This is a great local and American burger for two main reasons. First off, this burger represents the holiday that all Americans can share regardless of race, culture or religion: Thanksgiving. We all have things to be thankful for, and Thanksgiving is the time of year we come together with loved ones to celebrate. This burger uses the most traditional Thanksgiving ingredients in an entirely non-traditional way. The second reason this burger celebrates local and American traditions, is its use of local New England ingredients. The Cabot cheddar cheese is from Vermont, and it is a wink and a nod to a traditional Thanksgiving dish of my family: my mother’s pearl onions with a cheddar cheese sauce. The cranberry sauce used is from Ocean Spray, whose headquarters is just down the street from Plymouth, MA, where the first Thanksgiving took place! This burger could only be more representative of local and American traditions if it were topped with a slice of apple pie.

Ingredients:

3 medium red potatoes, washed
Non-stick cooking spray

1/3 cup diced onion (about ½ of a medium sized yellow onion)
1/3 cup diced celery (about 1 rib)
¾ cup Pepperidge Farm Cornbread Stuffing Mix
¾ teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/3 cup applesauce
1 egg
¼ teaspoon salt
1 package of 93/7 Shady Brook Farm ground turkey

1 can Ocean Spray Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
1 ½ tablespoons water

12 ounces shredded Cabot Extra Sharp Vermont Cheddar Cheese

6 Kaiser rolls (not seeded, preferably from the bakery dept.)

½ cup roughly chopped roasted pecans

Instructions:

Potatoes, Step One:
Preheat grill to medium heat. Cut 3 pieces of foil, about 12 inches long. Spray one side of each piece with non-stick cooking spray. Wrap one potato snugly in each piece of foil, and place potatoes over indirect heat on the grill. Close cover and cook for 40-45 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out easily.

Turkey patties, Step One:
In a large mixing bowl, combine onion, celery, stuffing mix, poultry seasoning, applesauce, egg and salt; stir well to combine. Add ground turkey, and mix/squish with hands until combined (about 10 “squishes”). Do not over mix. Form meat into 6 even portions, and then form each portion into a flat patty about 5 inches in diameter. Spray a plate with non-stick cooking spray, and lay the patties on it. Put in refrigerator until ready to cook.

Cranberry Sauce:
While potatoes are still cooking (after preparation of burger patties), prepare cranberry sauce. Place cranberry sauce, cinnamon and nutmeg in a medium sauce pan. When potatoes are removed from heat, lower heat to medium-low, and put pan over indirect heat. (If sauce sizzles right away, heat is too high. Remove pan, lower heat, and try again). Allow sauce to come to a simmer. Once simmering, mix cornstarch and water in a small dish. Slowly add to sauce, stirring sauce while adding. Allow to simmer for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat and cover until ready to assemble burgers. Bring grill heat back up to medium. Remove turkey patties from refrigerator while grill is heating back up.

Potatoes, Step Two:
While grill is heating back up to medium heat, prepare mashed potatoes. Remove foil and place potatoes back in the medium mixing bowl. Mash slightly with a potato masher; then add milk, butter, onion powder, salt and pepper. Mix and max thoroughly. Cover and set aside until ready to assemble burgers.

Turkey patties, Step Two:
Place each patty on the grill surface over direct heat and cook for 4-5 minutes, uncovered, on each side. To test for done-ness, insert an instant read thermometer into the thickest patty, and make sure it reads 165 degrees. Turn heat to low, remove burgers to indirect heat, top each with 2 ounces of cheese, close cover, and allow cheese to melt for 1 minute.

While patties are cooking, prepare buns. Slice each bun in half horizontally. Scoop out the excess bread from the top half of the bun with fingers (making a shallow bowl shape). Evenly divide and spread the mashed potatoes between each bun bottom (about 3-4 tablespoons per bun), and top with about 1 tablespoon of the pecans (again, use all pecans evenly).

When cheese is melted on burgers, remove each patty to a potato and nut covered bun bottom. Top with about 3 tablespoons of the cranberry sauce (again, use all the sauce evenly). Affix the bun top, and enjoy!

Ingredients

For the Chutney
1 16 oz. can of whole cranberry sauce
Juice of half of one orange
Juice of half of one lime
¼ cup of diced red onion
1 tsp of minced garlic
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
½ teaspoon of table salt
Cole Slaw
1 16oz bag of store bought slaw mix (shredded cabbage and carrots)
½ cup of mayonnaise
2 tsp of sugar
2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar
1 tsp of kosher salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
For the Burgers
1â…“ lbs of ground turkey
1 rib of celery, diced
½ cup of diced red onion
½ cup of peeled and diced Granny Smith apple
1½ tbsp of freshly squeezed lemon juice
1½ tbsp of freshly squeezed orange juice
¼ cup of Sutter Home Pinot Grigio
1 tsp of poultry seasoning
2 tbsp of powdered gravy mix
¼ tsp of black peppe
r ¼ tsp of table salt
Hamburger Rolls
½ tsp of dried sage
½ tsp of dried rosemary
 ½ tsp of dried parsley
6 soft Kaiser rolls
¼ cup of softened butter or margarine
Vegetable oil for brushing on the grill

Instructions

To make the chutney, combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix until well blended. Cover and refrigerate until ready to assemble burgers. Combine all of the ingredients for the cole slaw in a bowl and mix well. Cover and refrigerate until ready to assemble burgers. Preheat grill to medium-high. To make the turkey patties, combine all of the ingredients and mix well until mixture is uniform. Divide the mixture into six equal portions and form each portion into round patties. Once the patties are formed, begin preparing the spices for the rolls. Combine the dried spices (sage, rosemary, and parsley) and set aside. This mixture will be sprinkled on the buttered rolls at the end of the burger cooking process and placed on the grill to be toasted. When the grill is ready, brush the grill rack with vegetable oil. Place the patties on the rack, cover and let cook. The burgers should only be turned once and each side should cook no longer than five minutes on each side. During the last few minutes of grilling the turkey patties, open the rolls and spread with softened butter or margarine, then sprinkle with dried spice mixture (sage, rosemary, and parsley). Place the rolls on the outer edges of the grill rack and toast lightly. Once the burgers have cooked completely and the rolls are lightly toasted, you are now ready to assemble the burgers. Begin with the bottom portion of the roll and top each with 2 heaping tablespoons of cole slaw. Place the turkey patties on top of the slaw then, generously spread the patties with cranberry chutney. Place upper portion of the roll on top and serve.