Recipe: Basil Chicken Burgers with Pesto Mayo

Here is another recipe from the same Family Fun Magazine. This recipe looks great and we're always looking for new burger recipes. We're currently stuck on turkey burgers (I'm sure you could make this recipe with ground turkey too) but we'll be testing this one out soon. I love basil and could eat pesto everyday so this one is on the "to make soon" list!

Recipe can be found online here

Basil Chicken Burgers

For the burgers:
1 1/2 pounds ground chicken
3/4 cup grated sharp Cheddar or 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons pesto (store-bought or your favorite recipe)
Oil for brushing the burgers
6 burger rolls
Lettuce
Sliced tomatoes

For the Pesto Mayonnaise:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons pesto

1. Line a medium-size baking sheet with plastic wrap and set it aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground chicken, cheese, salt, and pepper, gently tossing the mixture with your hands or a large fork, until evenly blended. 2. In a small bowl, mix the mayonnaise and pesto, then add it to the ground chicken mixture and combine until evenly blended. Shape the meat into six 1/2-inch-thick patties, placing each one on the lined baking sheet as you go. Cover the burgers with plastic wrap and refrigerate them for at least 30 minutes to firm them. (Note: The patties will be softer than traditional hamburgers.) 3. While the meat is chilling, prepare the grill and make the Pesto Mayonnaise (just combine the ingredients in a small bowl). Then brush one side of each of the burgers with a little oil and place them on the grill, oiled side down. Lightly brush oil on the other side of the burgers and cook them for 5 minutes on each side, turning once, or until the meat is no longer pink inside. 4. Serve the burgers on the rolls, dressed with the lettuce, tomatoes, and Pesto Mayonnaise. Makes 6 burgers

Original Collector: Me

7 Hearty Salad Additions

I realize that I've been posting lots of recipes for sweet stuff but that's just because I love to bake. There is something so rewarding about following a recipe, precisely measuring, stirring, mixing and then, there you have it, a perfect dessert. These are the recipes that I'm drawn to but I obviously don't eat cake for dinner.

Now that summer is here I love to find easy meals that are perfect for hot nights when nothing else sounds goods..... that go to meal = salad. I stumbled across an article here on The Kitchn that lists 7 additions to make salads more filling and hearty. A quick article with some good ideas to get filed away for later when those summer salads start making an appearance on my plate.

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Recipes

A website completely dedicated to chocolate and peanut butter... a website that is genius. You've got to visit The Chocolate and Peanut Butter Gallery to check out their extensively delicious looking list of recipes. Click here, yum!

Monday, June 1, 2009

Recipe: Peanut Butter Oatmeal Monster Cookies

This cookie recipe was posted on The Kitchn sometime last week and it looks delicious. While these are still incredibly bad for you, at least they are whole-grain and gluten-free. At the very least, a small, delicious step in the right direction!

I was planning to make these last weekend for a cookout but it didn't end up happening so I'll be saving this recipe for a summer cookout in our new house!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Monster Cookies

About 3 dozen cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, slightly softened
1 1/2 cups creamy natural peanut butter, well-mixed
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 teaspoons baking soda
4 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
About 1 cup chocolate candies or other mix-ins

Preheat oven to 350F and line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Cream butter, peanut butter, and sugars. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Beat in baking soda, then oatmeal and mix-ins.

Drop onto cookie sheets with an ice cream scoop and flatten slightly. Bake at 350F for 8-10 minutes or until done. Do not overbake!

Remove from oven when slightly golden. Let cool on the sheets for a few minutes until they have firmed up enough to remove to wire racks.

Original Collector: Me

Recipe: Fleur de Sel Caramels

Here is the recipe for the homemade caramels that may be making a show at our wedding. I've always wanted to give homemade caramels a try and if I do make them as wedding favors you can bet that I'll be testing out the recipe several times. Yum!

Recipe from Cookbook Catchall

Original recipe from Barefoot Contessa

Fleur De Sel Caramels

Vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1 cup heavy cream

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon fleur de sel, plus extra for sprinkling

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Line the bottom of an 8-inch-square baking pan with parchment paper, then brush the paper lightly with oil, allowing the paper to drape over two sides.

2. In a deep saucepan (89 diameter by 4 1/2" deep), stir together 1/4 cup water with the sugar and corn syrup and bring them to a boil over medium-high heat. Continue to boil until the mixture is a warm golden brown color. Don't stir — just swirl the pan to mix. Watch carefully, as it will burn quickly at the end!

3. In the meantime, in a small pan, bring the cream, butter, and 1 teaspoon of fleur de sel to a simmer over medium heat. Turn off the heat and set aside.

4. When the sugar mixture is a warm golden color, turn off the heat and slowly add the cream mixture to the sugar mixture. Be careful! It will bubble up violently. Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon and cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, until the mixture reaches 248°F (firm ball) on a candy thermometer. Very carefully (because it's hot!) pour the caramel into the prepared pan and refrigerate until firm.

