Sweet and Spicy Turkey Mini-Patties

These little burgers have a spicy Asian flare. They are small and easy to portion thoughtfully. The secret to this yummy entree is in the apples...yes, apples. Besides adding fiber and a slightly sweet favor dimension, grated apples keep the turkey meat nice and moist. I imagine you could successfully use pears instead of apples if that's what you have.

Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground turkey
2 apples (green work well), peeled
1 tbsp fresh ginger paste (I found this at Whole Foods)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Sriracha hot chili sauce (Very, very spicy...adjust to taste)


Grate the peeled apples and mix together with the rest of the ingredients. You do not need egg or any other binder for this recipe... save the calories.

Using a small container of cold water to wet your hands, roll the mixture into small balls. (The water will help keep the stuff from sticking to your fingers!)

Using no oil or anything additional thing, place a few balls at a time in a non-stick frying pan. Flatten the balls into patties with a cooking spatula. (It's easier if you wet the spatula with the water before touching the meat...just like you did with your hands while rolling.)

Turn on the heat and cover the pan with a see-through cover to steam the top of the patties while the bottoms caramelize.

When the tops are no longer pink, uncover the patties and flip. You may need to flip them again to evenly brown them.

When patties are brown, remove them from the pan. Place them on paper towels to drain in a dish or plate that you can keep covered to retain the moisture and heat. (I used a tortilla warmer, which worked perfectly.)

After cooking each batch of patties, you will need to quickly rinse out the blackened Sriracha crud that forms in the pan. (It should come off easily with just cold water and a little finger-work.) Be careful not to burn yourself doing this! Skipping this pan-rinsing step could cause your remaining patties to have a burned flavor.

The recipe should make about 25 small patties. Keep them warm in your covered dish. Murphy's Law dictated that I cooked these far ahead of the time we actually ate them...by at least an hour. Before serving, I microwaved them for a few seconds in the tortilla dish, and they were still perfect and moist. Yay apples!