Something Old, Something New, Something Turkey

 What’s cooking? Turkey Sliders with Cranberry Sauce

In a world where many of us will be cooking Thanksgiving dinner for two, it seemed unnecessarily drudge-y to make myself perform the turkey ritual just for the sake of tradition. Nothing else about this holiday has been traditional, and the Kitchen Goddess needed a challenge to her ingenuity.

We had a similar moment when, a few years ago, my son and his wife and their children were arriving the day after Thanksgiving. Not wishing to mess the house up, I served us a version of a Cuban sandwich, using turkey instead of roast pork. It was quite good and had the right amount of ease in the assembly as well as the clean-up. But it lacked imagination... inspiration... fun. So this week, I thought about turkey meatloaf, a roast turkey breast, turkey soup,... nah.

I got excited when I read in The New York Times about a place in NYC that was selling confit turkey legs – cured, then slow cooked in duck fat – and all you have to do is reheat them. Taste buds salivating, I called the store, Dickson’s Farmstand Meats at Chelsea Market. Yes, they ship them, ...but they were sold out. Apparently, I was not the only NY Times reader to see confit turkey legs as a great idea.

Finally, my brain barked, and I thought about turkey sliders. A bit of research determined that I was not the first to imagine such a treat, so I had several thoughtful presentations to consider. I most liked the one that suggested basting the burgers with cranberry sauce. And in lieu of the canned cranberry sauce suggested by Valerie Bertinelli, of all people, I knew I could make the Kitchen Goddess’s famous Cranberry Sauce with Pinot Noir. OMG -- the smells wafting from the kitchen will be enough to drive you mad.

On its own, turkey is a relatively tasteless bird, so I figured I’d goose up the savory aspect of the burgers to balance the sweetness of the cranberry sauce. I sautéed some shallots in a tiny amount of olive oil and stirred dried thyme into the shallots while they were still warm. A little ground ginger for sharpness, some garlic powder because... well, garlic. And for the pièce de résistance, a dash of fennel pollen. Oh, my. The basting kept them from drying out, and the arugula in the sandwich itself makes a real difference. I started with fresh spinach, which was quite good, but the pepperiness of the arugula really adds to the final product.

I’ll be serving mine with sweet potato fries and cole slaw, and we’ll finish the meal with Pumpkin Chiffon Pie, of course. A few traditions are really important.

Kitchen Goddess note about panko: You may already be familiar with panko breadcrumbs, which are a staple of Japanese cuisine (think tempura). These breadcrumbs are made from a crustless white bread which is processed into flakes and then dried. They have a dryer and flakier consistency than regular breadcrumbs, and as a result they absorb less oil.

Turkey Sliders with Cranberry Sauce

Makes 8 sliders.

Ingredients
½ cup panko breadcrumbs (or regular breadcrumbs, if that’s what you have)
2 tablespoons half-and-half
1 teaspoon olive oil
½ cup finely chopped shallots (no more than ¼-inch dice)
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
1 pound ground turkey (light/dark mix is more flavorful, IMHO)
2 tablespoons finely chopped Italian parsley (leaves only)
¼ teaspoon (rounded) ground ginger
¼ teaspoon (rounded) garlic powder
¼ teaspoon (rounded) fennel pollen (use ground fennel seeds if no pollen, but you really should get             some fennel pollen)

1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
PAM cooking oil spray (or a teaspoon of oil) for the pan
⅔ cup cranberry sauce (canned or homemade – try KG’s Cranberry         Sauce with Pinot Noir)

8 slider buns (I bought Pepperidge Farm)
Arugula (you’ll need at least 2 cups – it’s worth piling on)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 450º.

In a small bowl, mix the panko with the half-and-half until the liquid is evenly spread among the breadcrumbs. Set aside.

In a small skillet (non-stick is ok), heat the oil over medium-low, and stir in the shallots. Sauté, stirring often so the shallots don’t burn, for 8-9 minutes, until the shallots turn soft and transparent. Remove from the heat and stir in the thyme for about 30 seconds, to warm the herb. Let the mix rest for a few minutes to cool.

In a large bowl, mix the turkey, the panko/half-and-half, the shallots/thyme, and the parsley, ginger, garlic powder, fennel pollen (if using), and the salt/pepper. Using your hands, mix the ingredients just enough to get an even distribution of everything without overmixing. As with any ground meat, overhandling the meat will compact it and make your burgers tough.

Divide the mixture into 8 portions, and form into patties 2½-3 inches wide (which is almost exactly the width of the buns). Arrange the patties in a lightly oiled quarter-sheet pan (9x13 inches), and bake 5 minutes. The Kitchen Goddess lines her pan with baker’s parchment and sprays that with oil, and even that didn’t stop the cranberry liquid from running around and making a burnt sugar mess. But we must suffer for art.

Meanwhile, heat the cranberry sauce just enough to get it loose. Then, after that first 5 minutes of baking, remove the pan from the oven and ladle a couple of spoonfuls of the warm sauce over each burger. Return the pan to the oven and cook for about 20 minutes more. If you test with a meat thermometer, the center of the patties should be at least 165º.

Remove the pan from the oven and flip the patties. Spoon a little more warm sauce on them while they’re hot. Let them sit in the pan – not in the oven – for another 5 minutes, when they’ll be ready to serve.

I like to toast the buns, which takes less than a minute in a hot oven, but it’s not necessary. Pile a small bunch of arugula on the bottom of the bun, and top it with a burger. (The greens on bottom is a technique I got from one of my many foodie podcasts. The theory is that the greens keep the bread from getting soggy.) Spoon on some cranberry sauce (get some of those nice fat berries into the act), and add the top of the bun. Serving them warm is lovely, but I had one of my leftovers straight from the fridge for lunch today and it was still good. Mmmm...

We had the test batch with spinach, but the one I had today with arugula was much improved.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. Despite the many traumas of the year, we have made it this far and for that we can be extremely grateful.