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Pictured recipe: Hanoi-Style Tuna Patty Salad
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CM: You’re not known for healthy recipes per se…what challenges did you have in making healthier burgers for EatingWell?
BA: Well hey there [laughing]! It depends on how you define health. In terms of lowering fat, the same tricks I used when making sausage apply here—so how do you make a leaner sausage without it being dry and horrible? You have to add other ingredients that add moisture. Because fat is your major flavor component and adds texture, it make things juicier. But you can do other things to accomplish that, like incorporating onions or peppers to add flavor and moisture. The other thing is you need to be careful not to overwork the meat. Overworking it exacerbates the dry, rubbery quality—you should mix it just enough to homogenize the seasoning.

CM: One of the times we tested the Hanoi-Style Tuna Patty Salad, the burger was dry—and we thought it had been overprocessed in the food processor. We ended up hand-chopping it so home cooks would have more control over the end result.
BA: You hit the nail right on the head there. And tuna would be the worst because it’s very lean; the fat that is in tuna is very well incorporated, they don’t have a subcutaneous fat layer like mammals do. Coarsely ground meat is the best, because bigger particles of meat hold their moisture better. If you really grind the hell out of something, it gets really dry.

CM: Do you have any other tips for cutting fat?
BA: Turkey is a great way to add a fairly neutral taste to fattier cuts like lamb without affecting the flavor, like in my Turkish Lamb Pita Burgers.

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