Main Course

Bahn Mi-Style Turkey Burger
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Bahn Mi-Style Turkey Burger

This is a two heads bobbing approval from Lyn and Steve

Lyn says it’s like a Big Mac but good for you. Now remember we have not had a Big Mac in years so can only go by what our memory says they taste like but she was very close in her description. You just have to try this even if you hate the thought of a turkey burger.

Weight Watchers Recipe

Prep time:  15 min

Cook time:  10 min

Serves: 4

A taste of Vietnam in an American favorite. Serve with grilled corn and peppers for a marvelous meal.

Ingredients

  • 2 spray(s) cooking spray

Slaw

  • 1 cup(s) packaged coleslaw mix (shredded cabbage and carrots)    I used broccoli and carrots coleslaw mix.
  • 1/4 cup(s) English cucumber(s), julienned or sliced super thin
  • 1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice, or to taste
  • Added some seasoned rice wine vinegar
  • 1/4 tsp. kosher salt

 Burger

  • 1 pound(s) uncooked 93% lean ground turkey
  • 2 Tbsp. cilantro, fresh, finely chopped
  • 1 Tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
  • 1 Tbsp. ginger root, grated or finely chopped
  • 1-2 clove(s) (medium) garlic clove(s), finely chopped
  • 4 tsp. reduced-calorie mayonnaise
  • 1 tsp. chili sauce, sweet variety
  • 4 muffin(s) light English muffin, toasted I used a whole wheat organic hamburger bun for mine Lyn likes the English muffins.

How

Coat a large griddle, outdoor grill rack or stove top grill pan with cooking spray; preheat to medium-high.

I used a Panini grill it cut the cooking time in half

In a medium bowl, combine slaw mix, cucumber, lime juice and salt; toss to coat and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine turkey, cilantro, soy sauce, ginger and garlic; divide mixture into four balls and then gently press each one into a 4-inch patty.

In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise and chili sauce.

Grill or broil patties until internal temperature of burgers reaches 165°F, about 4 to 5 minutes per side.

Spread half of each English muffin with 1 1/4 teaspoon chili-mayonnaise; top with a burger, a scant 1/3 cup slaw mixture and a muffin top.

Yields 1 burger per serving.

Notes

The slaw that tops these burgers is quite basic. For added flavor, add some seasoned rice wine vinegar, minced cilantro, hot chili oil or hot sauce

Ingredients  Turkey Burger ready to grill  Turkey Burger slaw and sauce

Cooked Turkey Burgers  Turkey Burger on Whole Wheat bun  Turkey burger plated bun Turkey Burger on English Muffin weight watchers picture

Other recipes from stevesacooking

Turkey burger

Grilled Turkey Salisbury Steaks with Tomatoes and Cheddar Sauce

Pan Seared Oven Roasted Tenderloin
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Pan Seared Oven Roasted Tenderloin

I know you have gone out to dinner and had that wonderful melt in your mouth steak Filet Mignon. Being that it is an expensive cut of meat at the restaurant it is much more economical to cook at home especially when you do not eat as much, heck Lyn and I can share one and are completely satisfied. I used to laugh to myself watching my parent split such a small piece of meat. At home some like to broil or grill but I prefer to pan sear and finish off roasting it in the oven. Do yourself a favor don’t buy grocery store cuts unless it is something that equals the quality of Wholefoods or a local butcher the $4 to $6 a pound you save is not worth it

FYI from about.com

Question: What is filet mignon?

Filet mignon is an expensive tender cut of beef

Answer: Filet mignon is considered the king of steaks because of its tender, melt in the mouth texture. A prime filet mignon can literally be cut with a fork. This beef cut can be quite expensive when dining out, but much more reasonable to make at home, especially if you purchase a whole tenderloin.

Filet mignon is French, of course, with filet meaning “thick slice” and mignon meaning “dainty.” It first appears in American print in 1899. Filet mignon comes from the small end of the tenderloin (called the short loin) which is found on the back rib cage of the animal. This area of the animal is not weight-bearing, thus the connective tissue is not toughened by exercise resulting in extremely tender meat.

