Cranberry Bog Turkey Burgers

I saw this in People Magazine a few months ago and knew I had to have it.  It tastes as amazing as it looks.  It's a Rachel Ray recipe.

My mom was over the other day, and I made wayyy too many of these for our family to eat, so I offered her some.  She was like, "Nahhhh.  Turkey burgers?  I don't know...."  But then I said, "You serve them on English muffins instead of hamburger buns...."  And she paused mid-sentence.  "English muffins?" she asked, eyes wide with desire. 

I talked her into taking some home, and she didn't regret it.

Cranberry Bog Turkey Burgers

Serves 4

2 Tbsp. butter
1 apple, peeled, cored, and finely chopped
1 rib celery, finely chopped
1 small white onion, chopped
1 rounded tsp. poultry seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
vegetable oil, for drizzling
1 cup prepared whole-berry cranberry sauce
1/2 cup mayo
4 English muffins, split and toasted
8 leaves Bibb lettuce

1.  Heat butter in a skilled over medium-high heat.  Add apple and next 3 ingredients; season with salt and pepper.  Cook until softened, 6 to 7 minutes.  Transfer to a bowl; cool.
2.  Add turkey to cooled apple mix; season with salt and pepper; mix thoroughly.  Score mixture into 4 equal portions and form patties.  Heat a drizzle of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Cook burgers, flipping once, 10 to 12 minutes, or until juices run clear.
3.  In a small bowl, mix cranberry sauce and mayo.  Spread may on toasted muffins.  Add burgers and lettuce.

Confetti Rice and Bean Salad

Oh my goodness.  I made this tonight and am officially in love.  From Mel's Kitchen Cafe.   It's perfect with a Mexican main dish.


Confetti Rice and Bean Salad


*Note: I used a wild rice/brown rice blend for my salad, but Basmati rice is delicious, also. Whatever rice you decide to use, cook it according to package directions and use it in the recipe – you should be good to go!

*Serves 6

INGREDIENTS:

Salad:
3 cups cooked rice, cooled to room temperature (see note)
1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups frozen corn, thawed (or same amount fresh corn kernels)
4 green onions, white and green parts thinly sliced
1 red pepper, seeded, cored and diced
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

Dressing:
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

DIRECTIONS:
In a large bowl, combine all of the salad ingredients and toss. In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients and pour over the salad. Toss to coat. Chill the salad for at least 2 hours before serving to let the flavors blend.

Buttermilk Pie

Dude.  How is this not on my recipe blog yet???  I had some extra buttermilk in the fridge, and I thought, I'm going to whip me up a buttermilk pie.  So I hopped onto this blog and looked and looked and was like, wait.  How have I not put this on here???  Whaaaa?  My FAVORITE dessert of all time!!  Not on my recipe blog!

I'm sorry, Buttermilk Pie.  I have failed you.  But now I will share you with the world.  And anyone who tries you will be immediately converted to your amazingness.

So you think, Buttermilk pie?  Ew.  I know, right?  But you don't taste buttermilk when you eat it.  You taste a lemon custardey taste.  It's amazing.  Try it.  Try it.  Try it.

Buttermilk Pie

Combine 1 1/3 cups sugar and 3 Tbsp flour.  Beat 2 eggs thoroughly and add to sugar-flour mixture.  Add 1/2 cup melted margarine (yes, butter will work just fine) and 1 cup buttermilk.  Mix well.  Fold in 2 tsp. vanille and 1 tsp lemon extract.  (Nope, lemon juice doesn't work.  You have to have the extract.)  Pour into one 9 inch unbaked pastry shell. Preheat oven and bake at 425 for the first 10 minutes.  Without opening the oven door, reduce temperature to 350 and bake 45 minutes longer.  Makes one pie.

*  If doubling the recipe and cooking two pies at once, still cook at 425 for the first 10 minutes.  When you turn the temperature down to 350, cook for one hour instead of the 45 minutes.

Deep, Dark Chocolate Brownies

I decided to make these, from Mel's Kitchen Cafe, tonight.  And I'm so very, very glad I did.  I originally wanted some brownies with a bit more flare, but Sadie saw this picture and absolutely insisted that we try these.  And we don't regret it.  (And they were really easy to make.)

*  I've added 10 minutes to the cooking time on the original recipe post on Mel's blog.  Ours were still quite liquidey in the middle after 35 minutes.  So we did 45 minutes and they were perfect.

Deep, Dark Chocolate Brownies


INGREDIENTS:

2 sticks (8 oz) butter
8 oz good-quality semisweet chocolate
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
5 large eggs
1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 13×9 inch metal pan with foil and spray foil with cooking spray. Alternatively, you may use parchment. These are pretty sticky at first!

