Sweet Potato Burgers

These sweet potato burgers from How Sweet It Is, was one of those recipes that was met with a raised eyebrow from my husband.  I saw the recipe and knew it would be perfect as a meatless dinner for a Friday over Lent.

Although my husband was skeptical, he gave the burger an honest try.

And it turned out to be awesome!

It gets the carnivore's double thumbs up.

I made one tiny change to the recipe.  I decided against using the roasted garlic cream sauce/spread.  I thought the garlic flavor might be a bit overwhelming.  Instead, we tossed some onion hamburger rolls on the skillet.  They were a really tasty pairing with the sweet potato and avocado.

There was only one other thing I would change about this recipe when I make it again, I'd make more than 4 burgers!  Dividing the recipe into four burgers made some insanely large patties.  Perhaps my sweet potatoes were larger than the average potato?  I think this recipe should make 6 or 7 patties, particularly if you plan on serving any sides with your sandwich.

Sweet Potato Burgers adapted from How Sweet it Is

2 large sweet potatoes, cooked and coarsely mashed
1 c great northern beans (rinsed and drained if canned)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 c whole wheat panko bread crumbs
1/3 c whole wheat flour
1 lg egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 t smoked paprika
1 t onion powder
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1/4 t cumin
2-3 T olive oil
1 avocado, slightly mashed
onion hamburger rolls

Wash, stab, and roast potatoes at 400F for about 50-60 min until fork tender. Let potatoes cool to touch and peel off skins. In lg bowl, coarsely mash beans with a fork. Add in sweet potato and mash together, then add in spices, garlic, egg, panko and flour. Mix then chill for 15-20 min. (I let mine sit in the fridge for an hour.) The chilling helps the patties retain their shape. Heat lg skillet over med heat and add 2 T oil. Remove mixture from fridge and form into 6-7 equal patties, then place in the skillet once hot. (You may have to cook them in batches depending on the size of your skillet) Cook the patties for 5-6 min on one side. Do not move the patties until they are fully cooked and golden on one side or they will fall apart. Add more oil if needed, and flip burgers carefully.  Cook for another 5-6 minutes. Toast or grill buns if desired.

Cheeseburger Casserole

There must be something about having Cheeseburger in the name of the dish that causes me to forget to take a picture.

via

I forgot to take a picture when I made Crockpot Cheeseburger Soup, and I forgot again when I made this Cheeseburger Casserole from Six Sisters Stuff. 

The soup was such a big hit with Blockette, I figured the casserole would be as well.  However, when I was preparing the casserole, it seemed like it would be lacking in the flavors we desired.  I took a hint from the soup recipe and added some paprika and Worcestershire sauce.

While we still think the Cheeseburger soup outranks this casserole, it was a fun spin on the flavor combinations we love so much.

Cheeseburger Casserole adapted from Six Sister's Stuff
3 cups Penne Pasta
2 t olive oil
2 small onions, finely chopped
1/2 roasted red bell pepper, finely chopped
2 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 lb lean ground beef (95% lean) - or you can use ground turkey
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2t smoked paprika
1/2 t garlic powder
2T Worcestershire sauce
28 oz diced tomatoes (I used roasted)
2 T Dijon Mustard
2 c grated cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray 9x13 baking dish. Cook pasta according to package . Drain Well.

In large skillet, heat oil over med-low heat. Add onions and red pepper.  Cook til soft, about 5 min. Stir in garlic and cook 30 sec. Stir in beef and cook until browned; season w pepper, paprika and garlic powder. Add tomatoes, mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Let mixture bubble until it is slightly thickened, about 2 min.

Put noodles in greased pan and pour meat sauce on top. Slightly mix noodles and sauce. Cover with foil and cook 20 min. Take out of oven and remove foil. Add cheese to top and bake 15 min til cheese is melted.  Let stand 10 min before serving.

Cheeseburger Soup in the Crockpot or Not

It's about time for me to forget to take a picture of an amazing dish!  It's soup, so it's not like it would have looked different from any other soup I've made in the past.  I even thought about swiping a picture from an old post, but then I felt guilty.  Ah, that stupid guilt.  It sticks to you like doggie doo doo on the bottom of your tennis shoe.



Anyhow...Cheeseburger soup.  This recipe hails from the blog Kitchen Meets Girl.  Blockette has declared it to be her FAVORITE SOUP of ALL TIME.  She's been talking about it weeks later about how great it is, and when am I going to make it again because it's her FAVORITE! 

