Turkey Burgers with Cherry Catsup & Goat Cheese

My mom recently gifted me with a copy of an old-time Midwestern cookbook from 1877. As a bit of a history nerd, I find it fascinating to see how cooking, and food tastes, have (and haven't) changed over the years. Some recipes are probably best left to the past (umm, fried cow tongue? no thanks), and others I've added to my ever-growing list of recipes I'd love to give a try when I have the time (sigh). One that seemed particularly intriguing, and surprisingly easy, was one for "cherry catsup". Knowing that I had to make this, I thought of uses for it. Well, of course catsup goes with burgers, and what else? Goat cheese - of course! Add some farm-fresh spinach and tomato, and you've got yourself a burger you're not going to forget. I seasoned the ground turkey with a few basil leaves that I plucked from my kitchen plant, and I really think I'm going to do that from now on, cherry catsup or not, because the flavor was out of this world.

A note on the cherry juice: I just want to save you the shock of searching out cherry juice at the grocery store, only to find that a pint of juice is at least $8.50. Completely outside of my price range, to say the least! For a more economical option, pick up a bag of cherries (the tart kind, not sweet cherries); fresh, if you can get them in season, or frozen, like I did. It's really easy to get the juice out of them yourself, so it's worth the effort.

Ingredients

4 hamburger buns, split*

1 lb ground turkey

~1/4 cup basil leaves, torn

pinch of salt

goat cheese

several spinach leaves

4 slices tomato

For Cherry Catsup:

2 cups tart cherries (or 1 cup tart, unsweetened cherry juice)

2 Tbsp granulated sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp cloves

large pinch cayenne pepper

2 tsp corn starch (in 2 Tbsp water)

Directions:

1. Mash cherries with a fork, then pour through a fine mesh colander, collecting the juice into a small pot, and gently pressing on the cherries to extract as much of the juice as you can (this will be easiest if the cherries are at room temperature).

2. Add sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and cayenne pepper, then bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat and allow juice to cook down.

3. Once mixture has cooked down to about half volume, add in corn starch mixture, stirring well.  You can omit the cornstarch if you wish, but I didn't have the patience to wait two hours for the juice to cook down to the appropriate consistency.

4. Continue to heat until mixture has a catsup-like consistency. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Extra catsup can be stored in the fridge or freezer.

To Assemble:

1. Mix together turkey, basil leaves, and salt (& pepper, if desired). Gently form into 4 balls, then flatten. Grill or broil until heated through.

2. Spread goat cheese over top half of hamburger buns. Pile turkey burger, tomato, and spinach on bottom half, spoon cherry catsup over, then sandwich two halves together.

*make these hamburger buns (the recipe is super easy, and they're cheaper and better than the foamy buns you'd get at the grocery store - plus you can freeze the extras for 3-4 months in a sealed bag)