Melt butter and chocolate in a 3-qt heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring, until smooth. Add 1 cup of the sugar to the hot chocolate mixture. Remove from heat and let cool to lukewarm.

Whisk in remaining 1 cup sugar and vanilla. Whisk in eggs 1 at a time until mixture is glossy and smooth. Whisk in salt and cocoa powder, then add flour and stir until it disappears (do not overbeat).

Spread in pan and bake until a pick inserted in center comes out with crumbs, 45 minutes. Cool to room temperature then chill for an hour or more. Lift from pan, place on a cutting board, cut into squares.
Makes 1 13×9 inch pan (yield depends on how big you cut your brownies, but they are rich, so small is fine.

Recipe Source: adapted from Cookie Madness

Cherry Coke Jello Salad

I was on the phone with my sister when I was making this the other day, and she laughed.  I asked her what was so funny.  She lives in Buffalo, New York, where there aren't very many Mormons.  Therefore, there isn't very much jello hanging around.  It's this weird phenomenon - where you have Mormons, you're gonna have jello.  She said that, when people she works with over there find out she's a Mormon, they all say stuff about jello to her.  "Oh, so you must make a lot of jello..."  She and this one dude were in a little joking tiff about something or other, and he goes, "So what are you going to do to me - make me some jello?"  I thought it was funny.

This recipe involves my favorite thing in the world - coke.

Cherry Coke Jello Salad

1 (15 oz) can dark bing cherries, cut in half
1 (15 oz) can crushed pineapple
2 (3 oz) packages of cherry jello
1 (12 oz) can coke

Drain juices from the fruit into a large saucepan.  Heat them until they simmer.  Dissolve the jello in the juice, mixing well.  Add cola and fruit, stirring well.  Pour into a pretty large dish - I had to use my casserole dish for this. 

Lasagne

Um, did you know that there really aren't any pretty pictures of lasagne?  Trust me.  I've been out there looking and...nope.  This one is kind of okay looking, but it's misleading, because this guy puts eggplant in his lasagne, and I don't.  So whatever.

I originally got this recipe from an LDS ward compiled cookbook, but I've fiddled with it and changed it a ton.  And here's how we like it.

Lasagne

Meat mixture:
2 pounds Italian sausage or ground beef*
1/2 Tbsp parsley
1/2 Tbsp basil
3/4 tsp. salt
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup freshed, chopped tomatoes
2 cans tomato sauce
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

8 ounces lasagne noodles

Cottage cheese mixture:
1 carton of large curd cottage cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp parsley
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced thinly

Brown meat slowly.  Drain the fat off.  Add the rest of the ingredients that are listed under "meat mixture."  Simmer, uncovered, until thick.  Stir occasionally.  Cook noodles in boiling water - follow package instructions for length of time needed.  Drain and rinse in cold water.  Combine all of the ingredients in "cottage cheese mixture."  Place 1/3 of the noodles in a 9X13 pan, then 1/3 of the cottage cheese mixture, 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese slices, and 1/3 of the meat mixture.  Repeat layers.  Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.  Let stand 10-15 minutes before serving.

*  If you go with the Italian sausage option, get it as mild as you possibly can.  Also, if you go with the Italian sausage, don't add the following three ingredients on the list: parsley, basil, or salt.  It's just wayyy too spicy with the spices in the sausage, plus the ones in the ingredients.  If you get ground beef, definitely add those next three spices.

Cheesesteak Subs

Mel's Kitchen Cafe just hits the spot for me.  All the time.  I looove her recipes.  I made these cheesesteak subs of hers last night and they were easy and really yummy.

Cheesesteak Subs

*Makes about 4 sandwiches (more if you are serving kids and can get away with putting less meat on their sub)
INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, halved and sliced into thin half moons
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons A-1 steak sauce
1 pound deli roast beef, cut into 2-inch strips
Salt and pepper
4 (6-inch) sub rolls, split partially open lengthwise
8 slices provolone cheese
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the broiler in your oven and adjust a rack to the upper-middle position. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt the butter, Add the onion and cook until softened and golden, about 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic and oregano and cook for a minute, until it smells fragrant. Add the A-1 sauce and the beef, stirring well to coat the beef with the sauce and onion/butter mixture. Cook until the meat is heated through, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Place the sliced rolls on a rimmed baking sheet. Divide the beef mixture among the rolls. Top with the cheese and broil until the cheese is melted, about 2 minutes (don’t even take your hand off the oven door handle – stand right there so they don’t burn!). Serve immediately.