Buffalo Turkey Burgers - June Secret Recipe Club

Happy Secret Recipe Club reveal!  Just a quick ankle update before we dive in - I'm basically all better!  Still get a little puffy and uncomfortable, but there is definitely less strategic planning of my life based on how much time on my feet I can take.  My foot is finally fat enough to wear real shoes without any padding!  My rainbow of $10 flats is obviously frowned upon by my surgeon, so I am slowly building a collection of grown up responsible shoes in various bright colors (neon pink added yesterday, thanks Mamabear!).  I tried scar massage therapy to help sort out all the muscle weirdness around the metal bits and it seems to have helped out a lot.  All I need now is to pick up some speed for running so I can get back on the kickball field without having to yell at people not to peg me whilst hobbling to first base.  Progress!

But please forgive me for trying to catch up on regular-legged life and neglecting my kitchenly duties.  My sister and I have consisted on chicken burgers, buffalo chicken dip, and salsa the past couple of weeks, oops.  Which brings me to today's topic, the epic combination of our favorite go to dinners inspired by Jenny of Jenny's Cookbook: Buffalo Turkey Burgers!  This girl is awesome - mom of two with tons of inspiring recipes, drool-worthy desserts, and creative crafts to do with her girls.  I know I will be coming back to try these Yazdi Cupcakes, the inside of the cake looks incredible!

When I saw her recipe for Buffalo Chicken Meatloaf and the story of the meat balls being turned into meatloaf, I was instantly inspired to make her meatloaf into a burger!  My store ran out of chicken, so I chose lean ground turkey.  I added my usual grated onion and garlic to the burger base, took out the typical meatloaf ingredients, and went to town with the buffalo sauce!  Instead of adding melted butter to the meat, I cooked the burgers in a little butter and then recreated the melted butter - buffalo sauce combo to toast up the buns in the pan.  An easy sauce of bleu cheese, lemon juice, and sour cream with thinly sliced celery and red onion topped the burgers.

The result?  A spicy bleu cheesy mess of a burger that evokes all of the best parts of buffalo wings and Jenny's meatloaf.  Thanks for the inspiration!

And for some more inspiration....

Buffalo Turkey Burgers

Adapted from Jenny's Cookbook's Buffalo Chicken Meatloaf

1/4 red onion, grated

1 large clove of garlic, grated

zest from half a lemon

1/4 cup buffalo sauce (plus more for toasting the buns and garnish if you love spicy like me!)

1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese

1/2 teaspoon of pepper

dash of salt (the cheese and the sauce can be salty, hold back a bit!)

1 pound of ground turkey (chicken works great here too!)

3 tablespoons of butter, divided

buns

bleu cheese sauce

thinly sliced celery and red onion for crunch

Bleu Cheese Sauce

1/4 cup sour cream

1/3 cup bleu cheese crumbles

juice of 1 lemon

salt and pepper to taste

First, combine the grated onion and garlic, lemon zest, buffalo sauce, and bleu cheese crumbles in a medium bowl.  Add the ground turkey and mix until it just comes together.  Don't squish in between your fingers or over mix!

In a pan over medium low heat, melt two tablespoons of butter.  Add your burgers and cook about 5-7 minutes on the first side.  Flip the patties, cover and let cook for another 5-7 minutes.  Pull out the patties and let rest for about 5 minutes under a foil tent.

While the burgers are resting, make the bleu cheese sauce by combining all of the ingredients.  I added a little bit more of the buffalo sauce in there just to add a little extra spice!

To toast up the buns, combine the remaining tablespoon of butter with a couple of dashes of the buffalo sauce in a pan over medium heat.  Add your buns, insides down and allow them to soak up the spicy butter.  Cook for about 2 minutes, until the buns crisp up.

To assemble, add the bleu cheese sauce to the bottom bun, add the patty, and top with the sliced celery and red onions.  I added a dash (or 5) of the buffalo sauce on top and dug in!  Enjoy!