Turkey Burgers

It has really been difficult for me to stay away from cooking and my food blog. I’ve been cooking a little, but not as much as I want to. A week ago I had a day off from work, so I made dinner and dessert. I’ll share them both sometime this weekend, but I want to start with dinner. Don’t want to ruin everything with dessert! 

Tim has been bugging me to make burgers since the sun started coming out more often. (We have been having really weird weather here, like the rest of the country at the moment. Some places around here are still getting snow!) I love burgers, don’t get me wrong, but I wanted to make them at least a little bit healthier so I made turkey burgers instead. I’ve made burgers at home before, but it has been a while so I was a little rusty and I just threw everything together. The burgers turned out great! I was worried they wouldn’t hold together, but they did and they were mighty tasty. You’ve got to try these tonight!

 

Turkey Burgers

Serves 4

1 lb. ground turkey meat (dark, preferably)
1 egg
¼ c. breadcrumbs
2-3 dashes Worcestershire sauce
a few shakes of McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning
Burger fixins of your choice (Mine was tomato, onion, pickles, smoked cheddar cheese and arugula)

1. Break egg into a large bowl and swirl around a few times with your hands. Mix ground turkey, breadcrumbs, Worcestershire and steak seasoning in with the egg until uniform.

2. Form into a loaf and cut into 4 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a ball, then gently squish into a patty. Don’t flatten too much or they will be like hockey pucks.

3. For indoors: Heat a non-stick pan to medium-high heat. Sear burgers until brown on each side, 1-2 minutes per side. Lower heat to low and continue to cook thermometer reaches 160 F. Let rest for 2-3 minutes before putting on bun.

4. For outdoor grill: Heat one half of grill over medium-high. Grill burgers until browned on each side, 1-2 minutes per side. Move burgers to un-heated side and close lid. Cook until thermometer reaches 160 F. Let rest for 2-3 minutes before putting on bun.

5. Layer on the fixins and eat!

Enjoy!

   

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Varna-Style Chicken

Hi! I'm having a really hard time staying away from my blog (it's so addicting) but I still haven't had any time to cook lately because of packing and lots of other miscellaneous stuff. I had originally posted this on another food blog I started, but I decided I should only have one at a time. Enjoy anyways!

Varna is the third largest city in Bulgaria, located on the Black Sea. Bulgaria has a warm climate which creates great growing conditions for lots of vegetables and fruit. Most dishes are baked or steamed, including Varna-Style Chicken.

This dish involves braising dark meat chicken in a tomato, mushroom and sherry sauce. I've never made this dish before, so I experimented a little. Instead of serving over rice, I served the chicken with a ficelle to mop up the delicious sauce because the bakery near my place drew me inside with it's heavenly smells and I just had to buy a delicious loaf of bread. The end result was absolutely delicious, but I definitely want to retest and make a few more changes in the future.

The changes are slight, but enough to make a difference. I'd like to use less onion, more tomatoes and also reduce the sauce before going in the oven so it is thicker. Even without those changes, the dish itself is delectable and I would love to make it again.

Varna-Style Chicken
Adapted from Poland, Russia and Eastern Europe by Lesley Chamberlain

Serves 4

2 lb dark meat chicken, cut in pieces

1/4 tsp dried thyme

2 tbsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1/2 onion, chopped

Fresh thyme for garnish

Sauce:

1/4 c. dry sherry

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

pinch of sugar

1/2 tsp mustard

14 oz. can of whole tomatoes, diced

1 c. mushrooms, sliced (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large dutch oven, add 1 tbsp olive oil and heat over med-high. Add chicken, and cook until golden brown on all sides, about 5 minutes per batch. Remove from pan and set aside.

2. While chicken is cooking, mix together ingredients for sauce. Let sit until ready.

3. Drain oil and fat from pan. Add another 1 tbsp olive oil and heat over med-low. Add onions and garlic and cook for 2 minutes or until soft, but not translucent.

4. Add sauce to pan and bring to a boil. Taste and adjust seasonings.

5. Return chicken to pan and ladle sauce over chicken. Cover, and put in oven. Cook for 30 minutes. Check temperature of chicken with thermometer. Remove from oven if the thermometer in thickest part of a thigh reads 150 degrees. Return to oven if not cooked enough. Let sit for 10 minutes out of the oven before serving.

