Working With What You Have: Peppery Chicken Burgers

Since I am going home for Easter weekend, I am trying to make as little trips to the grocery store as possible. I do not like to waste food, so I have been concocting recipes with ingredients already in my freezer and fridge. In a rush to use the almost-gone-bad arugula and mushrooms in my veggie drawer and having found organic ground chicken hiding under the gallon of Blue Bell Vanilla ice cream, I got to work.

Ground chicken and turkey can be sort of... bland. Mainly because it has nearly no fat. Whenever I work with these ingredients I do my best to make them as flavorful as possible. This recipe is sure beat the bland and leave you satisfied!

Peppery Chicken Burgers

2 cups (or more-it cooks down a lot) arugula (a peppery tasting lettuce)

1 cup sliced mushrooms (I used a gourmet mixture I found on sale at the store but you can use any kind you like!)

1 shallot, sliced

1 T butter

3 T Olive Oil

3/4 pound ground chicken

Salt

Pepper

1 garlic clove, minced

1 lemon, juiced

1 T Dijon Mustard

Placed the ground chicken in a medium sized bowl, season with one teaspoon of salt and one half teaspoon pepper. To that add 1 T Olive Oil, the minced garlic, lemon juice and Dijon mustard. Mix with clean hands and set aside.

In a large frying pan melt 1 T (or more if you need it) of butter and 1 T Olive Oil. To that add the shallot, mushrooms, and a pinch of salt and cook until soft. Add the arugula and cook until it is completely wilted.

Transfer the frying pan mixture into the bowl with the turkey and mix well. It will be soft and moist and you'll find mushroom caps and arugula stems sticking out every which way, but don't worry! Form into five or six patties.

When you are ready to fry, drizzle the last T Olive Oil in the pan. Fry for 5 minutes on each side. Serve in between buns or thick bakery bread.

Pasta Potluck & Recipe Flop

Potluck parties are fun. Who doesn't love the possibility that everyone will bring a dessert? Or, at this particular potluck, bring a split between dessert dishes and pasta dishes. Even better! This was the second annual get together potluck and with the exception of my dried out pasta, (will explain below) it turned out to be a wonderful night.

On the menu? Green salad with toasted almonds and craisins, Chicken Tetrazzini, Fettucini Alfredo with Scallops, and, albeit dry, Rotini with artichoke hearts, spinach, and Reggianno Parmesan. For dessert? Pineapple Upsidedown Cake, Pound Cake with Masserated Strawberries, Marble Cake with Fudgey Icing, Z-Bars, White & Dark Chocolate Fudge, and Brownies with Raspberry Preserves running through them. Heaven on Earth? I would say yes.

After I was done consuming creamy, buttery pasta and a taste of, yes, every single dessert, I began to ponder about my dry pasta. The original idea came from a spin on spinach artichoke dip. I scanned many recipes including a pasta version from Rachael Ray's Express Lane Cookbook and a pasta bake from this months Real Simple Magazine. Both recipes called for basically the same thing: spinach, short pasta, marinated artichoke hearts, 8 oz. mozzarella cheese, and 4 oz. Parmesan.

I know that baking pasta can dry it out but I knew something else was missing. After rereading the recipe in Real Simple, I noticed it called for CREAMED spinach. To be honest, I wanted to make a rue (flour, sugar, milk) and add the cheeses too it but I didn't because I wanted to "follow the recipe". I guess if I had followed the recipe, cream spinach including, the moist pasta dish I had anticipated would have turned out!

That is truly the joy of cooking. The more you do it the better you get and the more knowledge you obtain. So here is the retested recipe from the April issue of Real Simple Magazine. I hope you will try it as it only takes 25 minutes to prepare!

Cheesy Baked Pasta with Spinach and Artichokes

8 oz short pasta

1 14 oz can/jar marinated artichokes, I like Alessi brand

1 9 oz package frozen creamed spinach, thawed

1/4 grated parmesan

1 cups grated mozzarella

Black pepper

Cook pasta according to the box. Ehen the water comes to boil remember to salt the water really well... a big pinch! This will flavor the pasta. Drain the pasta and return it to the dish.

When the pasta is done, go ahead and heat the broiler.

Add the artichoke hearty, spinach, Parm, half the mozzarella, and 1/4 t pepper to the pasta and toss to combine.

