I probably went a little over the top last week, singing New Orleans’ praises. But the passion hasn’t cooled. I miss walking all day long down streets I’ve never been on. I miss the predictable pattern of fair weather in the morning, washed away by a fierce afternoon storm. I naturally miss being on vacation.

Most of all - and I know this sounds odd - I miss that fabulous burger.

The solution is to roll up my sleeves and make my own burgers, but this doesn’t always mean that they had to be made out of beef. In fact, because of the following recipe, sometimes my burger gets trampled by a lighter alternative, a juicy circle of ground meat laced with herbs and apples and pepper, almost like the savory inside of a sausage, just flattened out a tad and mellowed out with a smear of melted cheese. I know turkey burgers get a bad rap. For most of them, it’s probably deserved. You try to be good to your body, so you replace ground beef with turkey, slap the meat into some patties, toss them on the grill. Minutes later, the moist meat has turned into dense, dry hockey pucks. “They’re delicious,” you say to friends. You know you’re lying.

Burgers made with poultry are of course different. They need to be coddled a bit. Because the meat contains less fat, you want to be extremely careful cooking them because they’re more likely to dry out. That’s why this recipe is genius. Add a gloppy mixture of milk-soaked bread, and it seems that problem goes out the window. Add carmelized onions and apples and herbs, and you may find yourself declaring turkey the new Angus, a poor man’s Kobe. Without lying.

Turkey Burgers with Apples, Onions and Thyme adapted from Sally Schneider’s A New Way to Cook

Serves 4

2 slices (about 2 ounces) white bread (sandwich, or ciabatta, or the stale end of a day-old baguette works well), torn into small pieces
3 tablespoons low fat milk
2 teaspoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion
sea salt
1/2 medium apple finely chopped, about 1/3 cup
1 1/4 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 pound ground turkey
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 teaspoon olive oil

In a small bowl, soak in the bread in the milk, about five minutes. In a small nonstick skillet (this is important to caramelize the onions), melt 1 teaspoon butter over low heat. Add the onions, sprinkle lightly with salt, and toss. Cover and cook until the onions have released their juices, about 5 minutes. Uncover, increase the heat to moderate, and cook, tossing occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated and the onions are golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Add the remaining butter, the apple, and thyme and cook, stirring frequently, until the apple is soft, about 4 minutes. Sprinkle with the lemon juice and remove from the heat.

In a medium bowl, combine the turkey, soaked bread and the apple mixture, another pinch or two of salt, and the pepper. Toss well with your hands. Shape into four 3/4-inch patties (don’t make any thicker, or the outside will dry out before the inside is cooked). Place on a baking sheet and refrigerate.

When you are ready to cook the burgers, preheat the broiler. Brush the burgers lightly with the olive oil. Broil 4 inches from the heat for about 5 minutes. Flip the burgers, then cook on the other side for about the same time. Serve at once on toasted, crusty buns.

These are excellent with a slice of melted cheddar on top, and the Zuni Cafe’s puckery, pickled red onions, which I finally got around to making (don’t wait as long as I did). The original turkey burger recipe calls for sage instead of thyme, which transforms them into meaty, juicy partners for a generous crumbling of good blue cheese and carmelized onions.