Bacon and Onion Stuffed Turkey Burgers

Bacon-and-Onion-Stuffed-Turkey-Burgers

It may be shocking to see me posting a meat recipe. It happens once in a while. It’s grilling season. You got to cook up some burgers during grilling season!

When I do buy and cook meat, I like to know that my meat is coming from a good place. Kind of like the chicken on the Portlandia episode. Well, I’m not that intense. I do like to know though, that the animals were treated well and fed well. I prefer to only buy sustainable, pasture-raised and grass-fed meats when possible. That’s where KOL Foods comes in to play. They have an amazing selection of pastured and grass-fed meats and poultry. You can read more about them here.

They recently sent me some beef bacon and ground turkey. I was so excited when the meats showed up. I had a few things in mind as to what to create.

Being that July 4th, Independence Day, is almost upon us, I thought I would share a treat that’s perfect for your family barbecues. These bacon and onion stuffed turkey burgers come together fairly painlessly and you will reap the rewards with the amazing flavor.

Earlier in the day, I stepped on to my deck to pick some herbs for my burgers. I like using sage, rosemary, parsley  and thyme whenever I mix up some burger meat.

In one pan, I began to caramelize some onions and garlic. I love caramelized onions both on and in the burger.

Bacon and Onion Stuffed Turkey Burgers

In another grill pan, I began to fry up the bacon. Half of the bacon was reserved for garnishing the burgers, but the other half would be going in the burgers.

Bacon and Onion Stuffed Turkey Burgers

I let both the bacon and the onions cool a bit.

In the bacon pan, I sliced up some portabello mushrooms and grilled them.

I began to mix up my burgers. I mixed the ground turkey with chopped onion, garlic, salt, pepper, rosemary, parsley, thyme and sage. I then added some gluten free oats, vegan worcestershire sauce and an egg to the mix. I mixed everything well. If you are not gluten free, feel free to add some bread crumbs or panko crumbs instead. I wanted to keep these gluten free for me.

Bacon and Onion Stuffed Turkey Burgers

I crumbled up half of the cooked bacon.

Bacon and Onion Stuffed Turkey Burgers

I formed some of the burger mixture in to a patty and then placed about a tablespoon of chopped bacon and a tablespoon of onions in the center of the formed patty. I then placed more of the burger mixture over it and sealed the bacon and onions in.

Bacon and Onion Stuffed Turkey Burgers

I managed to get 7 burgers out of this mixture.

Bacon and Onion Stuffed Turkey Burgers

I then grilled the burgers in my grill pan until done. (You can use the BBQ. It was raining that day)

Burgers-Grilling

I served up the burgers with additional bacon, onion, mushrooms, spinach and avocado. Oh my. That burger was amazing! You must make it!

As far as KOL Foods goes, they are amazing. I found that the meats and poultry are much more flavorful than the traditional store-bought varieties. The turkey tastes like turkey and the no-nitrite bacon was incredibly flavorful. I really loved the meats I received from them and am excited to order and cook from them again soon. Thank you, KOL Foods!

Bacon and Onion Stuffed Turkey Burgers
 
Author:
Ingredients
  • 1 tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 large vidalia onion, sliced
  • 1 large spanish onion, sliced
  • 1 large red onion, sliced
  • 5 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 lb. of bacon (beef or pork) - half will be used in the burger, other half to top burger
  • 1 pound of mushrooms (portabella or baby bella), sliced
  • 2 lb. ground turkey
  • 1 tbsp. worcestershire sauce
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1 tbsp. fresh rosemary, chopped
  • 1 tbsp. fresh sage, chopped
  • ½ tbsp. fresh thyme
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. fresh ground pepper
  • 1 extra large egg
  • ½ cup gluten free oats or bread crumbs
  • 1 tbsp. olive oil
  • Recommended Burger Toppings:
  • Avocado
  • Bacon
  • spinach or arugula
  • caramelized onions
  • grilled mushrooms
Instructions
  1. In one pan, heat up some olive oil. Add the onions, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook on medium until the onions are caramelized. Set pan aside when done.
  2. In another pan, cook the bacon. Because the bacon is fatty, you don't need to add any oil. Cook the bacon until crisp. Drain on paper towels and set aside.
  3. In that same grill pan, grill the mushrooms until nicely browned. Set aside.
  4. Crumble up half of the bacon.
  5. In a mixing bowl, mix up the ground turkey with the fresh herbs, the egg, the oats or bread crumbs, the worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.
  6. Form the burger in to a small patty.
  7. Place a tablespoon of the crumbled bacon and the caramelized onions in center of each patty. Top and seal with additional burger mixture.
  8. Cook burger on a barbecue or on a grill pan until done.
  9. Top with your favorite burger toppings.
  10. Enjoy!

Bacon-and-Onion-Stuffed-Turkey-Burgers

 

Chicken Soup

I am sorry I have been neglectful. I have been cooking. I just got back from a mini-vacation to The City of Brotherly Love. It was a nice trip. After 4 days of eating in restaurants though, I wanted something comforting and home-made. It had to be soup. There is something so comforting and warming about the perfect chicken soup. Throw in a matzo ball and a few egg noodles, and I am in soup heaven.

Of course everyone has their own version of chicken soup. Some like it packed with stuff, some like broth, some like lots of chicken parts in it, some even add meat to it (the horror!). I like my soup simple. I like it with some veggies, but with the broth strained. I like minimal chicken parts in the soup.

I was never given a recipe for soup. I am sure if I asked my mom, she would give me a rundown of what needs to go in soup. What I learned about soup, I learned from watching – except my mom does her chicken parts differently.

I used a huge stock pot, so I can freeze several meals of soup for later. I gather carrots, 3 yellow onions, 1 head of garlic, 3 parsnip, 2 turnips, celery, and some fresh dill, salt, pepper, a bay leaf, and of course – the chicken. This batch was made with a couple pounds of chicken wings, but any bone-in chicken parts would work. My mom uses a “soup chicken,” but I can’t get those at my local store.

I chop up the veggies.

Sauté the chopped onions, carrots, and celery. When the veggies are soft, add in the root veggies. I sometimes will add some sweet potato to the mix. Fill up the pot – not too full so it boils over, with cold water. I then put the chicken parts in a cheesecloth bag and deposit it in the soup-to-be. Add in the bay leaf and dill. The stove should be set to medium-high. The lid should be off. Let the soup come to a boil, this can take 30 minutes or so, depending on amount of liquid. I like to let the soup boil down a bit with the lid halfway on, so that the soup flavor is more concentrated. After slow boiling it for an hour, I let the soup simmer on low-ish overnight – the way my mom does it. In the morning you have an amazing wonderful smell coming from your kitchen.

Let the soup cool. Place the soup in to containers for eating later, or dig in. As far as the whole matzo ball/noodle part of the soup, those should not be frozen. Matzo balls and noodles should be made the day of soup eating. I buy my noodles. I like the thin egg noodles. I like the matzo ball mixes just fine, but the recipes that are on the back of the matza meal boxes work just fine. If you want your matza balls extra fluffy, some like to add a little bit of seltzer to the mix. Enjoy!

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