The soup is pretty amazing.  It's rich and creamy, cheesy and meaty, just like a cheeseburger in soup form should taste.  The seasonings really do remind you of a grilled burger, another one of Blockette's favorite dishes.  We eat burgers at least once a week in the summer.  The winter is too cold and windy for our grill to heat up properly so I'm sure a lot of the love for this dish is wishful thinking for warmer days. 



The recipe calls for the soup to be baked in a crockpot.  I'm sure it would be faster if you just made it on the stove.  However, if it's one of those nights were you have time to prepare dinner before you do the mad crazy dash of after school activities, the crockpot would be your friend when you come home with a starving family.

I added a few diced carrots and a few handfuls of corn to amp up the veggies.  The original recipe also calls for Velveeta.  I detest Velveeta, so I used a bag of shredded cheddar cheese.  It was the kind from Kraft with the cream cheese in it.  I think it made the soup extra creamy without a ton of actual milk.  I also increased the chicken stock from 3 to 4 cups, only because I store my chicken stock in 4 cup containers and I didn't want to re-freeze a cup of stock.




Cheeseburger Soup adapted from Kitchen Meets Girl
1 T olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 medium onion, diced
3-5 medium celery ribs, diced
1-2 c diced carrots
1-2 c frozen corn
1 lb ground beef
2 T flour
4 c chicken broth
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk ( low-fat is fine)
heaping 1/2 t paprika
1/2 t garlic powder
2 T Worchestershire sauce
1 T yellow mustard
1/4 t kosher salt
1/2 t black pepper
8 ounces cubed or shredded cheddar cheese (I used shredded with cream cheese)
additional cheese for topping, if desired

Preheat olive oil in large skillet over med-high heat. Add garlic, carrot, onion and celery to skillet and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from skillet and place in bottom of your slow cooker.
In same pan, brown hamburger. Drain, and add meat to slow cooker. Leave a few T of the fat in the skillet. Sprinkle flour over fat and cook for 1 min.  Slowly add broth about a 1/2 c at a time. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and allow to cook until just thickened. Pour over meat in slow-cooker.
Stir in your remaining ingredients, through the black pepper, including corn. Cook on low for 2-4 hours. Just before serving, add cheese and stir until it is melted. Top with additional shredded cheese, if desired.

Chicken Burgers and Sweet Potato Fries

In the summer we grill hamburgers at least once a week.  I love it because it means Mrblocko is in charge of dinner.  However, by the time September rolls around, I'm sick of burgers.  Of course I start missing those easy dinners by the time October rolls around, not to mention the tasty goodness of grilled meat.

While this meal of BBQ Chicken burgers and Baked Sweet Potato Fries (both from How Sweet it Is) isn't as speedy preparation wise as those burgers we ate this summer, it is a nice autumnal twist on the whole burger and fry combo.

We ate our burger sans bun and cheese, topped with onions.  The burgers were incredibly moist and paired well with the sweet from the caramelized onions and roasted sweet potatoes.  It was a perfect meal for a warmer fall day that was too windy to use the grill.  Double thumbs up from the whole Blocko clan.

BBQ Chicken Burgers from How Sweet it Is (makes 4)
1 lb gr chicken (I used semi frozen breast and my stand mixer w the meat grinder attachment)
1/4 c finely grated sharp cheddar
1 t smoked paprika
1/2 t onion powder
1/4 t garlic powder
1/2 t black pepper
1/4 cup BBQ sauce (We used Sweet Baby Ray's Honey Chipotle cause it's our fav.)
2 onions, sliced into half moon rounds
1 T olive oil

In lg bowl, combine chicken, BBQ, spices and cheese. Mix just til combined, and form 4 patties. Preheat skillet and cook burgers until fully cooked through about 8 min per side. (Remember these burgers are chicken, not beef.  You want them cooked all the way through. Salmonella is not your friend.) While burgers cooking, heat med skillet on med heat with olive oil. Cook onions til caramelized, about 10 min. Top burgers with onions(and cheese, BBQ sauce, lettuce and a bun if desired.)


Sweet Potato Fries (serves 2-3)  from How Sweet it Is
2 lg sweet potatoes
3 T olive oil
1 t salt
1 t pepper
1/2 t smoked paprika
2 T br sugar

Preheat oven to 425F.

