Turkey Sliders

Ingredients

Cooking spray
6 slider rolls

½ pound ground turkey

½ cup onions, minced

1 clove garlic, pressed

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

1 egg

¼ cup bread crumbs

Step One:

Heat a skillet over medium heat. Lightly apply cooking spray to the skillet.  Split the sider rolls and place the cut side down in the skillet until evenly toasted.  Repeat this for each roll.

Step Two:

Mix the remaining above ingredients together in a bowl.  Form six 2” meatballs and then flatten the meatballs to a small burger patty shape.

Step Three:

Apply cooking spray to a non-stick skillet or griddle, and heat it over high-medium heat.     Add the sliders.  There should be a sizzle sound, and almost instant browning.

Step Four:

After five minutes flip the sliders over to cook the other side. Cook the sliders until it reaches doneness.   Place each slider on its own roll and dress it to your liking.

Black Eye Peas with Turkey Bacon and Chilies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup dry Black Eye Peas

10 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons oil divided

5 slices of thick turkey bacon cut in to 1/4" pieces

1 1/2 cups diced onion

1/4 cup diced hot chili peppers

1 tablespoon pressed garlic

1 teaspoon black pepper

Step One:
Pour the black eye peas into a colander and rinse. Dried beans can contain stones, and other debris.  Transfer the beans to a large pot and fill it with 6 cups cold water. Add salt and bring the water to a boil for 3 minutes. Remove  from the heat and cover for 3 hours.









Step Two:
Remove the turkey bacon from package and cut  it into 1/4" pieces. The bacon here is the thicker cut kind of turkey bacon. If your grocery only carries the thin kind, then you can use that, but you'll need 8 slices.  Thick cut pork bacon can be used as well. Another posibility here would be to use smoked poultry or meat products. Add 1 teaspoon of oil to a 6-quart pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat and render the bacon. Remove it from the pan and reserve. Continue using the same pot for the next steps.












Step Three:
Reduce the temperature to medium. Add one teaspoon of oil. Add the onion to the pan and cook for about 5 minutes or until the onion is soft and golden. Add in the chili peppers and cook until they too are soft stirring occasionally.

Step Four:
Add the garlic and the reserved bacon to the onion and chili mixture. Stir frequently for about 1 minute until garlic is fragrant. Add the beans and 4 cups of water to the mixture and bring it to a boil.  Remove mixture from the heat. Pour the bean mixture into a slower cooker. Set the slow cooker to medium (or low depending on your model) and cook for 6 hours.

Turkey Burgers and Oven Roasted Potatoes Wedges

Turkey burgers are a healthier alternative to standard beef burgers.  Unfortunately, they can be dry, rubbery, and downright flavorless. This preparation results in juicy flavorful turkey burgers  that can stand up to the beefiest of beef burgers.  No burger, however, is complete without fries. The potato wedge preparation below is also a healthier alternative to traditional french fries, yet as tasty if not tastier.  

Four Servings

Ingredients

1/4 cup diced green pepper

1/4 cup diced onion

1 clove garlic minced or pressed

1 pound 93% lean/7% fat ground turkey

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 egg

1/4 cup Panko bread crumbs

1 teaspoon of vegetable oil

Step One:  

Combine all ingredients very well in a large mixing bowl.

Step Two:  

Form four equal sized patties from the mixture. As an alternative, a ring mold can be employed to form  restaurant style patties.

Step Three:  

Oil a non-stick pan and bring to medium hight heat. Place the burgers into the pan and cook for ten minutes and then flip the burger over and cook until the inside temperature is 170 degrees F. 

Step Four: 

Remove the burgers from the pan and let them rest on a paper towel for five minutes. 

Step Five: 

Bun the burger and don with fixings. 

Oven Roasted Potatoes Wedges

3 medium red or Yukon Gold potatoes

1 garlic clove

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt or seasoning salt

2 teaspoons olive oil

Step One: 

Preheat oven 425 degrees F. 

Sept Two:

Cut potatoes in wedges by cutting the potato in half longways, then half again, and then so there

are four longways pieces or quarters. Cut each quarter in half longways at a 45 degree angle to form a wedge.   Repeat for the other potatoes and add them to a large mixing bowl. Add pressed garlic, pepper, salt (or seasoning salt), and olive oil to the bowl and mix completely.

Step Three:

Place wedges on a baking sheet in a single layer and bake  for 10 minutes. A good tip is to arrange the potatoes with the skins facing one direction. Turn the wedges over and bake for another ten minutes. 

Turkey Swedish Meatballs

Few dishes compare to the rich and savoriness of  Swedish Meatballs.  An almost surefire crowd pleaser, swedish meatballs may be served as a main course or hors d'oeuvres.  The ingredients are commonly found at most supermarkets. There are seasoning packets for the gravy and pre made meatballs, however, this preparation is a very simple one pot dish. 

Ingredients 

1 Pack (usually 1.33 pounds) 93/7 Ground Turkey

1/2 cup brea crumbs or panko breadcrumbs

1 whole Egg

1 minced or pressed garlic clove

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon table salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

3 tablespoons butter or margarine 

1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup fat free half-and-half

1 teaspoon diced fresh parsley

Step 1: Making Meatballs

In a large bowl, combine the turkey, bread crumbs, egg, garlic, allspice, nutmeg, pepper, and salt. Mix the ingredients together.  Form 3/4-inch round meatballs.  Heat oil in a large lidded non-stick pan and once the oil is hot  brown the meatballs on all sides for roughly 5 minutes. Once browned reduce the heat to medium low; lid the pan and cook the meat balls until they are done. 

