Sea Salt & Thyme Turkey Burgers with Homemade Buns

I love love love Matt's turkey burgers. Thyme is such a wonderful herb to use with poultry. The sea salt though is really the thing that makes these burgers sing. There is no recipe with set amounts for them but he mixes a good amount of chopped fresh thyme leaves into the ground turkey. Then he makes the turkey into patties. Before cooking he presses some sea salt into the top & bottom of each burger. We don't cook these on the grill as they tend to fall apart so a griddle is the way to go.

Buns are always an issue though. I don't like to buy hamburger buns in packages at the store because there are always my more than I need for two of us. Even when you freeze the extra they are never as good when you thaw them. The other option is to go buy bakery buns the day we are planning on using them but they are often way too big. So, I decided since I always (ok, almost always) have some bread dough in the fridge why not make my own buns. I use the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking way of making bread. Basically you stir the ingredients together, let it rise & then keep it in the fridge until you want to bake it. This is perfect for buns because I can break off enough dough for as many buns as I want at a time. It took a few tries to come up with the right amount of dough for these as my first batch were huge (um yeah 7 oz is too big for a bun oops).


Hamburger Buns
(based on the Buttermilk Bread Recipe in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day)

1/2 c warm water (no warmer than 110 F)
1/4 c yogurt or buttermilk
1 rounded t yeast
1 rounded t salt
1 rounded t sugar
1 1/2 c + 2 T all -purpose flour
1 well beaten egg (optional)
poppy seeds, sesame seeds, or dried minced onion (optional)

In a large container with a lid that isn't completely airtight (I use a Tupperware container & don't seal it completely) mix together the water, yogurt or buttermilk, yeast, salt & sugar. Using a spoon stir in the flour. If it gets to hard to stir use your hand to finish the mixing. You don't need to knead just get everything completely mixed. Put the lid on the container & allow to sit at room temperature for about 2 hours, the dough should rise & then start to fall again. You can form the dough into buns & do the second rise at this point or put it covered into the fridge to use over the next 7 or so days (Its a wet dough & actually a little easier to use after refrigeration).

When ready to make the buns pull off 3 - 4 oz pieces of dough (3 oz is a regular size burger, 4 oz will give you something slightly larger). Stretch the dough in your hands a little, turning it under itself to form a ball. Turn 1/4 turn & repeat this step, continue doing this a few times until you have a smooth surface on top of the ball, you will have the ends that you pull together on the bottom. Place the ball with the smooth side up on a baking pan covered with either a silicone mat or parchment paper. Press the ball flat to create a bun shape, they will rise quite a bit in cooking so I press them to about 1/2 inch. Allow to rise for 1 - 1 1/2 hours (I find the fresh dough needs less rising time than the refrigerated). Before baking we brushed each bun with a little beaten egg & then top with either a poppy or sesame seeds or minced dried onion (the onion smelled fantastic cooking). Bake for 20 - 25 minutes at 350 F. The buns should be golden brown & sound hollow when you tap on the bottom. Allow to cool on a rack before slicing.

Makes 4 - 5 buns depending on size.
These made great sandwich rolls too.

If you have a little dough leftover mix it right into the next batch, it will give it a slightly sourdough flavor.