28 February 2008

Turkey Burgers

I was totally craving MEAT tonight. (It had been a rough day.) What better way to consume meat than in burger form. Yum-o. However, an assessment of the freezer lead to only ground turkey, surely, I thought, turkey can make a decent burger. So after going here, I found a tantalizing recipe for turkey burgers. After making my first 3 burgers and having them crumble in the pan, I added more breadcrumbs, so here is my adjusted and revised recipe. *Below picture shows all forms of turkey: the burnt part because my pan was too high, the crumbles because lack of bread crumbs, and the successful burger!*



Turkey Burgers

1 1/4 lb. ground turkey
1/2 cup bread crumbs (+up to another 1/2 c. depending on the moistness of meat)
3 Tbsp mayonnaise
4 chopped fresh garlic chives
1/2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
A couple generous shakes of Tabasco Garlic sauce
4 green onions top, sliced

Mix all ingredients together with fingers. For moist turkey, you'll need to add almost full 1/2 cup of additional bread crumbs. Form into 5 patties. Patties should firmly remain together when handled.

Let rest while heating a non-stick skillet over low heat,(too much heat will burn the outsides, which is not good eats). When skillet is warm, place patties in pan, but be sure not to overcrowd, you'll need flipping room. Leave burgers alone for 5 minutes, then check. If the bottom is nice and seared and the top is beginning to turn white, flip; if not, cook an additional minute or two.

After flipping, cook an additional 5 minutes until a nice sear develops. Remove from heat, top with cheese while still warm. Serve on a toasted bun with tomatoes and bread and butter pickles.

Original recipe modified from Simply Recipes

26 February 2008

Sweet Potato Chips

So tonight I had a hankering for chili dog and fries. Yum. But I'm trying to eat healthy, so lucky me, I had turkey dogs and turkey chili and whole wheat buns lying around. But alas, I knew fries couldn't be good. Well, I remembered I bought a swanky little apple peeler, corer, slicer at Target a few month ago. So I thought I'd make spiral cut sweet potato chips (only after realizing my bag of potatoes were missing, where they went, I have no idea!). The result of my swanky peeler/corer/slicer was not too keen. The ultra-thin ribbon chips I had hoped for were more thick and chunky. But ALAS! I also have a mandoline that I drug out. Sliced my sweet potato on the thinnest slice possible, covered a cookie sheet with foil, arrange the sliced chips in a single layer on the cookie sheet, sprayed with cookie spray and put in the oven at 450 for 8 minutes. I flipped, sprayed with oil again, then added salt, fresh cracker pepper, and cayenne (It's not THAT hot, and gives a little surprise to the sweetness). Baked again for 8 minutes. Unfortunately that last 8 minutes was a little too long. Some of the chips ended up a little burned.

*Second attempt: I sliced the long thick ribbon into single "O's" if you will. Baked them about 400 degrees for 8 mins on one side, flipped, oiled and seasoned, 8 mins again. THEN I cranked up the heat to 450 and baked for 5 more minutes. Not crispy but definitely good!!! I think lower heat first is the key. I'll definitely have to revisit this idea. After all, I have 4 more sweet potatoes in my pantry still!!!