The tenderloin term (also erroneously called chateaubriand) applies to the entire strip of tenderloin meat, whereas slices of the tenderloin are termed filet mignon. Filet mignon slices found in the market are generally 1 to 2 inches thick and 2 to 3 inches in diameter, but true mignons are no more than 1 inch in diameter and are taken from the tail end. Although this cut is very tender, the beef flavor is proportionately lessened. As such, it is often served with an accompanying sauce incorporating the pan juices.

Ingredients

  • 1 or 4 Filets depending on how many you are serving about 1 ½ to 2” thick
  • 1 small or medium sweet onion sliced very thin
  • Button mushrooms
  • 1 small clove garlic
  • Butter
  • Vegetable oil

How

Season the steaks with salt and pepper and bring to room temperature.

Slice the onion very thin.

Preheat oven to 4250 rack in center.

Heat the oil over medium heat in an oven proof pan.

Sear the steaks for about 5 minutes.

Turn and place the pan in oven for about 7 minutes.

Remove cover very loosely with tin foil and let set for 5 minutes before serving.

Either the mushrooms or onions are optional but we like them.

Meanwhile sauté in butter, half the onion, garlic and mushrooms to be used as side.

In another pan heat the vegetable oil until simmering and add a little at a time some of the remaining onions, the goal is to crisp. I will be honest here I have only been successful in crisping the onions to my liking once or twice but they always are a good topper for the steak. If anyone can share how to do it let me know. Thanks

     

This is always a 2 head bobbing up and down from Lyn and Steve.

 

Some other recipes from Stevesacooking.com

Flank Steak Stir-Fry with Asparagus, Red Bell Peppers and Caramelized Onions

Herb Rubbed Flank Steak

 

BBQ Masala Yogurt Marinated Butterflied Leg of Lamb
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BBQ Masala Yogurt Marinated Butterflied Leg of Lamb

I forget where we were but Lyn picked up the butterflied leg of lamb and said this would be just right. So in the carriage it went and a hunting through the cook books when we return I went. Something different was on my mind. I found this in the Food Network cookbook but they called for 5-6 lbs. and I had a 3 pounder so I cut the recipe below in half. I had no idea what Masala was but the ingredients look good to me.

They called for broiling but I used the grill.

BTW – Masala means “blend”. There are many different kinds of masala but the term refers is some combination of black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin, cardamom, dried chilies, fennel, mace and nutmeg.

Ingredients

  • 5 cloves of garlic
  • 1 – 3” piece of peeled fresh ginger
  • 2 tsps. ground turmeric
  • 2 Tbsp. water
  • 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
  • 1 – 3” cinnamon1 bay leaf
  • 1 Tbsp. ground coriander plus 2 tsps.
  • 1 Tbsp. ground cumin, plus 1 tsp.
  • 1 tsp. curry powder
  • 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
  • ½ medium onion
  • 1 ½ cups whole milk yogurt (We used lactose free “Green Valley” check it out)
  • Zest of one orange
  • 1 butterflied leg of lamb 5-6 lbs.
  • 3 tsps. kosher salt
  • Grilled Naan flat bread

How

Process garlic, turmeric, ginger and water to a paste in small food processor. Heat the oil in a medium skillet over high heat. Ass the cinnamon and bay leaf and stir fry until the cinnamon unfurls, about 30 seconds. Add the garlic paste, coriander, cumin, curry powder and cayenne and stir-fry until browned and almost dry, about 1 minute. Scrape the mixture into a large shallow baking dish and cool slightly. Using the large holes in a box grater, grate the onion into the paste. Whisk in yogurt and orange zest.

Pierce the lamb all over with a fork. Cut the lamb in half following the natural seam that runs across the center of the meat. Put the lamb in the marinade and coat well. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight, tuning occasionally if possible.

About 45 minutes before cooking, take the lamb from the frig. Depending on your grill and prep to get ready work preheat the grill to high. I like to place a sheet of tin foil over the grill while heating up, this burns off anything that was left on leaving ashes, then I scrap let it heat back up to desired temp and then wipe with oil on a paper towel or cloth, using tongs, just before placing anything on the grill.

