First, climb a couple of mountain ridges at dawn and work a few birds. You may have to contend with real hens (which are a pain in the ass and tend to draw gobblers the opposite direction from your calling). While sneaking along the ridge, you may sneak to within 40 yards of bedded deer. As they bound away blowing and crashing through the understory, smile to yourself and swear bitterly under your breath because they probably scared the gobbler that was hammering 100 yards away at your every yelp. Continue down the ridge, and on a complete whim/gut feeling, take the last tram road that cuts off the ridge toward the powerline. 100 yards later, strike up a nice bird and shoot his ass.
Second, after preserving fan, spurs and beard, bone out all the meat, making sure to eliminate tendons, weigh it, and mix 3:1 with chopped bacon. I prefer Smithfield traditional salt cured. Grind this twice.
Third, I assume you were not so stupid as to leave the woods without digging some fresh ramps. Take a generous handful and chop them very fine, greens and all.
Fourth, add a generous dose of chopped ramps to ~ 6 oz of the turkey/bacon grind and form into patties. Season well according to your taste. My wife is a big fan of Weber "gourmet burger" seasoning, so that's what I used here.
Fifth, grill on the BGE at relatively low temperature (I started at 300 and slowly ramped to 450 by the time I finished). The burgers tend to be loose as they warm a bit and the bacon will flame and scorch if you have too much airflow to the fire. Since we are dealing with wild poultry and bacon I went ahead and took these all the way to 165 internal.
I topped these with aged muenster cheese and a good glop of Woeber's horseradish sauce and they were divine. It's hard to beat gobbling down a bird at dusk that was gobblin' at dawn. For bonus points, top with a nice slice of tomato and/or sauted morels. Unfortunately, winter is hanging on here and the morels have not popped yet, so I had to make do with a clausen pickle spear on the side.
Finally, celebrate with a Tatuaje Miami and some Islay on the back deck as the sun sets and celebrate a day well lived.
Second, after preserving fan, spurs and beard, bone out all the meat, making sure to eliminate tendons, weigh it, and mix 3:1 with chopped bacon. I prefer Smithfield traditional salt cured. Grind this twice.
Third, I assume you were not so stupid as to leave the woods without digging some fresh ramps. Take a generous handful and chop them very fine, greens and all.
Fourth, add a generous dose of chopped ramps to ~ 6 oz of the turkey/bacon grind and form into patties. Season well according to your taste. My wife is a big fan of Weber "gourmet burger" seasoning, so that's what I used here.
Fifth, grill on the BGE at relatively low temperature (I started at 300 and slowly ramped to 450 by the time I finished). The burgers tend to be loose as they warm a bit and the bacon will flame and scorch if you have too much airflow to the fire. Since we are dealing with wild poultry and bacon I went ahead and took these all the way to 165 internal.
I topped these with aged muenster cheese and a good glop of Woeber's horseradish sauce and they were divine. It's hard to beat gobbling down a bird at dusk that was gobblin' at dawn. For bonus points, top with a nice slice of tomato and/or sauted morels. Unfortunately, winter is hanging on here and the morels have not popped yet, so I had to make do with a clausen pickle spear on the side.
Finally, celebrate with a Tatuaje Miami and some Islay on the back deck as the sun sets and celebrate a day well lived.
