Honey Mustard Turkey Burgers

One of the great ironies in my life is that as a lover of food and cooking, I am also the proud parent of one of the pickiest eaters on the planet. Seriously folks, I am talking about a kid who will eat seven things and most of them are breakfast foods. As a result I am constantly trying to find new ways to reinvent those few food groups that he will eat into something that the rest of the family will not look at and say "Baked chicken again...." Unbeknownst to me, apparently all you have to do to get your child to eat a new food is have your mother tell him to. Such was the case last summer when we were visiting my mother in the south. It was hot and as a result I was not in the mood for anything heavy. I had seen this recipe in an Eating Well magazine and thought I would give it a try. Though initially rejected, once Nana informed my oldest pea pod that turkey was just like chicken, it had honey in it - eat it up, my oldest paused, shrugged and ate the whole thing while I held my breath and tried not to make a big deal about it. So that is how the honey mustard turkey burger came to be added to our regular rotation.


I have made some tweaks to the recipe and changed up the accessories a bit to suit our tastes but you can get the basic idea and take it from there.


Couple of notes:


We cook these on our old school George Forman grill. I know, I know, but I have to say it makes a really good burger. It cooks both sides uniformly and quickly, doesn't require any extra oil or fat and the excess fat in the meat drain out. It is a bugger to clean but that is because ours is older than dirt. I understand that the new ones have removable plates... but I digress. Anyway, though the GF is our weapon of choice you could just as easily cook them on the grill or in a cast iron pan on the stove. 


We like to serve ours on English Muffins with swiss cheese, whatever fresh greens and sliced tomatoes from the farmers market, and baked sweet potato fries.

You will not have a lot of the honey mustard mixture left over once you have added the suggested amount to the turkey,  but we have found that it is plenty to lightly dress your burger and that they are already pretty flavorfull and juicy so you don't need a lot. If you want more topping I would suggest doubling the recipe. 



I hope you enjoy these as much as we do. I am still looking for suggestions for recipe to research/try so if you are looking for something specific let me know and I will go on the hunt!


Honey Mustard Turkey Burger
1/4 cup coarse-grained mustard (I use Grey Poupon)2 tablespoons honey1 pound ground turkey breast1/4 teaspoon salt1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Prepare a grill, fry pan or whatever surface you are cooking on. If neccesary brush with a little canola oil to keep burgers from sticking.

Whisk mustard and honey in a small bowl until smooth.

Combine turkey, 3 tablespoons of the mustard mixture, salt and pepper in a bowl; mix well. 

Form into four large or six small burgers. 

Grill until no pink remains in center, 5 to 7 minutes per side. 

Brush the burgers with the remaining mustard mixture.