5. When the caramels are cold, use the parchment paper to pry the sheet from the pan onto a cutting board (note: the caramels will still be supple and easy to handle – if too stiff, allow to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes). Using the parchment and starting from the long side, tightly roll the caramel up until you have rolled 1/3 of it. Cut along the edge and repeat two more times. Use the parchment to gently roll each log to even out the thickness and smooth out the seam from the cut side. Cut each roll into 8-10 pieces, taking care not to touch the caramel with your finger. Sprinkle each piece with fleur de sel and wrap individually in glassine or parchment paper. Store in the refrigerator and serve the caramels chilled.

Original Collector: Me

Recipe: Cheese Pops with Herbs, Pecans, & Bacon

There must be a new trend in serving food on sucker sticks - well, not that new but they are all shaped like these pops. Forget the cake pops, these look even better and again, perfect for a party or shower. While these are essentially individual size cheese balls, I'm 900% sure you can't go wrong by making them! Maybe I'll collect enough of these recipes to have a whole party with the theme of food pops - that would be incredibly.....dorky.

Click here for recipe and instructions.

Original Collector: Me

Recipe: Cake Pops

These look like SOO much fun to make but unfortunately, I don't have an occasion for them now. They would be perfect for any sort of shower or for a birthday party (*Tony, take notes*). I'm filing these away for a later date but you better believe I'll be making them. If no special occasions come up soon, I'll be serving them to my friends at a cookout!

Click here for the recipe and instructions

Original Collector: Me

Recipe: White Bean Dip

I love hummus and other bean dips to the point that I could eat them almost everyday. I've never made my own hummus or bean dip but I've been dying to for the longest time. Reason why I've never made it: I don't own a food processor. Sure, I could do small batches in a blender but it would be more trouble that it's worth. Remedy: Food processor is definitely going on our wedding registry... I'll make hummus and dips and pestos until they are coming out of our ears! This recipe looks simple so it's on the list for tryouts.

Recipe from Cookbook Catchall

White bean dip

1 lb dried white beans such as cannellini beans

1 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 sprigs fresh thyme

Olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper

Sea salt

Italian flat leaf parsley for garnish

Soak beans overnight in a generous amount of cold water. Rinse and pick out any debris. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, sauté onion and garlic with thyme in a few tablespoons of olive oil until onions are translucent. Add beans and cold water to cover beans by a few inches. Bring to a full boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook until beans are tender 1-2 hours. Remove thyme.

Drain beans and place in blender with ¼ cup olive oil and a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper. Purée, adding additional olive oil slowly to adjust texture as desired. Finish with a sprinkling of chopped parsley, sea salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.

Original Collector: Me

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Recipe: Oatmeal Breakfast Clafoutis

I have been terrible about posting lately but I do have a good excuse: Tony and I have been super busy getting pre-approved for a home loan, looking at a dozen homes, looking at dozens more online, making an offer, counter-offering, getting out bid by just a little bit on a house that we love, and being totally bummed out. So now we're back to the beginning but I do have lots of great things to post that I've been collecting even during these busy weeks... hopefully the posts from today will make up for my major lack of posting!

This recipe looks delicious. I love oatmeal and breakfast bars so this looks like the best of both worlds. I love that you can take it with you on the run because I usually travel to work with hot oatmeal in a tupperware bowl (because I'm always running late!) I've got to make these sometime! Oh, and it's great that you can substitute for different nuts and fruits.

Original Recipe from Quaker Oats

This recipe found on Chocolate & Zucchini
Review of recipe on The Kitchn

Oatmeal Breakfast Clafoutis
- 2-1/4 C quick cooking oats, uncooked, or 2-3/4 C old fashioned oats, uncooked
- 2/3 C brown sugar
- 3/4 C raisins and/or dried cranberries (substitute other dried fruits)
- 1 apple, peeled and sliced (substitute other fresh fruits - optional)
- 1/4 to 1/3 C nuts, chopped (walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, hazelnuts..., or even better a mix of all - optional)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3-1/3 C milk
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
(Serves 8)

Preheat your oven to 180°C (360°F). Lightly oil an 13 by 9-inch baking dish.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, sugar, raisins, chopped nuts, cinnamon and salt. Mix well. In a medium bowl, combine the milk, eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Add this to the dry ingredients, and mix until well blended.

Pour the mixture into the baking dish, and use a wooden spoon to make sure the solids are more or less evenly spread out. Arrange the apple slices over the surface. They will sink somewhat but that's okay, they'll float right back up when the oatmeal cooks.

Put in the oven to bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until the center is set and firm to the touch. Let cool slightly : it should be eaten a bit warm but not scalding hot.

Cut in 8 servings, and serve with yogurt and fruit if desired ; it is also nice with a thin spread of jam or peanut butter. Store the leftovers in the refrigerator, tightly covered, or wrap each serving individually and put in the freezer. You can then take a serving out the night before and leave it to thaw until the morning when a 30-second stay in the microwave will bring it to the perfect temperature.