Transfer the mixture to a small oven proof dish and cover the top with the remaining mozzarella. Broil until cheese is browned. About 2 or 3 minutes.

Strawberry Country Cake

The day after my Tangy White Bean Dip success, I brought some to my Grandmother. To put it simply: she loved it. After a quiet lunch of my dip and her Spanish Bean Soup with turnip greens, we settled down in the living room and began looking through her collection of cookbooks. Scanning the colorful pages is one of my favorite lazy day activities. "The Barefoot Contessa" AKA Ina Garten has written some of the most beautiful (not to mention fool proof) cookbooks I have ever read. I almost feel that it is hard to find one that is better written and easier to work from. "Simple food is the best food,"she says. People want to know what they are eating. No, no, they don't have to see every ingredient but it's not a bad idea for guests to have a general idea of what they are about to be indulging in. For example, I make sure to drizzle some fruity EVOO and a few whole black olives on my white bean dip.

Ina also writes in The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, "Food is not meant to impress people but to make them feel comfortable." With all of this new knowledge in my head, I just knew I had to being one of her recipes to my 3 year high school reunion. I decided on her Strawberry Country Cake. It is light refreshing and with lemon and orange zest in the batter it screams Spring! I also brought my bean dip to the party. Both items were enjoyed and devoured. My dear friend made the cake for her family that weekend and another friend made the bean dip the next day.

I hope you will make both recipes. You are sure to enjoy them!

*I infused my cakes with a lemon simple syrup made with equal parts lemon juice and sugar. I also make one 4-layer cake instead of 2 double layer cakes*

Strawberry Country Cake

• 
  
• Cake:
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup sour cream, at room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 
  
• For the filling for each cake:
• 1 cup (1/2 pint) heavy cream, chilled
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
• 
  
• Directions:
• 
  
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Butter the bottom of two 8-inch cake pans. Then line them with parchment paper and butter and flour the lined pans.
• 
  
• Cream the butter and sugar on high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. On medium speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, then the sour cream, zests, and vanilla, scraping down the bowl as needed. Mix well. Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda. On low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and combine just until smooth.
• 
  
• Pour the batter evenly into the pans, smooth the tops, and bake in the center of the oven for 40 to 45 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then remove to wire racks and let cool to room temperature. If using 1 cake, wrap the second well and freeze.
• 
  
• To make the filling for one cake, whip the cream, sugar, and vanilla in a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until firm. Slice one of the cakes in half with a long, sharp knife. Place the bottom slice of the cake on a serving platter, spread with 1/2 the whipped cream and scatter with sliced strawberries. Cover with the top slice of the cake and spread with the remaining cream. Decorate with strawberries.

Good News From Home

It feels good to be home for Spring break. A Whole Foods 5 minutes from the house and a huge kitchen to work in makes me a very happy girl!

Last night, while visiting my Grandma, I received inspiring news. In an effort to stop taking the medication prescribed to her for diabetes and blood pressure, my Grandmother has decided to adopt a diet free of animal products! Me, having a diet that consists of about 90% plant products, was thrilled that she was making such a natural change for a better and more energetic life! Changing my diet has had a deeply positive impact on my life and seeing my Grandmother, a woman that I so admire, take a similar path just made me giddy inside!

So what made her make the change? A late night documentary on WEDU hosted by Dr. Neal Barnard, a world renown doctor and nutrition expert. He has written many books such as Breaking the Food Seduction, Food for Life, and Dr. Neal T. Barnard's Program for Reversing Diabetes. He has also written forwards to numerous books including one of my favorite Vegan cookbooks The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone. All of which can be found at Amazon.com

Here is a recipe inspired by my Italian, and now vegetarian (!), Grandmother:

Tangy White Bean Dip

1 large or 2 small garlic cloves

Juice of 1 lemon

Salt and pepper to taste

1 can drained and rinsed Great Northern beans

1 jar artichoke hearts plus 1 tbsp of the juice they are packed in, Vigo brand is awesome!

A handful of Kalamata olives, pitted

2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Throw it all in the food processor and blend until desired texture is reached. Serve with baby carrots, celery, fennel, grape tomatoes, pita chips, or any other crudite you like!

Enjoy!