If desired, peel potatoes and cut into wedges of desired size and shape. Add potatoes to bowl, combine w remaining ingred. Toss with hands so every wedge is coated. Set a wire rack on a baking sheet and spray with non-stick spray. Lay wedges on wire rack. Bake for 25 min, then check to see if potatoes are done. Rotate and bake for 15 minutes. They may need  5-10 min after that. (I did not have a wire rack so my potatoes did not get as crisp as I would have hoped, but nevertheless they were omnomnom good.)

Salsa Meatloaf Bites

We really don't eat meatloaf a lot in this house. I'm not sure why. I couldn't even remember the last time I made it.  Blockette couldn't remember EVER eating it.

That's probably why she freaked out, in a bad way, when I told her I was making salsa meatloaf bites from Semi Homemade Mom.

She'd been reading this series, Dear Dumb Diary, from the Library.  Apparently, there is something mentioned about meatloaf in the book and how disgusting it was.  Or maybe it was made from weird things.  I don't know, and I don't think I really want to know.  Somethings are better left in the dark.  (ie tales of school cafeteria mystery meat)

Boy was Blockette surprised when she tried the meatloaf.  It was actually good!

As you can see in the above picture, I served them with these super quick and easy cornbread muffins.  (Incidentally, as a side note, if you're going to make those cornbread muffins, don't use paper liners.  I thought I'd be tricky and save some clean up time, but the paper stuck to the muffins something terrible.)

It was strangely amusing to eat a meal that consisted of similarly shaped food.

Blockette said they would be better if they weren't covered in Salsa.  She doesn't like salsa for some reason so don't pay any attention to her.  I thought the salsa combo was awesome.

What I didn't like was this:



Baking the meatloaf in the muffin tins caused the grease from the meat to just pool up around the meat.  I attempted to soak up some of the fat with a paper towel.  Just looking at all that grease grosses me out.

Of course Mrblocko predicted this would happen.  He suggested just baking them on a cookie sheet, but I thought that if they were in the muffin tin, they might crisp up a bit more where they came in contact with the pan.  No such luck.  Next time I make these I'll bake them on a sheet pan, meatball style.  That way I can get rid of the fat as they are cooking.

Salsa Meatloaf Bites makes 12 mini meatloaves by Semi Homemade Mom 1lb lean ground beef  2 T dried, minced onion (I grated 1/2 of a very small onion)
1 egg  16 buttery crackers l(I used a store brand generic Club cracker)  2 c shredded cheddar cheese, divided (I used Mexican with jalapeno)
1 c chunky salsa, divided
Crush crackers. Mix meat, onion, egg, 1 c cheese, and 1/2 c salsa in large bowl. Add cracker crumbs and mix with hands to combine. Press meat mixture evenly among 12 muffin cups (or divide into 12 meatballs and place on foil lined rimmed baking sheet). Bake 400F for 25 min, test to be sure meat is at least 160F. Top each meatloaf with a spoonful of remaining salsa and sprinkling of cheese. Bake 5 min til cheese melts.

Hamburger Buns

I had a bit of a crazy streak the other day. I planned to make sloppy joes for dinner, and thought, why not make some hamburger buns as well. This was my first attempt at making hamburger buns. I used the recipe for hamburger buns from Alisa Cooks.

I think this was a pretty decent recipe for a hamburger bun beginner like myself.  From start to finish they took under an hour to make.  Not too shabby in my opinion.

The biggest problem with these rolls was that they never really browned.  I baked the rolls in the above picture for 20 minutes.  The recipe says they only need 10-12 minutes.  Maybe if I had left the rolls in for 30 minutes they would have browned.  As it was, the rolls were probably slightly undercooked in the middle.  It's nothing horrible.  The middles were more gummy than I would have preferred.  It did not in any way hinder anyone from eating the buns.

I also made the mistake of not smooshing the rolls down.  I sort of left them poofed up like a dinner roll.  As a result, they looked more roll-ish than bun-like.

Even with all my personal difficulties with this recipe, I'd recommend this to the beginner bread baker, or the baker who is short on time.  Give these hamburger buns a try and let me know what you think!