Original Collector: Me

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Recipe: Chinese Tea Eggs

Okay, I know this recipe doesn't look appetizing in any way, shape, form or fashion but I bet that these are wonderful. I was hoping to post egg recipes on or before Easter but obviously that didn't happen. This recipe would be great to make when you have left over eggs from Easter or just to clean out the fridge when you have too many! I definitely want to try these sometime!

Recipe from Nook & Pantry

Chinese Tea Leaf Eggs
6 - 8 large eggs
1/4 C soy sauce
2 Tbsp black tea leaves or 2 black tea bags
1 star anise
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
Roughly 2 C water

Put the eggs in a saucepan that can fit the eggs snugly and cover with water. Bring to a boil and gently simmer for 7 minutes. Drain the eggs and rinse them with cold water until they have cooled off enough to handle. Use the back of a spoon gently tap the shell all over or just hit them against the counter top.

Return the eggs to the saucepan, add the soy sauce, tea leaves or tea bags, star anise, salt, and enough water to cover. You'll want to use a saucepan that can fit the number of eggs you're cooking perfectly. You don't want to use a saucepan that's too big otherwise, you'll need a lot of water to cover the eggs and it will dilute the tea brew. Simmer them in the tea soy sauce brew for 2 - 3 hours. You can even cook them for a few hours in a slow cooker. Halfway through the cooking time, turn the eggs over, add more water if necessary.

After cooking, store the eggs in the brew at least overnight so the flavors can permeate the eggs completely. I like to cut them in half and spoon a bit of the soy sauce brew onto the yolk before eating, it makes the yolk creamy and more flavorful.

Original Collector: Me

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Recipe: Crunchy Peanut Slaw

Since I've been so bad about posting these last few days you get a two-for-one today. I love the idea of this next recipe and I've been wanting to try it for awhile. I think I've had similar dishes but I haven't made anything like this. I'm posting it today because I think this one would also be a great cookout dish for springtime!

Recipe found on The Kitchn

Crunchy Peanut Slaw

1 big bowl of slaw, serves at least 8

1 medium head green cabbage, outer leaves removed

1 1/2 cups roasted, unsalted peanuts

1 bunch green onions

1 cup chopped cilantro (about two big handfuls unchopped)

Salt and pepper

Dressing:

1/2 cup light oil, like canola

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar (or more, to taste)

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon soy sauce (or more, to taste)

Shred the cabbage very finely. The fineness of the shredded cabbage is really what makes this salad; you want it in in threads, almost, and with the threads chopped into bite-size lengths. Toss with the peanuts in a large bowl. Chop the scallions, including the green and white parts. Toss the scallions and chopped cilantro with the cabbage, seasoning very lightly with salt and pepper.

Whisk the dressing until emulsified, then taste and adjust to your own preferences of sweetness and saltiness.

Toss with the cabbage. Garnish with a few more peanuts and serve.

Original Collector: me

Recipe: Guinness Cupcakes with Bailey's Cream Cheese Frosting

Ok, I finally decided to collect this recipe because I saw versions of it posted everywhere around St. Patrick's Day. I avoided it for awhile because I find the thought of these cupcakes slightly disgusting (Guinness is nasty) but, on the other hand, they are so unusual that that I'm very intrigued. After all, Guinness and chocolate are supposed to be great together and cream cheese and Bailey's is a no-brainer. So I'm filing this one away for next March...I'm sure Tony won't complain.

From Nook & Pantry

Ingredients

2 C unbleached all purpose flour

1/2 C Dutch processed cocoa powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 C granulated sugar

1/2 C light or dark brown sugar

4 oz. or 1/2 C unsalted softened butter

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 egg

1/2 C sour cream

1 12 fl. oz. bottle Guinness or stout beer

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter or line with paper cups 2 12 count muffin tins.

In a large bowl briefly whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy.

Add one egg and beat until evenly mixed and fluffy, make sure to scrape down the mixer bowl once in a while. Add the second egg and vanilla extract and beat again until light and fluffy.

Add the sour cream and beat in, then with the mixer running, slowly pour in the Guinness.

Sift the dry ingredients into the batter and slowly stir the batter until it is evenly mixed and there are no streaks of flour. Make sure to stop the mixer frequently to scrape down the sides and make sure to mix up any flour pockets hidden on the bottom of the bowl.

Divide 1/4 C of batter into each muffin cup, you’ll get about 20 – 24 cupcakes.

Bake at 350 degrees F on the middle rack for 20 – 25 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake in the middle of the pan should come out clean. Make sure to rotate the pans halfway through baking. Set on a rack to cool to room temperature before frosting.

For layer cakes: baking 25 – 30 minutes, rotate the pans around halfway, a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes should come out clean.

Bailey’s Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8oz. bar of cream cheese, softened

1 4oz. stick of unsalted butter, softened

2 C confectioner’s sugar

4 – 6 Tablespoons of Bailey’s Irish Cream

In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or with a hand mixer, add the cream cheese, butter, and confectioner’s sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Slowly drizzle in the Bailey’s, more or less depending on how boozey you want the frosting, and beat until completely incorporated into the frosting.

Original Collector: me