Recipe for Inside Out Caprese Bison Burgers

From Mr. ELEB:  "that's another recipe you can make ANY time you like!"  In other words, I think he liked these caprese bison burgers.  If you don't have access to ground bison (buffalo), you can use ground turkey or ground beef (lean).  If you haven't tried bison, I highly recommend it.  You can read more about bison here (and order some really yummy meat).

Yield: 3 substantial burgers

Time: 15 minutes (plus time to heat the grill if grilling outdoors)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 pound ground bison
• 2 TBSP finely diced mozzarella cheese
• 3  slices of mozzarella cheese, about 1/2 inch thick to fit the burgers
• 2 TBSP finely chopped fresh basil plus 8-10 more leaves
• Salt and pepper
• Thick slices of ripe tomatoes

Method:

• Preheat the grill if cooking outdoors.
• Mix the bison, diced mozzarella, and chopped basil together and form 6 balls.
• Flatten 3 of the balls and place a slice of mozzarella and a few basil leaves on each of the 3.
• Top with the remaining balls of bison and seal and press gently into a patty.
• Generously salt and pepper the patties.
• Cook over medium to medium high heat in a skillet (or outdoor grill) about 4 1/2-5 minutes per side.
• Top with a slice of tomato and serve (can serve with a bun or plain).

When you cut in to these, you get the nice surprise of gently melted mozzarella-yummy!  Do a search in the top right column on this blog for other inside out burger recipe ideas.  Hope you enjoy as much as we did!

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Recipe for Stuffed Mediterranean Turkey Burgers

Mmmm, little pockets of goodness tucked inside a moist, delicious turkey burger!  These are a little too fragile for the grill.  They cook up quickly in a pan with a little olive oil for browning.  Make sure not to overcook or they will be dry.

Servings: 3
Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 to 1 1/4 lb. ground turkey or turkey breast
• 1/4 cup julienne cut sundried tomatoes in olive oil
• 1/4 cup crumbled low fat feta cheese
• 1 heaping TBSP finely chopped basil
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper 

Method:

• Pour a very fine layer of olive oil in a large frying pan and heat over medium high heat.
• While pan heats, mix tomatoes, feta and basil together.
• Divide turkey into 6 equal balls and flatten them.
• Spoon 1/3rd of tomato mixture on 3 of the pieces of turkey and then top each of them with one of the plain pieces of turkey.
• Gently press around the edges to form a sealed burger.
• Sprinkle a few drops of olive oil and season with salt and pepper on both sides.
• Cook over med high heat 4-5 minutes per side, until no longer pink inside.

These were just perfect for an evening when we wanted a light but flavorful supper (to make up for overindulging the evening before!).

You can stuff all sorts of different things in these turkey burgers and stuffed burgers are my favorite way to eat ground turkey-I find it too dry otherwise.

Here are some other ways I've served them-Enjoy!

Olive and feta turkey burgers

Stuffed turkey burgers with goat's cheese and roasted red peppers

Blue Cheese, pistachio and cranberry turkey burgers (my personal favorite)

Inside out turkey cheeseburgers

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Recipe for Green Chili Turkey Cheeseburgers

It's grilling season just about everywhere now.  Of course, we're spoiled here in Hawaii with the ability to grill just about any day we like!



This is a very tasty turkey cheeseburger-hope you'll give it a try.


Yield: 3 or 4 burgers, depending on how big you make them
Time: 20 minutes


Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground turkey (or turkey breast)
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 garlic cloves, mashed and chopped finely
• 1 can diced green chilis (4 oz)
• 3 ounces shredded low fat cheese (I used cheddar/jack blend)
• 1/2 TBSP honey
• Juice of 1 lime
• Your favorite multi/whole grain hamburger bun

Method:

• Preheat grill.
• Mix turkey, salt, pepper, cumin, garlic, 1/2 of chilis, 2 oz cheese together and form into patties.
• Grill until just cooked and no longer pink in the middle, about 3 minutes per side, flipping once.
• After the flip, top patties with remaining cheese.
• Toast buns and mix together the remaining chilis, lime juice, and honey.  Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed.
• Serve burgers on buns, topped with chili mix.

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Adapted from How Sweet It Is

Recipe for Stuffed Turkey Burgers with Goat's Cheese and Roasted Red Peppers

We love stuffed turkey burgers so I'm always trying to come up with a new "surprise" for the stuffing.  The answer is often as simple as what is in the fridge and pantry.  This week, goat's cheese and a jar of roasted red peppers.


My quick broccoli slaw was a nice complement to the turkey burgers.


Yield: 3 burgers
Time: 15 minutes


Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 pounds ground turkey breast
• 3 large pieces of roasted red pepper
• 3 coins (about an ounce total) goat's cheese
• Salt and pepper
• 1 TBSP canola oil
• Buns for serving (or large lettuce leaves for bunless burger)
• Condiments as desired

Method:

• Divide ground turkey breast into 6 equal pieces.
• Place a coin of cheese on top of the 3 pieces of red pepper.
• Place one pepper with cheese on each of 3 pieces of turkey breast and then top each with another piece of turkey breast.
• Form gently into patties, sealing the pepper and cheese inside.
• Salt and pepper liberally.
• Heat oil over med-high heat.
• Add burgers and cook about 3 1/2 minutes on each side until browned and turkey is no longer pink (don't overcook or they will be too dry).
• Serve on buns or wrapped in lettuce with your choice of condiments.

The most important part of the recipe is not to overcook the burgers!


