Burkey Melts

SoupAddict’s New Year’s resolutions are still, miraculously, in force on this January 16th, so, she continues to look for any way to healthimize her meals (makin’ up words all over the place. Improving her grammar is not part of SoupAddict’s New Year’s resolutions, so she feels okay about the inventions).

When she saw this recipe for patty melts, she was intrigued by the combination of the turkey and beef in place of the traditional all-beef patties special sauce lettuce cheese pickles oni … drat!  SoupAddict’s laster-like attention span has suddenly been thwarted by the long-ago jingle of a certain burger joint (the jingle which she and her fellow elementary school classmates loved to sing backwards, “bun seed sesame a on onions pickles cheese lettuce sauce special patties beef all two,” with the same gusto as they played Say, say my playmate).

Damn marketers.

Onions, baby.

Lean turkey + lean beef = burkey. SoupAddict has every confidence that this will catch on.

Husband: “What’s for dinner, honey?”
Wife: “Burkey!”
Kids: “Yaaaay!”
Dog: “Woof!”
Goldfish: “[blurp!]“
Cat: [twitches tail without bothering to open eyes]

See? Catchy.

Multi-grain bread is very tasty with Burkey, and holds up extremely well to the onion and mushroom mixture.

Speaking of onions and mushrooms. Just out of view of the camera, SoupAddict is sneaking up on this pan with a fork, intent on doing a thorough job of taste-testing. It’s all [chomp] in the name [nom nom] of quality control, peeps. Yes, indeedy. Quality control.

Burkeys up! (No, not quite—they’ve actually only started cooking here. SoupAddict just really wanted to shout “Burkeys up!”)

[Psst! Vegetarians! If I were you, I would totally be happy with just this delicious balsamic infused mushroom sauce and some cheese. But don't let this news get out, people! SoupAddict needs to get Burkey off the ground.]

Holy moly. Come to mama….

A panini press schmooshes everything flat so that it can fit in your mouth. ‘Cause, ya know, you’ll want it to.

1. Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until soft, 5 minutes. Push to one side of the skillet; add the mushrooms and cook until they begin to release their liquid, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then mix the mushrooms and onions together and cook until the onions are golden, about 10 more minutes. Add the vinegar and 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and keep warm.

2. Meanwhile, mix the turkey, beef and the remaining 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce in a bowl. Shape into 4 equal-size oval patties, slightly smaller than the bread slices (note: this meat mixture is very lean will not shrink much, if any, during cooking).

3. Wipe out the skillet, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and place over medium-high heat. Season the patties with salt and pepper and cook until browned on the bottom, about 4 minutes. Flip and cook through, 3 to 4 more minutes.

4. Divide the onions and mushrooms among 4 bread slices; top with a slice of cheese, a patty, another slice of cheese and another bread slice. Wipe out the skillet; add 1 tablespoon olive oil and place over medium heat. Cook the sandwiches in two batches until the bread is toasted and the cheese melts, 1 to 2 minutes per side, adding the remaining 2 teaspoons oil as needed. (Or, heat two sandwiches at a time in a panini press until bread is toasted.)