by J. Michael Wheeler
Goat Cheese Stuffed Turkey Burgers
Grilling season opened this weekend here in New England and I was ready with my 1963 Vintage Charbroil charcoal grill. The cooking surface of this old workhorse is solid cast iron and as big as a restaurant grill. For me, the first grill of the season is all about loosening up and getting my chops back, so I like to keep it simple.
We had good friends over and while the day felt like burgers, I was disinclined to go for heavy beef burgers, so I opted for turkey. What I decided on was Goat Cheese Stuffed Turkey Burgers. As these burgers cook, the goat cheese melts and kind of oozes inside. It adds a great tang and a bit of body to an otherwise lightweight burger.
This technique of burger-stuffing works for all types of ground meats, and all types of cheeses and other stuffings. Try it with meatballs sometime!
Ingredients
Serves 8
3 pounds ground turkey. I used ground dark meat turkey.
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (Out of crumbs, I put a several handfulls of Whole Foods Tortilla Chips in a plastic ziplock bag and let my 7 year old son pound away at 'em till they were good and fine. That's how you teach boys to like cooking!)
2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
2 tsp fresh grated lemon zest
2 tsp chopped thyme, or rosemary, or whatever sounds good to you. (I even thought about sneaking in some red chili flakes, but I worried about the kids and some of the womenfolk.)
2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground black pepper
4 oz goat cheese
4 tsp vegetable oil
Combine everything in a bowl, except the oil, with a wooden spoon.
How to Stuff 'Em
1. Divide your ground meat (beef, turkey, lamb, whatever suits your mood) into your own regular burger portions. Then divide each of those portions in half. You now have burger tops and bottoms.
2. Shape each half to the correct size and place about an ounce of cheese (or other stuffing) on the bottom half. Put the top half on the bottom and pinch the edges together.
3. Reshape I like to then reshape the entire burger, making sure the the stuffing doesn't try to sneak out the top. Shape the burgers round and flat. To keep them flat during grilling, put a thumb-indentation right in the center of both top and bottom sides. Now wash your hands.
4. Refrigerate Place the stuffed/formed burgers on a baking sheet or in a plastic container, cover, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, but better for 6-8 hours. This lets everything firm up before the fire.
5. Grill Get your grill hot: gas grill to high, or charcoals glowing red with a white ash. Brush your burgers with the oil, and grill over direct heat for 7-8 minutes until browned on that side and then turn 'em over and do the same on the other.
Happy Grilling!
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