Step 2:  The Gravy 

Removed the meat balls from the pan and reserve. Drain off excess fat, but take care not to

remove the brown bits at the bottom of the pan.  Add the butter and broth. Stir them together until the butter melts.  Add the flour a bit at a time stirring very fast to avoid lumps.  The sauce will thicken and brown.  At the point of thickening stir in the half-and-half.

Step 3: Finishing

Add the meatballs back to the pan and combine with the gravy until all meatballs are coated.  Remove from heat and garnish with parsley. 

Killer Turkey Meatloaf

Let's face it, turkey meatloaf can be dry. It can be void of flavor, and frankly boring.  This preparation is moist, flavorful, and vibrant. It will please the crowd, and not expand the waistline as much as traditional meatloaf made of veal, beef and pork.


Step  One:  Turkey

At you local grocer pick up a pack of ground 93/7 turkey. They oddly come in about 1.3 pound packages.  The 93/7 means it's 93% lean and 7% fat.  Place the turkey in a large mixing bowl. Season the turkey with a 1/2 teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of black pepper, teaspoon of poultry seasoning, and a teaspoon of garlic power. Using utensils or your hands combine the seasoning with the ground turkey. Cover it and refrigerate.


Step Two: The Veggies Plus Mushrooms

The secret to a moist and delicious turkey meatloaf is vegetables and mushrooms.  Dice  one onion to yield 1 cup of onions, 1/2 cups of carrots, 1/2 cup celery. Slice 1 8 oz package of white button mushroom, the baby bellas, or 8 oz of bellas could be used as well.  In a large skillet over medium high heat, add two teaspoons of olive oil. Add onions and  cook for 2 minute, stirring occasionally until soft. Reduce heat slightly and add carrots celery and cook until they are softened. Add mushrooms and cook until they are very soft and have released a fair bit of water. Reserve to a bowl and allow to cool slightly.


Step Three: Putting It Together

Retrieve  the seasoned turkey from the fridge.  Add two eggs, and 1/2 cup of bread crumbs.  Add the vegetable misture and combine well. Scope or spoon  the turkey mixture into a loaf plan and pat it down until it's fills the pan completely in single level layer.  Forming the turkey mixture into a mound on a cookie sheet also works.

Step Four:  Cooking
Place the loaf pan in a preheated 350 degree oven. The turkey loaf may take 45 minutes to an hour to cook completely.  Cook until the center of the loaf reaches 165 to 170 degrees F. Retrieve the turkey loaf and let it rest for ten to fifteen minutes. It will retract from the edges of the pan slightly. Use a butter knife along the edges two free it from the sides of the pan.  Invert and the turkey loaf should freely part from the pan. Slice and eat.  Enjoy


R. A. Mann-Thompson, All Things Eaten

Slower Cooker/Oven Smoked Turkey

Smoked fish, poultry, meat,  vegetables and meat alternatives are delicious hallmarks of summer and autumn. Known for their rich and complex flavors,  smoked goods are highly prized, and highly priced. Smoking requires equipment and supplies, skill, a bit of luck, and a good deal of patience.   Smoking essentially is infusing food with flavor by engulfing the food in aromatic smoke.  There are various good cookbooks and great resources online to learn about smoking and barbecuing.  In general there's a low heat sources in either a smoking appliance or a pit, soaked wood chips are added to the the heat source and smoke is born.  The low heat is maintained and the wood chips are replaced as needed to ensure a constant amount of smoke.  Food is cooked in the appliance, pit or in the process of cold smoke is cooled to flavor the food without or with little heat.

What if you  don't have a lot of time, a lot of gear,  or not even a place to smoke at all, would it be possible to achieve the smoking complexity using common kitchen appliances?

Step One:  Salting the Turkey


Turkey drums were selected because they have good favor and they are relatively cheap.

Place the turkey drums in a container and salt them with about two table spoons of kosher salt.  A brine could also be employed depending the cut of meat chosen.  Cover and place turkey in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to an hour.  Fluid will be noticeable in the bottom of the container. Safely discard the fluid off and continue to step two. 


Step Two:  Adding the Smoke Favor

Once the turkey is salted, season the turkey with seasonings of your choice. Here garlic an cracked pepper were chosen. There's nothing against using cumin, brown sugar, or mustard seed.

After seasoning the turkey, add liberal amounts of your favorite liquid smoke product to the turkey ensuring that all surfaces of the turkey are doused.  Return the turkey to the refrigerator for another 30 minutes.





Step Three: Cooking Slow and Low

With the salting completed and smoke flavoring added it's now time to cook the turkey.  Traditional smoking and barbecuing requires food to be cooked slowly and at low temperatures.  To simulate that use a slow cooker. Transfer the turkey to the slow cooker.

Add about a 1/4 inch of water or broth to the slow cooker. At this time additional seasonings can be added to the fluid including additional liquid smoke.  Be sure not to add too much fluid.  Set the slow cooker to the low setting.  Cook for approx. 6-8 hours, or until your thermometer indicates the turkey is done.

At the conclusion of cooking the turkey will have a roasted golden brown look. At this point the turkey can be eaten. The side of the turkey partially immersed in the water or broth will be paler and the skin will not be taut.  This can be fixed by finishing the turkey in the oven.




Step Four:  Finishing

Remove the turkey from the slow cooker and place it in a baking pan with a rack pale side up.  Bake 350 degree  for about 30 minutes.  This will dry or cure the soft side achieving a uniform golden brown taut exterior.  Other variations could include adding barbecue sauce and then placing the turkey in the oven.







It is defiantly possible to accomplish the look, taste and aroma of smoked turkey  using a slow cooker, oven and liquid smoke flavoring.

There you have it Slower Cooker/Oven Smoked Turkey!

-All Things Eaten