The Turkey Berg (burger)

TURKEY BERG!!!

I've been very secretive about my turkey burger recipe.  For those of you that know me I don't eat a lot of red meat, I really don't like it but I've been getting into it lately.  Basically what I'm saying is turkey burgers are right for me.  I tried my best to COMPLETELY COPY DMK Burger Bar (Chicago, heres a menu) flavor.  Have I done it? No clue, does it taste awesome? Absolutely.  Perhaps my favorite part about them is they taste good alone, with cheeze (that's right, with a z), or any delicious DMKesk topping you can think of.

They're good for you, especially if you use the weird ingredients like coconut oil and stuff, lean and awesomeness.  I try to make these once a week, use em for lunch usually, store em, eat em every few days, nom nom nom. Are you ready? Here goes.

TOOLS BRO
-A griddle pan or large flat pan (the less surface space the longer it takes, can't leave uncooked turkey in the fridge)
-large mixing bowl
-some sort of turning dealie spatula or something
-perhaps a cutting board
that's it, easy right

HOW BOUT SOME FOOD PRODUCTS
-2 lbs of ground turkey
-garlic, 2 cloves (refer to Tip #1) (I use 3, you use 2 I use too much for you)
-1 egg
-1 cup flour (I use gluten free flower, dosen't change the flavor and supposedly better for you)
-salt
-pepper
-cayenne pepper powder(ok #1 doesn't apply here, don't want chunks) (optional)
-oil or even coconut oil (again supposed to be better for you, does get a bit smoky and again doesn't change the flavor)

HEAT THE PAN
-put the pan on medium hot, you want it to be ready for you when you're done mixing the burgers, if your pans heat quickly (mine don't, high altitude we have stupid electric, I'm buying an induction stove) you can wait to heat the pan to when you're separating the patties (like I did in Chicago).

-if you are using real garlic as I like to, mince the garlic now before you deal with the turkey (don't want turkey hands touching your kitchen)
- The size of the garlic chunks very much effect the burgers, the bigger the more garlic you'll get when you get garlic, I change it every time depending on how I'm feeling but little minces are the way to go for first timers

In the mixing bowl

-you put the binding ingredients in before the turkey, its easier to deal with so...
-put in the flour
-crack the egg, don't bother scrambling it, it will break down
-add the turkey
-mix it up use your hands, not a spoon, just gets too hard to mix
-now add the garlic (#1!)
-hit it with just a little salt
-put a nice coat of pepper on top (don't layer it just a nice spread)
-if you're not using the cayenne, please do, it gives it an extra flavor profile that you'll miss, it's not hot I promise, 2/3 shakes of the shaker will do
-mix it up again
-take a sniff, if it doesn't smell like anything, add some more black pepper, (TIP #4 taste is so much about smell, if you don't like the way it smells, not only will your taste buds be adjusted, but you're already going to have a preconceived notion if you're going to like it)

For those of you who haven't heated your pan do so now (med high)
-separate your meat into nice round short patties, about 5 oz.

On the pan

-put patties on the pan, leave some space to work with

-once the bottom starts to have a nice brown color (4 minuteish) flip it and get the same color on the other side

-add your cheeZe about a min after flipping it if you're using cheeZe, you want it to melt

THATS IT

Now here are some of your questions, AJ, its turkey don't you want them to cook all the way? Yes, if your burgers aren't cooking all the way through you're making your patties too big. These are about lean meat, you don't want to have a 9oz burger that takes almost double the time to cook because of a lower temp, we want those sides to fry up.

That's a lot of words (do that in a Luigi from the Simpsons voice, and if you don't know what that is, any stereotypical Italian voice will do)  Enjoy your Turkey Burgs, they is good

Here they are with guac and a nice mixed vegetable jambalaya type mix I made, if you're interested let me know 

TIPS

#1

#4 taste is about smell

FOLLOW MY TWITTER @aj_weinberg

Welcome and Caramelized Onion/ Butternut Squash Soup

Welcome to my blog.  I have been playing (told by my girlfriend I should) with this idea for a while and it's finally time to start writing my amateur recipes down for whoever is reading this to enjoy (and lack of job).  Whenever I cook something interesting I'll post and tell you about my time and how delicious it is.  Ignore spelling and grammar thanks.  So here goes.

The first recipe is a Caramelized Onion Butternut Squash soup.  This takes about an hour to an hour and a half of work then you gotta let it sit to develop flavor.  And of course like any good soup, put it in the fridge and it will be better the next day.

Here's what you need:
5 quart sauce pot (with a lid is preferable) 
large flat bottom frying pan
emulsifier (best choice for soup) or a food processor

What about ingredients you say?
1 package of butternut squash, I use it from Costco, its like 3 lbs, roughly 2 butternut squashes(?) if you feel like cutting them up and all that noise make them cubes.
2 or 3 midsized onions
1 quart of chicken broth
1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter
Olive oil
thyme
salt and pepper

Flat pan
-cut the onions into thin strips
-coat the bottom of the large flat pan with oil and butter
-once hot, evenly spread out the onions, cook and leave in pan for about 10 minutes

Sauce pot
-coat bottom in oil and butter(all of it), put on medium heat
-add squash, stirring regularly, once soft just barely cover in chicken broth and leave until its at a medium boil

Back to the flat pan
-sprinkle salt and 1 teaspoon of brown sugar on to onions, stir every few minutes, let it stick to the bottom a bit too until they all start browning (35-45 min, don't let them burn, let em brown)

In the Sauce Pot
-emulsify (blend) or if you do not own a hand blender you can use a food processor  but don't put too much into a blender because you don't want to lose all of it and this makes a pretty good amount of soup so careful, this is why hand blenders are the awesomestness, just stick it right in)
-once the consistency is only a bit chunky, add some thyme (TIP 1: fresh is best always but dry works too) a bit of salt, a bunch of pepper and the rest of the sugar, lower to a simmer, stir every few minutes

SAME FREAKIN' POT
-once the onions are the correct amount of brown, by correct I mean you like the taste, (Tip 2: Taste as you cook) add them to the pot and cover a with a lid, slightly tilt, to let some steam out (you want it to cook down a bit).
-let it simmer for AT LEAST 30 minutes, remember TIP 3: the longer the better, and that goes for soup too, I leave it for about an hour but if I had time maybe 2.

Then you're all like "what should I do with all that extra time", and I'm all "cook another awesome dish" and then you're like "there's nothing new up yet" and then I say, "pshhh, you figure it out."

I hope you like my first post, let me know if there are problems and adjustments shall be made.

TIP SUMMARY 
#1 Fresh is best
#2 Taste as you cook
#3 When it comes to soup longer is better

-AJ

don't forget to follow my twitter @aj_weinberg