Grilled Wild Turkey Rolls

Since I have been the queen of slacking on my blog lately, I decided that since I had reached over 10,000 views, I really need to get back in the saddle and give all of my amazing faithful followers some more yummy recipes.  Would you believe me if I told you that I was just giving you all time to try all of my recipes for the past month so I wouldn’t overwhelm you with new recipes? ….No?… Well, it was worth a try 🙂 My camera is at maximum capacity with all of the pictures of the yummy recipes I have for you.  If I only had a little elf who could take all of the thoughts and recipes out of my head along with the pictures from my camera and post them for me.

This recipe was so off the charts-amazing! My husband, Shawn went turkey hunting in Kansas City and brought home a beautiful giant turkey.  I had no clue what to do with it as I have never cooked wild turkey before.  Word on the street was, I had to marinade the breasts, cube it and wrap it in bacon with a slice of jalapeno.  I didn’t know what marinade to use so I made one myself and the whole package was dyne-o-mite!

Of course, most of us don’t have wild turkey breasts readily available; however, I am totally convinced you could wrap anything in bacon and add a jalapeno and it would be fabulous.  I also heard that adding a little cube of cream cheese in the middle makes them Turkey Poppers *drool*.

Ingredients:

Marinade:

1/4 cup olive oil

2 Tbsp white vinegar

2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

1/2 tsp ground pepper

2 cloves minced garlic or 1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1 lb thick cut peppered bacon.  You will get 2 rolls for each piece of bacon so plan accordingly with the number of mouths you will be feeding.  I ALWAYS buy my bacon at the butcher counter.  At most grocery stores, you can find super thick, meaty, peppered bacon for right around the same price (or cheaper when it’s on sale) as the pre-packaged bacon where you get 2 square inches of a window to guess if the bacon actually looks that good or if they have laid it in such a way that the only actual meat on the bacon is showing in that little window.  Seriously, that just isn’t fair.

1 can pickled, sliced jalapenos.  If you are not a big fan of super spicy stuff, get the “tamed” jalapenos.  They still have all that yummy flavor without lighting your mouth on fire.

1-1 and 1/2 lbs wild turkey breast or meat of your choice. Again, plan accordingly with your bacon slices.  You will be cutting your meat into 1 and 1/2″ cubes.  I think sirloin, chicken breast, turkey breast, and venison would all be really delicious choices.   The turkey breast I used was somewhere around 2-3 lbs so I had about 1 lb extra marinated meat I just froze for next time.

Directions:

Cut meat into 1 and 1/2″ cubes.  Mix marinade.  Let meat marinade for a minimum of 2 hours. (Seriously, check out that giant turkey breast! It took up my entire cutting board!)

Cut each piece of bacon in half.  Place one slice of jalapeno and once cube of turkey into center of bacon slice.  Tightly roll bacon over turkey and hold in place with a toothpick.

After cleaning your grill, heat grill to medium heat (around 300-350 degrees).  Place rolls on sides and cook slowly turning every few minutes.  Be sure to keep a spray bottle handy because you will be chasing flare-ups from the bacon grease the entire time.  Once, the bacon is fully cooked, your meat should also be fully cooked.  Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.  If you are making these for party favors, they will stay plenty juicy in a warm oven until ready to serve.  They are also really amazing the next day so don’t throw out your leftovers!

Healthy Turkey Burgers

I can not even tell you how ecstatic I was to uncover the BBQ tonight.  All of this sunshine has me pumped for all of the different options the barbecue opens up for healthy, flavorful cooking.  This recipe is super simple and great for turkey burgers or hamburgers.  The result is a juicy, super-flavorful, good-for-you burger.

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 -2 lbs ground turkey or beef

1 envelope Lipton Onion Soup Mix

1 egg

All of your favorite fixins: cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles, avocado, onion, mustard, ketchup, mayo… whatever your little heart desires.

Your favorite hamburger buns.  I really enjoy the whole wheat sandwich thins because I always seem to get way too full with a big ol’ bun and these are much healthier. I have an AMAZING recipe for whole wheat hamburger buns that I promise to share at some point this summer but I didn’t have the time to make them tonight.

Directions:

Mix ground turkey or beef with egg and onion mix until well incorporated.  Form  patties that are about 1/3 lb each (or however large/small you want them) on waxed paper.  The meat will seem very loose and not as firmly held together as ground beef but once they go onto the grill, the egg will help bind them together. Be sure to prepare all of your burger fixins before you take those burgers to the grill.

All of you BBQ pro’s, bear with me for a moment because I may be telling you some things you already know.  For those of us that are not as experienced at the grill, let me share a few tips. First of all, always burn off your grill first.  Get it to at least 400 degrees  before attempting to clean it with your wire brush.  Turn off the heat and scrape away.  Once clean, apply a good coating of cooking spray or oil (with a paper towel) BEFORE turning your grill back on.

Once you have your grill cleaned and oiled, turn your BBQ back on, close the lid and heat back up to 400 degrees F.  Turn your burgers gently onto your grill, one at a time, being very careful not to break them.  I actually turn them onto my hand and then put them on my grill for more control.  Turn your controls down and close lid.  You want your grill to maintain at about 350-375 degrees.   This means all the way down to low on my grill. DO NOT TOUCH YOUR BURGERS for several minutes.  You need them to develop a good sear before attempting to turn them or you will end up with a terrible mess.  For me, this was almost exactly 5 minutes.  Wait until you can actually begin to see the very under edge browning before attempting to peek under the patty.  Once you have a good sear, carefully flip the patties and do the same to the other side.  The second side needs a few minutes but is not nearly as crucial as the first side because the egg is at least holding the patty together for you now.  When your patty is nearly done (right around 10 minutes), add your cheese to the side that is cooked the most so the other side can finish cooking. (FYI that is mozzarella cheese on my burgers, kinda looks like mayo :))

Serve on your favorite bun with your favorite fixins.  I love adding avocado to my burgers because you get the creaminess of mayonnaise without the fat, well, without the bad fat.