Enjoy!

   

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One-Month Break

Life has got me going in a million different directions right now and I feel like I have to sacrifice some things in order to bring my stress level down. I’m in the process of starting to pack because I’m moving in a little under a month and with summer coming, traffic just seems to be getting worse so I’m having less and less time to cook. 

So I am going to go on a month long break from my food blog, but once I get settled in my new apartment, I will have a lot more time to cook because my commute will be cut in third and also a lot of other things going on will have smoothed out by then. Please come back in about a month for some new recipes!

Thanks!

Rachel

Turkey Croque Monsieur

A croque monsieur is a French grilled cheese sandwich with ham, gruyere cheese and dijon mustard. The first time I had a croque monsieur, we were having a French food party in my high school French class. Granted, it was made by 10th graders who had never really cooked before in their life, but it was still tasty.

The second time I had a croque monsieur, I was in Paris at a cafe in the Latin Quarter. I can't remember the name of the cafe for the life of me, but I do remember that it was delicious. As soon as I got back from Paris, I found a recipe that was close to the one I had in Paris. I've been making them ever since.

It has been a while since I made one, so I decided a couple nights ago that it was time to have a croque monsieur. I didn't have any ham on hand and I wanted to make it a little healthier, so I used turkey instead of ham. It was just as delicious! And I felt a little less guilty about eating it.

Turkey Croque Monsieur

Serves 2

4 slices French bread

Butter

6 slices smoked turkey breast

Gruyere cheese, sliced

Dijon mustard

1. To assemble sandwiches, spread butter on one side of each slice of bread. Put one slice butter side down on a cutting board. Layer 3 slices of turkey with cheese slices on top. Spread dijon mustard on the non-buttered side of another slice of bread. Top turkey and cheese with mustard side of the bread slice. Repeat with other 2 slices of bread, turkey, cheese and mustard.

2. Heat non-stick pan over medium heat. Cook sandwiches in pan for 3-5 minutes on each side, or until browned and cheese is melted. Serve sliced in half.

Enjoy!

   

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Grown-Up Mac and Cheese

Who doesn't love mac and cheese? Seriously, my grandma made the best mac and cheese growing up. All my friends were super jealous and would always ask to come over. But now that I'm grown up and like grown-up things, I don't get around to eating a bowl that often. I came across a recipe for a four cheese mac and cheese and wanted to try it, immediately! Once I told Tim about this recipe, he demanded that I make it that night! Well, I didn't make it right then, but I got around to it soon enough.

It has fontina, gruyere, gorgonzola and parmesan cheeses, all melted together in a luscious white sauce, then baked in the oven till it all becomes gooey and cheesy. Whew, I'm getting hungry for some leftovers! This recipe does include wine, so it's for grown-ups only. Take the kids over to their grandparents (or a neighbor's) and make it a date night in with your honey.

Four Cheese Macaroni and Cheese

(otherwise known as Grown-Up Mac and Cheese)

adapted from Pasta 

Serves 6

2 oz fontina, cut into cubes

2 oz gorgonzola, cut into cubes

1/2 c. grated gruyere

1 c. grated parmesan, 2/3 c. reserved

2 1/4 c. macaroni noodles

1/2 stick butter

1/2 c. flour

2 1/2  c. milk
1/2 c. dry white wine

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring a large stock pot of water to a boil. Add noodles and cook according to package. 

2. Melt butter in a large saucepan over med-low heat. Stir in flour and cook, constantly stirring, for 2 minutes. Whisk in milk in small increments (1/2 c. each time). Increase heat to medium and stir until thickened. Remove from heat, add in cheese and wine and stir till combined. 

3. Pour cooked noodles into 9x13 ceramic or glass baking dish. Pour sauce over, using a spatula to spread sauce and noodles into an even layer. Sprinkle remaining 2/3 c. parmesan cheese over the top. Bake for 20-25 minutes until top is golden brown. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving to firm up. 

Enjoy!

   

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