Turkey patties with a touch of the USA

Today is a special day in the history of the world.

The orange gentleman, the president across the pond, has apparently suffered a humiliating election defeat, and the Democrats are taking over Congress. Perhaps this world of ours, which has been standing on its head of late and crossing every line of decency and human dignity, will steady itself a little. It might even get better.

Honestly, I found it awful to watch him build up the fortunes of his family and cronies by pursuing what was essentially a policy of outright corruption. His contempt for people, the ease with which he talked and did business with a dictator responsible for thousands of deaths in Europe — all of that explains the relief I felt watching the American news at four in the morning.

I read in The New York Times that if it were up to white Americans alone, the Republicans would have the upper hand. What cheers me up is how many young people chose not to vote for Trump. I’m in a reflective mood this time. I won’t crack jokes or laugh about it.

I hope this is a turn away from the greyness of populist parties, whose only talent is destabilising societies and setting people against one another. Maybe the wave will reach Europe at our next major elections, so that we finally respect human dignity and say plainly who is doing wrong, who is doing right, who is killing and who is defending themselves. With that hope in mind, I decided we ought to celebrate.

And when a Pole celebrates with a classic dinner, especially after yesterday’s turkey schnitzel, a sort of stand-in for a pork cutlet, there have to be minced-meat patties on the table. I gave mine a little American flavour: classic Polish turkey patties with quite an accent.

I added top-quality smoked bacon, fried first, to give them some real character. As Bruce Springsteen might sing, “Born in the USA”. In my kitchen, it’s turkey patties with a touch of the USA.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS, THE MINCED-MEAT PATTY.

Recipe details

Prep time: 20–25 minutes

Frying time: about 10 minutes (3–4 minutes per side)

Baking time: 20 minutes

Oven temperature: 180°C (top heat)

Yield: 5 large patties (about 120–130 g each)

Calories: quite a few, I’m sure (bacon, darker meat, frying). But when the Democrats win in Texas or South Carolina after all those decades, healthy eating rules can take the day off

Ingredients

• 500 g minced turkey for patties — darker, fattier meat, for example from the thigh or wings
• 100 g smoked bacon — sliced, then finely diced
• 2 large slices of rye bread — good, slightly moist bread, such as Lubaszka’s
• 0.5 cup milk — I used lactose-free
• 1 small onion — chopped
• 1 large garlic clove — chopped and crushed
• 40 ml cold water
• 1 level teaspoon fine salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• A little freshly ground mixed pepper
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• Optional: chilli flakes for extra heat
• Good-quality breadcrumbs for coating the patties
• Rapeseed oil for frying

Method

I started by tearing two hefty slices of rye bread into small pieces. I put them in a bowl large enough to take all the ingredients later, poured over half a cup of milk and made sure the bread soaked it all up. I added the chopped onion and the crushed, chopped garlic. Once the bread had absorbed the liquid, I used a blender to turn the whole lot into a smooth, porridge-like paste. Give it a thorough blend so you don’t end up with big bits of onion in the patties. Try not to splash yourself with milk.

I added half a kilo of minced turkey to the blended mixture. I fried the finely diced smoked bacon, starting on medium heat, then turning the hob down to about 1/4 power once the fat began to render. The idea was to release the fat without making hard, stiff crackling. The bacon should stay soft. I tipped it into the meat bowl, pouring in every bit of the rendered fat as well. Then I seasoned the mixture with half a teaspoon of fine salt, two teaspoons of ground black pepper, some freshly ground mixed pepper, a teaspoon of sweet paprika and a few chilli flakes for heat. Finally, I added about 40 ml of cold water to help the mixture bind and keep it light. Absolutely no breadcrumbs went into the mixture itself. I mixed it thoroughly with a spoon (I had about 650 g of mixture) and left it for 5–10 minutes to let the flavours come together.

Meanwhile, I got out an ovenproof dish and a small bowl of breadcrumbs. I heated a generous amount of rapeseed oil in a frying pan. Before shaping the patties, I rinsed my hands in cold water. I scooped up a portion of meat with a large spoon, shaped a patty and dropped it straight into the crumbs. Even if it feels sticky and loose, it holds its shape as soon as it’s coated.

I made sure each patty was evenly coated, with no bare patches, and laid them one after another in the hot oil. I fried them over medium heat for 3–4 minutes on the first side, taking care not to let them get too dark, then turned them in the order they’d gone into the pan. After another 3–4 minutes I lifted them out, let the excess fat drip off and laid them in the uncovered ovenproof dish. These quantities gave me 5 good-sized patties, each weighing more than 120 g.

I put the uncovered dish in the oven, preheated to 180°C with top heat, and baked them for exactly 20 minutes. I served the patties with classic mashed potatoes and a salad of tomato, fully fermented cucumber and lightly pickled cucumber. And as everyone knows, if there are any patties left in the fridge, they’re lovely reheated the next day.

Serve, eat and celebrate!