When ready place the lamb on the grill turn the heat to medium, season with 1\2 the salt and grill until just charred, about 15 minutes. Turn the lamb season with a rest of salt and grill until meat reaches 1300 for medium rare. Transfer to platter cover loosely with tin foil and let sit rest for about 10 minutes.

Slice the lamb across the grain salt and pepper to taste server with flat bread.

My first bite I thought was too much curry but the second bite gave me the real flavor and it was not only moist, tasty and tender but a very good choice for something different.

Another 2 heads bobbing approval from Lyn and Steve.

Other lamb recipes from Steve

Leftover Lamb Flatbread Pizza drizzled with Pomegranate Molasses

Roast Leg of Lamb with Lemon, Garlic, and Rosemary

Lamb Stew with Spring Veggies

Leftover Lamb Flatbread Pizza drizzled with Pomegranate Molasses
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Leftover Lamb Flatbread Pizza drizzled with Pomegranate Molasses

We had cooked a leg of lamb and frozen the leftovers. I took out of freezer for one of our weekday meals and when I opened the frig and saw it staring at me my gut started to say what do I have in here to make an interesting meal. Leftover spaghetti sauce (Lyn secret recipe), Tandoori NAAN All natural flat bread, feta cheese, pine nuts, scallions, fresh oregano, cherry tomatoes, pomegranate molasses . Note: The cherry tomatoes not in the frig of course but always on the counter, just started had the first two from the patio mmmmmmm nothing better. Ok inventory taken now what I asked myself looking at the clock Lyn would return soon from work she has the 50 mile commute and I have the 3.2 mile commute she does not get how difficult it can be stuck behind a school bus as opposed to 1-2 hours of stop and go traffic. Anyway… sauce on stove with minced lamb and some chopped fresh oregano added, brought to bubble and then turned off. Meanwhile I sliced scallion whites and greens, quartered the cherry tomatoes, slightly roasted a handful of pine nuts, crumbled the feta, and preheated oven to 400◦. I spread the sauce over the flat bread top with the other ingredients then drizzle with pomegranate molasses and into to oven for about 10 minutes or until I thought looked done.

The unique sweet taste of the molasses was a perfect complement.

Turned out great hot or cold.

Sorry I do not have any measurements I kind of went into auto mode isn’t that what leftover meals are all about?

Scallions are most commonly referred to as green onions in the United States. They are a variety of young onions with a long, thin white base that has not yet developed into a bulb and long straight green stalks that look like giant chives. Both the white base and the green stalks are commonly eaten. (about.com)

The pomegranate is a focal symbol in the legend and lore of many different cultures. Some hold that it was the pomegranate which was the fruit of temptation (remember the Punic apple?) leading to the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden in the Bible.
With its abundance of seeds, the fruit has long been a symbol of fertility, bounty, and eternal life, particularly to those of the Jewish faith. Many paintings of the Madonna Virgin and Child prominently display a pomegranate. Ancient Egyptians were buried with pomegranates in hope of rebirth.
The Hittite god of agriculture is said to have blessed followers with grapes, wheat, and pomegranates. The seeds were sugared and served to guests at Chinese weddings. When it was time to consumate the marriage, pomegranates were thrown on the floor of the bedchamber to encourage a happy and fruitful union.
Berber women used pomegranates to predict the amount of their offspring by drawing a circle on the ground and dropping a ripe pomegranate in the center. The amount of seeds expelled outside the ring allegedly prophesied the number of her future children.
Mohammed believed pomegranates purged the spirits of envy and hatred from the body and urged all his followers to eat goodly amounts.
When Persephone was held captive in Hades, the Greek goddess of spring and fruit swore she would not partake of food until her release. However, she could not resist the tempting pomegranate, consuming nearly the entire fruit before halting herself and leaving only six seeds uneaten. It is from this story that believers think our yearly cycle of six months of growth and harvest followed by six months of winter is derived. (about.com)

