Blueberry Bacon Pheasant Burger with Jalapeno Fries

Written by Jeff Davis

Prep Time: 2 hours - Cook Time: 10 min

I have four gorgeous, healthily blueberry bushes in my backyard. Each one seems to be a different variety because they all put on blueberries at different times. I've picked a ton of these berries this year, it was a continuous supply of berries from June to July. I froze a bunch of them, and I've been throwing a handful in my oatmeal each morning ... but I wanted to do something else with them, so I decided to try to make some blueberry jelly. It can be messy, and draining the berries takes a while, but it's totally worth it. I also had a bumper crop of JalapeÃ±o's this year, so I sliced some of them up and added them to the berries while I was cooking them down, just to give it a little spicy kick.

I wanted to do a recipe with this Blueberry jelly I decided on doing a this Blueberry Habanero Bacon Burger. Before you turn up your nose at the thought of jelly on a burger, but let me tell you, it can be pretty damn good. The wife and I will often visit burger restaurants in Nashville before a Tennessee Titans game. I remember eating a burger with fig preserves on it, I don't remember the name of the restaurant, but I do remember the burger ... it was amazing. In fact, we'll often put fig preserves on our burgers at home now.

I've gotten a ton of peppers from my garden this year. All kinds of peppers, in fact, Habanero, JalapeÃ±os, Serrano, Thai Chill, Mexican Hot Peppers, and Bell Peppers. I've pickled a bunch of them, made spicy pickles with others, and froze others. I thought I'd pair my Blueberry Jelly with the Habanero for a play on sweet and spicy. I also made some fried JalapeÃ±os, which can be used as a garnish on your burgers if the habaneros are too hot, or as a substitute for french fries.

If you've ever tried to make Pheasant, Turkey, or Chicken burgers before, you'll know that the meat doesn't bind together very well ... it needs a lot of help. Some people will combine eggs and breadcrumbs with the meat to get it to hold its shape, but I'll be honest, I like to use Hamburger meat, 80/20. These birds don't have a lot of fat, and unless you're trying to make an ultra-healthy burger, adding a little hamburger will help firm it up, plus help give you a juicy, tasty burger. You only need to add enough ground beef to get the patties to hold their shape. If you want to add an egg to the ground pheasant, you can, but it'll turn it into a soupy mess, that requires more binder to get it to hold its shape. You can form these into loose patties, then place them in the freezer for 30 minutes just to tighten them up. The freezer will also help ensure that you don't overcook the meat. You want your burgers to form a good crust on a hot grill, starting with a partially frozen patty buys you time to form a crust without overcooking the inside of the burger.

Ingredients

Blueberry Jelly

8 cup(s) Blueberries

4 cup(s) Sugar

1 Package of Sure-all fruit pectin

4-8 Jalapenos

Cheesecloth

2 cup(s) Water

Brioche Buns

3 1/2 cup(s) All Purpose flour

1 tbsp Sugar

1 tbsp Honey

1 Packet of Active Dry Yeast

1 tsp Kosher Salt

1 cup(s) Warm Milk

1 Egg

4 tbsp Butter, Unsalted

Egg Wash

1 Egg

1-2 tbsp Milk

JalapeÃ±o Fries

1 cup(s) All Purpose flour

1 cup(s) Buttermilk

2 tbsp Cornstarch

1 tbsp Onion Powder

2 tbsp Garlic Powder

6 Jalapenos

1 tbsp Kosher Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Pheasant Burgers

1 lbs Ground Pheasant

3/4 lbs Ground Beef 80/20

1 Egg

Butter, Unsalted

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Fresh Habanero Pepper

Blueberry Jelly

Brioche Buns

Bacon

Instructions

Blueberry Jelly

Step #1 Rinse the berries, then add to a saucepan, turning heat to medium. Slice up Jalapenos then add to berries. Cover with 2 cups of water. Allow to reach a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Allow to cook for 20 - 30 minutes. The berries should get soft and allow you to mash them, to releases their juices.

