About those turkey burgers...

Making patties and burgers is a good way to prepare many different kinds of meat. For this recent thanksgiving we used turkey, but you can use basically any ground or finely chopped meat to create similar results.


Generic Burgers:
1 pound of finely chopped or ground meat
1-2 pieces of lightly toasted bread
1 egg
seasonings will vary depending on the meat used, and the desired result

Wisk the egg and the seasonings in a medium mixing bowl. Chop the toast into very small pieces, approximately into cubes, and add to the egg. Toss the meat in with the eggs and toast and mix it all together throughly. The bits of bread and egg will help leaner types of meat (like turkey, bison, or fish) stick together during the cooking process, so make sure they are well integrated.

This type of burger or patty will cook well in a pan or skillet, but will also stand up to grilling if it isn't manhandled too badly. To make larger batches of burgers, just multiply the ingredients. There are a few types of burgers that I make more than others, so I'll leave a few ideas here for you.

Turkey Burgers
ground turkey, cracked black pepper, oregano

Salmon Patties
chopped salmon, lemon pepper, sage

Grilled Crab Cakes
chopped crab meat, rosemary, salt, Old Bay

Taco Burgers
ground beef, taco seasoning, oregano

Thanksgiving Spectacular

My boyfriend and I cooked Thanksgiving for my parents this year, who came to visit me from about four hours north, and we managed to hit all the great basic spots.

Our main course was turkey burgers with some Italian seasoning on top of basic out-of-a-box stuffing, covered in cranberry sauce.

I used two cups of cranberries, 1 cup of water, and a 1/2 cup of sugar. I boiled sugar nad water together, stirring frequently, then added the cranberries. Brought it back to a boil, then set it to simmer for about ten minutes. Then let it sit in the fridge for about four hours before dinnertime.

Our side dishes were yam fries-literally strips cut out of a yam, layered on each other on a cooking stone, covered in brown sugar and just a bit of regular sugar too. Delicious. We also had green bean casserole, an easy, cheap basic Thanksgiving staple.

I had also made Irish soda bread, easy and cheap!

You'll need whole wheat flour, baking soda, and buttermilk. It's seriously as easy as that. To make a small loaf, I used 1 lb of whole wheat flour (eyeballed, not measured exactly, worked just fine), two teaspoons of baking soda, and about 1 and 2/3 cups of buttermilk. Oven was pre-heated to 400 degrees farenheit.

I mixed the dry ingredients first, creating a small well in the center of the mixing bowl. I whisked the buttermilk in gradually, until I had a giant wet lump of dough. At which point the boyfriend kneaded it for a few minutes-I must encourage you to cover your hands in dry flour, as much as you can manage. It does not hurt the taste at all.

Then I placed the rounded, kneaded bread on the baking sheat, put about 1/3 cup extra dry flour on it, and cut a cross in the top with a sharp knife. Then I baked it for about 35 minutes. Divine with butter.