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Ginger, Corn Chicken Soup
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Ginger, Corn Chicken Soup

Saturday was a rainy day and we had lots to do since we both work full time jobs our weekends are probably like yours weekends are for errands and you try to stick something fun in there. Today was movie day we were going to see Dark Shadows having grown up when it was on TV we were both looking forward to it. Well, we give it 2 stars but were basically disappointed. Anyway after the errands we were ready for something warming so I opened the frig and said what to do we have then I remembered that Lyn had torn out a chicken soup recipe so I took a glance and then did my own thing based on this ginger chicken noodle soup recipe from First for women 3/26/12. This was a quick prep and complete meal and good for leftover chicken based.  I thought about adding a pinch of red-hot peppers but the ginger added just the right amount of spice, my version got the two heads bobbing of approval.

Ingredient

  • 1 medium red bell pepper seeded and sliced
  • 1 medium peeled and chopped Vidalia onion
  • 2 cup sliced carrots (about 4 medium to larger)
  • 1 Cup sliced celery
  • 1 Tbsp. Olive oil
  • 1 (1/4” thick) piece of fresh ginger peeled
    • We keep slices in the freezer
  • 6 cups low sodium chicken broth
  • 2 cups cook chicken (had some left over)
  • Kernels from two ears of corn maybe a 1 >1/2 cups
  • ½ cup scallions
  • ½ cup fresh cilantro
  • Star pasta – you can use any noodles you want we had these on hand.

How

In saucepan over medium heat cook peppers, carrots and onions in oil for about 3 minutes until tender but still crisp, stirring occasionally.

Add ginger and broth increase heat to high and bring to boil. Reduce to medium heat and simmer for 5 minutes then add the corn kernels and continue to simmer for another 5-7 minutes. Stir scallions and cilantro and let simmer for 2 more minutes. Discard ginger.

While this is simmering cook the star pasta as directed on box. We prefer to keep separate from soup so it does not absorb too much of the liquid.

Scoop some of the star pasts into bowl then some soup sit down and warm your soul.

Brined, Baked and Grilled Root Beer Chicken
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Brined, Baked and Grilled Root Beer Chicken

Ingredients

1 chicken breast bone in

Olive oil to drizzle

Fresh ground pepper

 

As mentioned in my About I  flow of thought writing here is a taste.

How: I had been seeing a lot of articles and recipes for brining chicken for the grill, supposedly it help the chicken retain more moisture. I have only brined a few things and in my head it was the salt it seemed like everything would end up salty. (not true but my head said so)  So I decided to just brine for a short period. I had a chicken breast bone in and placed it in a solution of maybe 1/3 cup maple sugar, a little less than that of kosher salt and then added water to cover. I shook it all about as the old song goes and placed in frig for about ½ hour. I rinsed the chicken well and paper towel dried then rubbed with a little olive oil and fresh ground pepper. The in a 4500 oven for 15-17 minutes down to 300 for 5 minutes turned the oven off and heated up the grill. When the grill was ready I grabbed the Chicken out of the oven and Root bear BBQ sauce I made for the pulled pork, brushed the chicken and place on grill skin side up. I basted every few minutes turned to crisp the skin (which I stole and ate before serving shhhh) when it was about 1650 about 10-15 minutes. I took off grill and loosely covered with foil for about 5 minutes Ok I cheated it was 4 minutes I was really hungry.  I have to say it got the head bobbing up and down approval from Lyn and me, moist and tasty and the sauce just topped it off. I had some grill asparagus left over which I drizzled with some balsamic vinegar and some left over sweet potatoes that Lyn had baked. This was a not so quick but easy work night meal.