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Here are some of our other favorite turkey burger recipes:
Inside out turkey cheeseburgers



Blue cheese, pistachio and cranberry turkey burgers

Recipe for Blue Cheese, Pistachio, and Cranberry Turkey Burgers

It's only been a week since Turkey Day, I know.  Trust me, these turkey burgers pumped up with tangy blue cheese, salty pistachios and dried cranberries are worth a trip back to the turkey case at your grocery store. Or are you like me and always keep a package of ground turkey breast in the freezer?


Sometimes, ground turkey breast gets a bad wrap as being too dry, not flavorful, hard to work with.  Not true as long as you follow a few things I've learned after making lots of turkey burgers.  You do have to be liberal with the flavorings.  Add in various herbs.  Either mix in a small amount of your favorite healthy oil or small amounts of a flavorful cheese to add a little fat and flavor.  And, importantly, don't over cook.  I always cut into one burger once I've browned both sides and take them off the heat and out of the pan or off the grill when it looks "almost" done (slight amount of pink in the middle).  Like all meat, the burgers will keep cooking off the heat during the next couple of minutes.


The only debate over these guys was whether there was too much cranberry in them.  For me, they were perfect.  Mr. ELEB thought the cranberry should be dialed back.  It's a preference thing.  I love meat and fruit flavors together-not everyone does so use the taste preferences of those at your dinner table to decide!


This is the first time I have used coconut oil for cooking.  I've been reading how, once thought to be a fat to avoid, it is now believed to be an acceptable, some would propose beneficial, fat to use.  I mainly want to try it in baking but I saw it in the cupboard when going for the olive oil and decided to give it a try for pan browning. It browned these burgers nicely.

Yield: 4 burgers
Time: 15 minutes


Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 lb. ground turkey breast
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried sage
• 3 TBSP (or less) of dried cranberries
• 2 TBSP crumbled blue cheese
• 3 TBSP coarsely chopped roasted, salted pistachios
• Salt and pepper
• 1 TBSP coconut (or other) oil
• 4 whole grain hamburger buns
• Lettuce leaves for serving

Method:

• Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add oil.
• Combine all ingredients (except buns, oil, and lettuce) and form into 4 patties (don't over mix or over work the meat).
• Brown patties on both sides for 2 minutes per side (don't try to move the patties until browned-they will stick if you do-be patient).
• Turn heat to medium and cut to the center of one patty so you can see the center.
• Cook an additional 4 minutes per side or until just barely pink in center of cut burger.
• Remove from heat and rest for 2 minutes or so.
• Serve over lettuce on buns.
• If cooking on a grill, coat both sides of the patties with the oil and preheat and clean the grill thoroughly before cooking.

Here is another turkey burger recipe for you:

Inside out turkey cheeseburgers

What are you making on burger night?

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Linked up at Jane Deere

Recipe for White Bean and Salmon Burgers

The photo didn't turn out very well (they really weren't burned) but this white bean and salmon appetizer did!   I made the bite sized ones for an appetizer to take to a dinner party and then Mr. ELEB and I had "regular" sized patties the following night for dinner.  Great both ways!

Yield: 16 appetizer pieces and 2 meal size patties
Time: 20 minutes


Ingredients:

• 1 large garlic clove
• 8 oz. salmon
• 1 can white beans
• 1/4 cup chopped scallions
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill (plus more for sauce)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Salt
• Creme Fraiche, sour cream or non-fat Greek yogurt mixed with additional dill, and lemon slices for serving

Method:

• In a food processor, add 2 oz. of the salmon with 1/2 cup beans and the garlic.
• Pulse until well blended.
• Add remaining salmon, beans, scallions, dill and a sprinkle of salt and pulse until roughly chopped and beginning to come together (but not until mushy).
• Shape into appetizer or meal size patties and refrigerate for 10-15 minutes.
• To cook, heat enough olive oil to cover bottom of pan over med-high heat.
• Add patties and cook about 3 minutes per side for appetizer size, 5 minutes per side for meal sized ones.  Add additional oil if needed.
• Drain briefly on paper towels and serve with lemon slices, salt and dill sauce.

This is another Bittman recipe from The Food Matters Cookbook, page 378 (a similar recipe here).

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Recipe for Sweet and Sour Grilling Glaze

Mr. ELEB chuckles sometimes when he sees me standing in front of an open pantry or refrigerator door.  I understand why…you can almost see the steam coming out of my ears as I’m looking at what’s in front of me and concocting possibilities in my head.  He also laughs because he knows that he might get something really yummy, occasionally something yucky.  Well, he lucked out on this most recent experiment!

It was burger night-I had defrosted some ground buffalo-and I was pondering what to do in front of the open fridge door.  I didn’t a want cheeseburger so I was trying to come up with ingredients to make the burgers interesting.    I had a bottle of white wine open (imagine that), some garlic, ginger, and I spied the bottle of ponzu tucked away in the door shelf.  I figured with some brown sugar and mustard, I could probably cook up a reasonably good glaze to add a nice layer of flavor to the meat.

Voilà!  Here’s my sweet and sour grilling glaze.

Time: 35 minutes plus grilling time

Yield: ½ cup

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dry white wine
• ¼ cup light brown sugar
• 1 TBSP Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp finely minced garlic
• 1 tsp finely grated ginger
• 2 TBSP ponzu or soy sauce

Method:

• Whisk all ingredients together and bring to boil.
• Reduce to low boil and cook, stirring every 5 minutes, for 30 minutes or until reduced to ½ cup.

Top-fully reduced, bottom left-start, bottom right-half way reduced

Cook your burgers on the grill as you normally would, adding the glaze for the last 5 minutes.  The brown sugar will burn so watch the burgers carefully. 

I’ll be trying this out on other meats and maybe on grilled veggies and pineapple-will let you know how that goes!

Do you make your own grilling sauces?

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