Turkeymole!

I've been refining a turkey burger recipe over the last couple of years, but it's kind of hard to do any refining when you don't actually remember what you did from time to time, so here goes.

"Turkey burger" to me generally ranks up there with "bologna sandwich" ("baloney sammich") in the list of blah food concepts. If I'm going to go to the trouble of making a burger, why not buy beef and make something I really want?

So how do I ever find myself trying turkey burgers again? Normally, my wife will buy a package of ground turkey on sale and put it in the freezer. Later, over the course of 2 or 3 weeks, she'll mention during the "what do you want to eat tonight" conversation that "we have that ground turkey in the freezer." I will ignore this as long as I comfortably can until the day she adds "and we have some buns in there that need to get used soon" and puts the turkey in the sink to thaw.

Such was the case last weekend, when I did the following ...

1/3 c pumpkin seeds or pepitas (hulled or not). I used about half and half.

2 tbsp canned mole. We had Dona Maria brand, but it's nothing special.

up to 1/3 c of liquid, such as orange juice, stock or water. I used a Dole juice mix we had.

1+ lb of ground turkey. 1.2 lbs

1. Grind pumpkin seeds in a coffee grinder until no big chunks are evident. It will be a pretty fine powder in parts.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine ground seeds, with the mole and enough liquid to make a smooth paste. 

The idea here follows ATK's well-done burger recipe, which uses a panade of bread and milk to keep the burgers from drying out, which can be a problem with turkey and its low fat content. The pumpkin seeds add a little binding strength (also a turkey necessity). you might otherwise use bread crumbs, but the seeds are sturdier and a traditional mole ingredient, so I think they go well. 

3. Add the turkey and incorporate the mole with the meat thoroughly while squashing it all into goo as little as possible.

4. Form 4 patties. Right before grilling, sprinkle them with kosher salt and seasoning of your choice. (my choice is Ancho Mama's chile seasoning) Spray or rub the tops with olive oil if grilling and turn them onto the hot grill. Salt and season again before flipping.

5. Serve as you like, although sliced avocado is a good choice.

This batch was probably the best yet. Next time I'll probably bump the spice up a bit by mixing some chopped chipotle in with the mole mix.