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Grind It Baby Grind It – Fresh home ground beef
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Grind It Baby Grind It – Fresh home ground beef

I’ve been busy lately hence the slew of postings but I just have to tell you about my Father’s day present.  I know, I know a little early but we used it on Mother’s day. I am used to all the packages come to our house Lyn’s brother works for the post office and I suppose she is doing her part to support him. So I usually put them on the counter and forget them. Anyway it was one of those rare weekdays that Lyn was home when the mail came and she looked at me with this odd smile, then she blurted out that it was my Father’s day present.  I was happy with that but she was not, she opened the box and pulled it out a meat grinder attachment for our mixer. You see for two years now, maybe longer, we had been toying with the idea of one of these, read all the articles but really could not justify it. Anyway it was just in time for mother’s day so she decided that fresh grilled burgers were called for.

Now what cut of meat….Sirloin Roast too pricy, Chuck roast too fatty for us, the butcher suggested the eye of the round Ok will give it a try.

Ingredients

  • 4 lbs Eye of the Round roast, trim some of the fat off
  • Salt and pepper or rub

How

This is the fun part

Attached the grinder to the mixer

Cut the roast into chucks that will fit into the grinder tube

Place of baking sheet and into the freezer for about 20 minutes – do not freeze

Turn the mixer on and feed the meat into the tube until all meat has been ground, a second grinding really makes it tender.

Form patties, indent the center slightly, sprinkle and rub with favorite rub let sit for a few minutes

Grill about 4 minutes per side depending on size.

The meat had very little shrinkage and cooked faster than I thought, it was tender, very tender, I thought too dry but no one else found it that way.

Best early present I ever got.

Side note: Lyn found sirloin steaks on sale and we ground up for lunch today very tasty and tender especially after double grinding. I cooked about 4 minutes per side and they came out very tender, juicy and medium. Like grass feed beef it looked more well down than it was.

    

    

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Turkey Burger
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Turkey Burger

I can’t believe I had not posted this before, I thought I did so I never thought to look. This is a pretty standard for us a good red meat alternative. I never make the same but similar so when I had all these left over roasted vegetables the other day I quickly threw them in.

Ingredients

  • 1 Lbs. ground white turkey meat
  • 1-2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
  • ¼ roasted sweet or red onion minced
  • ¼ roasted red bell pepper minced
  • ¼ roasted potatoes minced
  • Pinch of red pepper flakes
  • Pinch of fresh cilantro minced

How

Combine all ingredients, form patties and pan fry or grill until done.

Real hard huh? Usually we just do the mustard.

Grilling is tricky since the patties can tend to be very loose just be patient and let set before you flip them. I suppose you could add some bread crumbs to bind not sure if that would do the trick or not any suggestions out there?

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Poached-Chicken Salad Roll Up with Creamy Vinaigrette
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Poached-Chicken Salad Roll Up with Creamy Vinaigrette

Adapted from a recipe from the Tasting Table Test Kitchen

Had to use what I had on hand.

Yield: Serves 4

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

  • Two 6-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 2½ tsp. kosher salt
  • 2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 medium shallot, halved and thinly sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, smashed
  • 10 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 2 dried bay leaves
  • 2 cups chicken broth or stock
  • 1 cup water
  • 1.5 Tbsp. lemon juice or the left over lemon from juicing

 

  • Whole wheat roll up (low carb)

Salad

  • ¼ cup sunflower seeds or more
  • 2 Tbsp. Lemon juice or juice of one lemon
  • 1 Tbsp. Trader Joe’s Dijon mustard
  • 1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh tarragon
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt
  • ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 celery stalks–trimmed, peeled and thinly sliced on a bias
  • 3 scallions, white and light green part only, thinly sliced

How:

Poach the chicken: Set the chicken on a plate and season with ½ teaspoon of the salt. Set aside for 20 minutes at room temperature. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan set over medium heat, add the olive oil, shallot and garlic and cook, stirring often, until the shallot is translucent, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the thyme sprigs, bay leaves and remaining 2 teaspoons of salt, then pour in the chicken broth and water.

