Turkey Patty Melts

Last night was Detroit's first play-off game. And, as the girlfriend of a Detroit Red Wings fan, it is pretty much obligatory that I am also a fan. Luckily, I took to the wings, and the sport of hockey right away (in fact, I won our fantasy hockey league!) Anyway, the first play-off game of the season would be reason enough to cook a celebratory dinner, but it was also Wednesday night which is our standard weeknight date night. This may seem boring, but a fun mid-week dinner with my honey somehow makes each week go much more quickly.


Tim and I always like patty melts-- I mean, who doesn't. They are greasy and meaty and covered in melted cheese. Pretty much a no-brainer on the delicious scale, but also patty melts have a way of instantly starting a war between my stomach and my taste buds. The solution to this giant grease brick in my tummy, I thought, would be a nice light version! Luckily, I had a pound of ground turkey on hand, so I began my "light" patty melt recipe.

The patty melt:
First, I caramelized a medium sized yellow onion. I sliced it thinly (in 2.5 seconds thanks to my food processor) and put it in a skillet over very low heat with a TBSP of butter for what seemed like a very long time. Luckily, I didn't really stir it that often so I was able to do other productive things like empty the dishwasher and kill a bunch of ants trying to sneak in through my deck door while the onions were going. After 25-30 minutes, I de-glazed the pan with two glugs (a very official unit of measurement) of sherry, and then I removed the onions from the heat.

Next, I prepared the turkey burgers. Trying to convince a red-meat loving man that a turkey burger is worth eating was going to be a feat. Turkey has the tendency to be bland, and to dry out, so these were two things I desperately was trying to avoid. So, I added a few flavors and "mix-ins" to my burgers. Two finely minced garlic cloves, a TBSP of olive oil, a handful of chopped parsley, and two pureed stewed tomatoes. This last move was risky, but tomatoes are sweet and moist and red-- I figured they'd give the turkey some flavor AND some color. Finally, I mixed in enough bread crumbs (I made them from parmesan black pepper bread last fall and they've been living in my freezer) to make the mix workable.

photo credit: Timmy

Once the burgers were formed into patties (I ended up with five patties somehow), I salted and peppered both sides. I grilled them on a pre-heated grill  at Medium heat for 7 minutes, turning once. This was probably one minute shy of being done, which was good, since the burgers were going to go back on the grill with the bread, onions, and cheese.

While the burgers were grilling, I sliced up several pieces of some artisan rye bread and brushed one side of each piece with some olive oil, and headed out to the grill. I put the bread down-- two pieces right next to eachother-- and then plopped the patty, and a scoop of caramelized onions onto one of the pieces of bread. I then topped the whole thing with a piece of organic Farmer's cheese from a local farm (I saw it at the store and it was on sale, I didn't go out of my way to buy this... and it was good, but I think I would have liked something a bit stronger like provolone or swiss even more!) The cheese was a bit bigger than the patty or the bread, so having the second ("top") piece of bread close by to catch the excess "melt" was great. After about 90 seconds, I removed everything from the grill and assembled the sandwiches.

While these sandwiches still had the flavor of grease/oil, and were still covered in melted cheese, they were definitely a much healthier and lighter version of a traditional patty melt. The turkey was incredibly moist and flavorful (and Tim liked it! YESSSS!), the onions were sweet, and the rye was crunchy and flavorful. YUM. I don't know if I would make this exact dish again, but more panini on the grill are certainly in my future. 

The sides:
1. Sweet Corn: 

I was using frozen corn, but I still wanted that "grilled" flavor, so I used my old stand-by method and made a foil packet. I sprayed the bottom with pam, put in the corn, diced up one TBSP of butter and sprinkled it over the top, and seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic powder (I use Penzey's and it is the greatest garlic powder ever. I used to only use fresh, but I now will use powder on occasion). I threw the packet on the grill for about 10 minutes. This is such an easy way to make any vegetable, and really spruces up a frozen veggie especially. The corn absorbed the smokey grilled flavor of the turkey patties, and was absolutely delicious! I topped it with some fresh chives from my garden.

2. Fresh Tomato: 

Sometimes, the most simple dish is the best. I saw a bright juicy tomato at the store yesterday and deluded myself into thinking that it was tomato season.... it was still what I call a "winter tomato" inside (not exactly red... not exactly soft... not exactly flavorful), but it got me ready for summer. I simply sliced the tomato, drizzled with olive oil, lemon juice, salt (a lot-- it has a dramatic effect on tomatoes), black pepper, and some fresh basil. It was good enough to tide me over til I have fresh tomatoes from my own garden!