Ground to dust

I failed.  I admit it.  I tried to make turkey sausage.

I have never fully appreciated before how very dry turkey is.  I must remember in the future - lean meat means dry meat.  All that juicy goodness in a hamburger or a sausage patty comes from the fat.  I didn't really think about it until now.  Well, until I made turkey sausages.

I had about a pound and a half of turkey breast left, as yet uncooked, so I ground it in my food processor.  I mixed spices and ground them, mixed them into the meat, let the whole thing blend overnight in the fridge.  I gave it every opportunity to taste right.  And it did.  It tasted like sausage.  Unfortunately they are so dry I have to drink a glass of water per bite.  I've been eating them, partly because if I don't eat them then I have to cook something else.  And I was a little out of ideas.  And out of turkey meat yesterday, if truth be told.  Fortunately I also went shopping yesterday.

This failure is not my only report, however.  Behold a small success.

Today I was expecting guests for dinner.  Not wanting them to have to suffer from my peculiar diet, and not yet certain of my recipes for common foods, I bought hamburger.  I decided to make hamburger patties for everyone else and turkey burgers for me.  But after the sausage fiasco I was a little nervous.  I thought of everything I'd ever learned about making moister foods.  I don't know if I heard it somewhere, or I thought it up, maybe it's common knowledge - but shredding vegetables and mixing them into the meat makes a much moister patty.  I did a taste test - I made two patties, added shredded zucchini to one and shredded sweet potatoes to the other.  The sweet potatoes win!  The recipe isn't ready to share yet, as I really think I need to shred the sweet potatoes much finer, but it made a fairly decent burger.  I used lettuce leaves for the bun and put a little guacanole on top.  Guacanole?  That's Guacamole without the peppers or tomatoes.  I'm still working on that one, also.  I should have a recipe in a few days.  I have to have some kind of dip for my chips!