If using whole lemon, juice the lemon and set the lemon juice aside for the vinaigrette. Add the juiced lemon halves or 1.5 Tablespoons juice to the saucepan, bring the broth to a simmer, then add the chicken breasts and reduce the heat to low. Gently cook the chicken in the broth until it registers 160° on an instant-read thermometer, about 30 minutes. Turn off the heat and cool the chicken in the broth for 10 minutes, then remove the chicken breasts from the broth and set on a paper-towel-lined plate to cool for 10 minutes. When the chicken breasts are cool enough to handle, use two forks to shred them into shards. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, mustard, tarragon and salt together. While whisking, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until all of the olive oil is added and the vinaigrette is thick and creamy. Add the pulled chicken to the bowl along with the sunflower seeds, celery and scallions. Gently toss to coat and serve on roll up, buns or wrapped in lettuce leaves.

Oven Roasted Chicken
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Oven Roasted Chicken

Two Sundays ago Lyn and I were driving around doing our errands when I made the announced that I had a craving for roasted chicken. We pulled into the Stop and Shop, not our usual choice for meats Whole Foods is, but they have Natures Prides which is not that bad, definitely less expensive. Anyway I grabbed a 5 pound chicken and a Cara Cara Orange*, you can use any kind of orange but I never noticed a Cara Cara orange before so what the heck I took a chance.  The orange was actually good when I cut it open and saw the reddish color my first reaction was grapefruit but it was sweet and more like a naval orange. I would buy again.

Ingredients

  • 4-5 pound roasting chicken
  • 1 Cara Cara orange sliced in eights
    • I like to add a fruit in the cavity it adds some moisture and flavor so whether it is lime, lemon, orange or a combination does not matter.
  • 1 small to medium red onion sliced in eights
  • 4-5 cloves of garlic gently crushed just a little
  • A handful of fresh thyme
  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil
  • Kosher Salt and pepper
  • Your favorite poultry rub I used mine which I made a long time ago and can’t remember what exactly is in it.
    • Williams-Sonoma makes a good one. We’ve combined kosher salt, black pepper and garlic with traditional herbs and spices, including fennel, thyme and cayenne. Hints of tangy lemon and aromatic mustard add a lively finishing touch.
    • 3-4 thicker carrots slice in 1 inch pieces
    • 3-4 potatoes quartered or smaller depending on size
    • 2-3 red onions quartered
    • Whole garlic cloves if you want

How

Preheat oven to 4500

Remove the giblets etc. and set aside to make a chicken broth future use or toss it. Rinse the chicken inside and out and dry with a paper towel. Optional with handle side of regular dinning knife or fingers loosen the skin from the breast and place a sage leaf on both sides or push some butter mixed with some of the poultry rub.  I usually do something like this but not this time. Lyn says too much fat……

Fold the wings under

Season the cavity with salt and pepper.

Stuff with onion, garlic, orange and thyme.

Sprinkle the rub on the bottom side of chicken, drizzle some olive oil and give it a good massage, do the same to the other side and then grind some pepper all over the top. Tie the legs together to hold the stuffing in and give the chicken a more uniformed shape.

Place in roasting pan on middle rack and roast for 30 minutes. Take out and close the oven door. Drain about half of dripping add the vegetables making sure that the potatoes are cut side down.

Return to oven reduce heat to 3250  roast for 30-40 minutes more until juices run clear and temps is about 160-1650

Remove from oven place on platter cover loosely with tin foil for about 15 minutes before carving.

Now decide how crispy you want the vegetables and whether you want to drain the drippings out of not. So depending on what you decide either turn off the oven now or not…

I wrote this recipe from memory I do not think I forgot anything but I feel every cooking experience should have a little experimentation in it how else can we/you discover new taste treats.

Roasted Chicken with Onions, Carrots and Potatoes                  Roasted Chicken with Onions, Carrots and Potatoes

Cara-Cara-Naval * The Cara cara navel, or red navel orange is an early-to-midseason navel orange believed to have developed as a cross between the Washington navel and the Brazilian Bahia navel. Discovered at the Hacienda de Cara Cara in Valencia, Venezuela in 1976, the parentage is apparently uncertain enough to occasionally warrant the distinction of a mutation, with only the tree on which it was found—the Washington navel—being an accepted progenitor. Cara caras did not enter the U.S consumer produce market until the late 1980s and were carried only by specialty markets for many years thereafter. From Wikipedia