Thanksgiving Turkey Burger
Serves 5 STUFFING
100 g. smoked slab bacon 1 whole turkey (10 to 12 lbs.) 1 bunch sage
1 tsp. mace
6 slices white sourdough bread 100 ml. madeira
1 bunch thyme
2 cloves garlic
100 g. pork back fat
6 g. salt
1 tsp. white pepper
50 g. butter
1 brown onion
8 eggs
100 g. flour
300 g. panko breadcrumbs
YAMS
1 kg. orange yam 50 g. butter
20 g. brown sugar
100 g. mascarpone
1 tsp. allspice
100 g. pecans
9 leaves gelatin, titanium 240 g. egg white
570 g. white fine sugar 150 g. water
200 g. corn starch
100 g. icing sugar
BRUSSEL SPROUTS
500 g. brussel sprouts 30 g. butter
1 tsp. salt & pepper
CHESTNUTS
250 g. raw chestnuts in shell
CRANBERRY
1 tin whole berry cranberry sauce, ocean spray 1 tin jellied cranberry, ocean spray
SAUCE
1 onion
2 sticks celery
1/2 bunch thyme 100 g. madeira
500 ml. chicken stock 2 slices smoked bacon 50 g. butter
5 g. xanthan
METHOD Stuffing
1. Remove legs from turkey. Skin and debone. Reserve skin and bones. Cut turkey leg meat into cubes.
2. Remove the breasts from the frame and reserve both.
3. Remove the rind from the bacon and reserve. Cut the bacon into cubes. Cut the pork back fat into cubes. Mix the bacon, fat, and turkey leg meat. Add finely minced garlic and one one tsp.
black pepper. Weigh. Add 1.5 salt by weight. Mix well. Put through a five mm. mincing blade. Spread onto a tray in a layer one cm. thick. Chill.
4. Peel onion and cut into fine dice. Sauté in butter until translucent. Add madeira and reduce. Add finely chopped sage, thyme, mace, and whole egg. Spread onto a tray to one cm. thick, and chill in the blast chiller.
5. When both preparations are semi-frozen: Cut 10 pucks of turkey sausage with a large circular cutter. Cut five pucks of stuffing with the same. Remove the center of each circle of stuffing with a five cm. ring cutter. Place a puck of stuffing on top of a puck of sausage. Fill the cavity with the whole cranberry sauce. Place a puck of sausage on top. Press down on each and chill. Beat six eggs. Roll each puck in flour, egg, and panko crumbs. Deep fry at 180°C until golden. Place into a low oven until internal temperature of 65°C.
Yams
1. Peel the yams and cut into one cm. dice. Sweat down in butter until soft. Add brown sugar, salt, pepper, and allspice. Mash with a fork and whip in the mascarpone. Adjust seasoning. Keep warm.
2. Sauté pecans with butter and brown sugar until caramelized. Spread out on a tray and reserve.
Marshmallow
Bloom gelatin in iced water. Boil sugar with 150 g. water and cook to 121°C. Squeeze out gelatin and add to sugar syrup. When the syrup reaches 115°C, start whisking egg whites to stiff peaks. Pour in the syrup (at 121°C) in a thin, steady stream. Whisk until cool and then stir in cranberry jelly. Put into a piping bag with a one cm. plain nozzle. Sift together the icing sugar and cornstarch. Place on a flat tray. Pipe the marshmallow onto the starch and roll to cover. When set, cut into one cm. lengths. Place yam mash into small serving bowls and cover with marshmallows. Toast with a sear. Garnish with pecans.
Brussel Sprouts
Trim the stem and remove the dark outer leaves. Trim the steam again and pull off as many leaves as you can per sprout. Heat a sauté pan and cook quickly to set the color without wiling. Season with salt and pepper.
Chestnuts
Cut a cross in the board base of the nut. Put into a hot oven until the outer shell browns and peels away with the inner shell. Shave to order with a mandolin.
Sauce
Chop the turkey carcass and leg bones into small pieces. Brown in a hot pan with a little oil. Place into the pressure cooker. Chop the celery and onion finely and sauté until golden. Add to the pressure cooker. Deglaze the pan with madeira. Add to the bones with bacon and stock. Pressure cook for 20 minutes. Strain and reduce. Season to taste and thicken with xanthan.
Skin
Scrape any fat from the breast skin and place between sheets of baking paper and heavy baking sheets. Place into a 170°C oven until crisp and golden.
To serve
Place a turkey burger on each plate. Spoon over brussel sprout leaves and shave chestnuts on top. Spoon some turkey just around the plate. Garnish with a piece of crisp skin.