Turducken burger with bacon and brown bread stuffing recipe

August 29, 2017

Frankenfood: Turducken burger with bacon and brown bread stuffing.William Meppem

Time:1-2 hoursServes:6

If you've never heard of the Frankenfood monstrosity that is the "turducken", it's basically a stuffed chicken stuffed inside a duck, stuffed inside a turkey. No desire to make one? Me neither. But here's a burger version that you should try instead. It's the stuff of any dad's dreams.

Ingredients

1 duck breast
2 chicken thigh fillets
500g turkey mince
2 tbsp duck fat, plus extra for frying
1 tsp salt
6 soft hamburger rolls
6 butter lettuce leaves
¼ cup dijon mustard
¼ cup cranberry sauce
¼ cup good quality mayonnaise

Bacon and brown bread stuffing

4 slices brown sourdough, chopped into 1cm pieces
50g butter
1 small brown onion, finely chopped
100g speck or thick-cut bacon, cut into batons
1 tsp honey
1 tbsp each finely chopped thyme and sage
1 tsp grated lemon rind
1½ cups chicken stock

Method

1. For the stuffing, heat the oven to 200C. Scatter the sourdough cubes over a baking sheet and bake for about 8-10 minutes until lightly toasted and fragrant. Transfer to a large bowl. Melt half of the butter in a medium frying pan over low-medium heat and fry the onions until they are translucent. Add the onion to the bread and return the frying pan to medium heat.
2. Fry the bacon until lightly browned, then add the remaining butter and honey and toss to combine. Add the bacon mixture to the bread, along with the herbs, lemon rind and chicken stock and mix to combine. Add more stock if necessary for the mixture to become wet and soft. Pack the mixture into a large ramekin or baking dish and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
3. Heat the oven to 200C and cover the stuffing with aluminium foil. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for a further 10 minutes.
4. For the turducken patties, remove the skin from the duck breast, season it well with salt and set aside for later. Roughly chop the chicken thigh fillets (do not remove any of the fat) and the duck breast meat together into a coarse mince. Combine with the turkey mince, the duck fat and salt, and mix to combine. Form into 6 patties and place on a tray. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
5. Heat a little extra duck fat in a large frying pan over medium heat and fry the reserved duck skin for about 2-3 minutes each side, pressing down to keep it flat against the pan, until well-browned and crisp. Remove from the pan and slice the crisp duck skin into thin strips. Add the patties to the pan and fry them for about 4 minutes on each side until cooked through.
6. To assemble the burgers, toast the buns and spread one side with mustard and the other with mayonnaise. Add a lettuce leaf, a scoop of stuffing, and a patty on top. Add a dollop of cranberry sauce and a scattering of duck skin. Serve immediately.
If you like this recipe, try Adam Liaw's RPG sandwich (Roast Pork and Garlic bread)