Teriyaki Turkey Burgers with Asian Slaw

Teriyaki turkey burgers are a lighter, tangier version of the classic burger.  The end result is a meaty, juicy patty to be sure, but without the heaviness that can accompany red meat.  We served these on buns, but they would be equally good as lettuce wraps or in a whole wheat wrap stuffed with bean sprouts.  (The recipe would also make very delicious meat loafs with some adjustment to the cooking time.)  If you want to do a test run at home before serving a larger crowd, here's the recipe we started with.  We subbed scallions for yellow onions, fresh garlic for powdered, and added freshly grated ginger to arrive at the recipe below.

The Asian slaw is a sweeter and more highly-spiced version of a traditional coleslaw.  Our only diversion from the original recipe was to substitute tahini for peanut butter to accommodate guests with peanut allergies.  If you're going to attempt a slaw from scratch, give yourself an extra 30-45 minutes to prep the ingredients by hand.  Alternatively, bring along someone who's a whiz with a food processor and station that person at the machine all evening while the other cooks prep ingredients to fit through the shoot and pass them off to the master processor as needed.  This is a huge time saver.  You can also use the processor to prep some ingredients for the burgers.

With four cooks and a food processor, this meal took about 90 minutes to prep and serve.  If you have additional cooks, it may go a bit faster, but serving 40 burgers will always fall on the more time-consuming end of the meal spectrum-- plan on extra kitchen time.  That said, the meal is light, delicious and great in warmer weather.  We certainly enjoyed eating it ourselves and many of our guests were happy to have a healthier alternative to the conventional burger.  Enjoy!



TERIYAKI TURKEY BURGERS
Makes (40) 1/3 lb burgers or (50) 1/4 lb burgers (approximate)


10 lbs ground turkey thigh
8 eggs, beaten
3-4 cups breadcrumbs (you'll use more or less depending on the moisture in your turkey mixture)
2 cups chopped scallions
2 cups finely chopped red bell pepper
10 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 TBS sea salt
1 TBS freshly ground pepper
5 TBS freshly grated ginger
4 cups thick teriyaki sauce, divided
1 pineapple ring for each burger (optional)
1 slice montery jack cheese for each burger (optional)
40-50 whole wheat hamburger buns
Canola oil for brushing

If cooking indoors, preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Preheat flattop grill to med-high heat.   If grilling outdoors, prepare grill as required.

Place ground turkey in a very large mixing bowl.  In a separate bowl, combine beaten eggs, 3 cups bread crumbs, scallions, red pepper, garlic, salt, pepper, ginger and 3 cups teriyaki sauce and mix well.   Add the sauce to the ground turkey and mix all ingredients by hand until very well combined.  If the mixture feels too wet to work with, add additional breadcrumbs as necessary.  Divide the turkey mixture into two portions within the bowl and let rest.

Lightly oil two XL sheets pans with canola oil.  (If you're not using commercially-sized pans, you may need more.)  Place half the turkey mixture on each pan.  Continue to divide the mixture in half until you have 5 equal portions on each pan.   Each portion will yield (4) 1/3 lb burgers or (5) 1/4 lbs burgers.  Break down each portion into your desired number of burger patties.

While burgers are being prepared, arrange pineapple slices in a single row on an XL sheet pan.  While burgers are being cooked, roast pineapple in oven until lightly browned and keep warm until ready to serve.

If grilling outdoors, grill burgers as usual per your specific grill, ensuring that burgers are cooked all the way through before removing from grill.  Transfer burgers to a full size hotel pan and cover tightly until ready to serve.

If cooking indoors, lightly oil the flattop grill.  Place 16-20 burgers on the flattop grill at a time.  Quickly sear each burger on both sides (about 1-2 minutes per side) and return burgers to original sheet pans.  Using a basting brush, lightly baste the top side of each burger with the remaining teriyaki sauce.  When all burgers have been seared, basted and returned to the sheet pans, transfer pans to hot oven and bake until burgers are cooked through.  Cooking time will vary depending upon your oven, but should be approximately 10-12 minutes.  Test for doneness and return to oven for additional cooking time if necessary.  Remove burgers from oven and serve immediately.

Serve each burger on a whole wheat bun with a slice of cheese, a slice of roasted pineapple, roasted pepper ketchup (recipe follows) and bread and butter sandwich pickles.  Burgers are also good when topped with Asian Slaw (recipe follows).



ROASTED RED PEPPER KETCHUP
Makes 4 cups


12 oz roasted red pepper puree, or 12 oz roasted red peppers very finely chopped into a pulp
3 cups ketchup

Combine both ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well.  Chill until ready to serve. 



ASIAN SLAW
Makes 50 generous servings


Dressing:
1-1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
1-1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup tahini (or peanut butter)
2/3 cup soy sauce
1 cup unbleached sugar
1/2 cup minced fresh ginger
1/3 cup minced garlic

Slaw:
1 head green cabbage, thinly sliced or shredded
1 head purple cabbage, thinly sliced or shredded
1 head napa cabbage, thinly sliced or shredded
7 red bell peppers, sliced very thinly or shredded
7 carrots, grated or shredded
20 green onions, finely chopped or shredded
2 cups finely chopped fresh cilantro
Salt to taste

In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients for dressing and whisk to combine.  Set aside until ready to use.

Prepare all slaw ingredients as directed and mix to combine in a very large serving bowl or full size hotel pan.  Pour dressing over slaw and allow to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes until ready to serve.  Taste for flavor and season with salt as desired.   If serving later, cover tightly and keep cool until ready to serve.




ROASTED POTATO WEDGES
40 servings

If you have a large amount of cook power in your kitchen, prepare 40 servings of roasted potato wedges (also known as oven fries) per your favorite recipe and serve alongside the turkey burgers.

If you're working with 4 or less cooks, we'd recommend frozen potato wedges instead (we like Trader Joe's, as the turkey burgers and slaw are fairly labor intensive.  Prepare fries per the package instructions and serve with roasted red pepper ketchup (recipe above).