic or glass cutting board (don't use wood!). Divide the mix into 7 portions (about 3 oz. each), shape them into small burgers, and place them on the cutting board, separated by at least an inch on each side. Size them so they will fit on the buns -- they will not shrink much during cooking.
Once the burgers are on the board, season to taste with salt and pepper (fresh ground pepper if you have it).
Pour some vegetable oil into a small bowl, and brush each burger across the top. This will be the side that goes on the grill, and the oil is there to make sure the sliders don't stick. Note: before you start cooking, check that you have enough oil to brush the other side before flipping.
Bring the cutting board with burgers, the oil and brush, the sliced cheese, and the buns out to the grill. Also take a holding plate for the cooked burgers.
One at a time, place the burgers on the grill, oil-side down. Close the lid, and set your timer for 3 minutes. I cooked them 3 minutes on a side, but that's just a guideline -- your results may vary. While you wait, this is a good time to put the cutting board in the sink or dishwasher and wash your hands again.
When the timer goes off, open the grill, quickly brush each burger with oil and flip them (it might produce some flames, don't worry as long as it doesn't get out of hand). Close the lid and set your timer for 3 more minutes.
When the timer reaches 1 minute (or 45 seconds if it's a macho grill), put the buns on the grill, place some sliced cheese on the burgers, and close the lid again. Depending on how powerful your grill is you might have to remove the buns after 30 seconds. You want them toasted, not scorched.
When the timer goes off, check one of the burgers for doneness (there should be NO PINK at all -- we're dealing with poultry here!) and either cook them a bit longer or remove them to the holding plate.
Believe it or not, that's it. Put 'em on the buns and eat 'em while they are hot. I served them without any condiments -- though you're free to improvise, *I* sure did :)
I hope you like yours as much as I did mine. Butchering and grinding the duck was challenging, but well worth the effort. The turducken burgers sort of reminded me of buffalo burgers, but when combined with the cheddar cheese they surpassed the best I ever tasted.
Please let me know if you try this recipe and especially if you come up with any good variations or suggestions to improve the turducken sliders.
Happy eating!
- Scott
PS. The only restaurant I found with turducken burgers is in Philadelphia (restaurant review and menu). They don't grind their duck (insert raunchy joke here), so they aren't as fully integrated as what I made. But suffice it to say that next time I'm in Philly I plan to stop in and try one!