Step #2 Line a colander with cheese cloth and place over top of another bowl, large enough to collect all the juices. Pour the cooked berries into the cheesecloth. You can allow this to drain for a few hours, or if you get inpatient like me, you can pick up the cheese cloth and squeeze the juice out by hand, but you'll end up with blue hands if you do. You should end up with about 4 cups of blueberry juice. Add juice to a saucepan and bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer. Add whole package of fruit pectin and allow to cook for one additional minute. Add sugar and stir, cooking for one more minutes. Turn off heat and ladle jelly into small jars. This should produce 6-8 small mason jars of jelly. You can sanitize your mason jars by placing them in a 220 degree oven for 15 minutes. You can boil the lids in water. To seal jars, screw lid on, fill a large stock pot with enough water to cover the jars with one inch of water. Allow water to reach a simmer, leaving the jars in the water for at least ten minutes. Remove from water bath and allow to cool.

Brioche Buns

Step #1 Add flour, sugar, salt and yeast to mixer.

Step #2 Add Milk, Egg and Honey

Step #3 With dough hook attached, set mixer to lowest settings and allow to incorporate all the ingredients.

Step #4 While mixer is running on low, cube up some unsalted butter then slow add to mixer a couple of cubes at a time.

Step #5 Turn mixer speed up to a medium setting and allow to work dough for 5-8 minutes.

Step #6 Turn dough out onto a well floured surface and begin to work by hand, kneading for about two minutes. You should be able to press your finger into the dough and it bounce back.

Step #7 Divide the dough into 8 equal size pieces

Step #8 Take a baking sheet and sprinkle it with water. Tear off a piece of parchment paper large enough to cover the baking sheet. The sprinkled water will help the parchment paper stick to the baking sheet.

Step #9 Take your cut pieces of dough and form them into round shape, then place on parchment paper lined baking sheet. I form these pieces into balls by pinching the edges underneath, then press flat.

Step #10 Place in a warm area, cover with a dish towel and allow to rise for about an hour.

Step #11 Preheat oven to 400 degrees. When warm, create an egg wash by combining one egg and tablespoon or two of milk. Brush mixture over top of buns.

Step #12 Place in oven to 15 minutes. Once done, move to wire rack to allow to cool.

JalapeÃ±o Fries

Step #1 Heat canola or peanut oil to 350 degrees.

Step #2 Wash Jalapenos, slice off stems, then cut in half and remove seeds.

Step #3 Slice into long match sticks

Step #4 Setup dredging station by adding buttermilk to small bowl and flour, cornstarch, salt, garlic and onion powder to another. Use a fork to combine dry ingredients. Alternately, you can create a batter with 1/2 cup flour, 6 oz beer, 1 egg, salt and 1 tablespoon of crawfish boil seasoning.

Step #5 Add Jalapenos to buttermilk.

Step #6 Remove Jalapenos slices from buttermilk mixture then dredge them through the dry mixture, ensuring they are completely covered before dropping them in the fryer.

Step #7 Once browned, remove to a plate lined with paper towels. Sprinkle with additional salt.

Pheasant Burgers

Step #1 Add ground pheasant to mixing bowl. Crack in one egg and combine. This will be a very loose, sticky mess. Add in just enough ground beef that you can get the patties to somewhat hold a loose shape. Form into rough balls. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper then place in the freezer to firm up for about 30 - 40 minutes.

Step #2 Add bacon to hot griddle or cast iron and cook until crispy, then remove to plate.

Step #3 Season Pheasant patties with a generous amount of Salt and Pepper.

Step #4 Make sure griddle or cast iron is screaming hot, then place patties down.

Step #5 Press the burgers flat and season the uncooked side with salt and pepper. While patties are cooking preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Step #6 Cook for a few minutes until it develops a nice crust then flip. We're not trying to cook all the way through, we're only trying to develop a crust.

Step #7 As soon as you have a good crust on the other side, remove to a baking sheet. Add a little dab a butter to each patty and place in the oven for just a few minutes.

Step #8 Brush each side of bun with olive oil and place on hot griddle or cast iron to brown.

Step #9 Remove patties from oven and allow to rest for ten minutes.

Step #10 Dice up Habanero

Step #11 Spread Blueberry jelly over bottom part of bun and sprinkle on diced Habanero.

Step #12 Add patty, top with bacon and cilantro.

Step #13 If the Habanero is to hot for you leave off and top with Jalapeno Fries.

Step #14 Or if you're brave enough, leave the habanero on and serve with Jalapeno Fries on the side.

Recipe Card

Blueberry Bacon Pheasant Burger with Jalapeno Fries

Written by Jeff Davis Visit : Visit authors website

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Prep Time: 2 hours - Cook Time: 10 min