Quick Wheat Hamburger Buns from Alisa Cooks
2 T Active Dry Yeast
1 C Warm Water
1/3 C Oil
 1/4 C Sugar
 1 Egg
1 t Salt
2 C All-Purpose or White Bread Flour
1 1/2 to 1 3/4 C Whole Wheat Flour

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in oil and sugar, and let mixture stand for 5 min.
Add egg, salt, white flour, and 1 1/2 c wheat flour, combining til forms soft dough.  Add additional 1/4 c wheat flour as needed to prevent dough from sticking to your hands (if you need a little more, that is okay too). Knead dough by hand until it is smooth and elastic, about 5 min or so. Divide dough into 8 pieces, shape each into a thick disc, and place them on baking sheets 3" apart.  Preheat oven to 425ºF. Lightly cover dough and let them rest for 10 min (or longer if you wish). Bake 10-12 min, or until nicely browned. Cool on a wire rack.  Yields 8 buns

Pumpkin Sloppy joes

I made these Pumpkin sloppy joes from Taste of Home for the first time back in 2008.  I had been doing my weekly meal planning, which included Garlic Pork Fried Rice.  The recipe for Pumpkin sloppy joes just happened to be printed on the same page as the fried rice. 

This version of sloppy joes is a nice change from the basic Manwich.  Although, if you are sensitive, you might be able to taste the pumpkin.  Blockette said she could, but she thought it was great. 

I like to add 1/2-1 t cumin to our version.  It adds a little bit more smoky flavor.  If we were all fans of things with a little heat, I'd add some chipotle powder as well.

My sloppy joe mix was a bit on the thick side so I added some water.  Be very careful when you do this because I went a bit too far in the other direction, adding too much water.  This just made our joes extra sloppy.  I could have let it simmer for longer to let more of the water evaporate, but I was too lazy and hungry to do that.

 Pumpkin Sloppy Joes from Taste of Home

1 pound ground beef or turkey

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 garlic clove, minced

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons prepared mustard

2 teaspoons chili powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

In a large skillet, cook beef, onion and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the pumpkin, tomato sauce, brown sugar, mustard, chili powder and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.  Serve on buns as you would good old Sloppy joes.  I like mine with cheddar and lots of dill pickles!

BBQ Turkey Burgers

Are you getting tired of burgers midway through the summer? We usually have them at least once a week and sometimes I just want something different.

This time I made BBQ Chicken burgers from Tracy's Culinary Adventures. They were pretty good as far as ground poultry burgers go.  I do prefer beef burgers, but turkey was a nice change.  I think that what was tripping me up was the grit from the cornmeal.  I used the fine ground stuff, but occasionally I'd get this sandy texture.  I bet if I crumbled up some cornbread muffins I'd still get the flavorful filler without the grit.

Barbecue Chicken Burgers from Tracy's Culinary Adventures
1/4 cup cornmeal
1 scallion, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
pinch cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons light brown sugar
5 tablespoons barbecue sauce, divided
1 lb ground chicken (I used ground turkey)

Add the cornmeal, scallion, parsley, paprika, garlic powder, dry mustard, kosher salt, pepper, brown sugar and 2 tablespoons of the barbecue sauce to a medium bowl. Stir to combine. Add the ground chicken and use your hands to gently mix the ingredients together until incorporated. Set aside the remaining 3 tablespoons of barbecue for brushing the burgers as they cook.

Divide the chicken mixture into 4 equal portions, and shape each into a patty. Put the burgers on a plate, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Set a grill pan over medium to medium-high heat. Spray the pan with nonstick cooking spray. Put the burgers on the pan, and cook for 3-4 minutes on the first side. Flip the burgers and brush the top (cooked side) with some of the reserved barbecue sauce. Cook for about 3 minutes on the second side then flip once more and brush the other side with the remainder of the reserved sauce. Add the cheese (if using), and allow it to melt. (These cooking times are an estimate - you're looking for a final internal temperature of 165 F - avoid overcooking or the burger will be dry.)

Makes 4 burgers

Beer Burgers

Just a short post today about these spicy beer burgers from about.com.

They were really nice and moist, and tasted pretty good.  I think they would have knocked my socks off if we had used a beer I actually liked.  However, the only beer we had in the house was this stuff leftover from Christmas called Noche Buena, that I think smells horrible.  So my lesson for today is: unless you want a mediocre burger, use a beer you really like.


Beer Burgers adapted slightly from about.com
1.5 lb 80/20 gr beef
1 egg
1 sm onion minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3-1/2 c bread crumbs
half a beer
scant 1 T Worcestershire sauce
1/4 t cayenne
1/2 t smoked paprika
1/2 T prepared mustard
 salt and pepper to taste

Combine meat, onions, garlic, eggs, bread crumbs, Worcestershire sauce, beer, and seasonings in a large bowl. Shape mixture into patties about 3/4 of an inch thick. Preheat grill for medium heat. Place patties onto grill rack and cook for 7-9 minutes per side.

French Onion Soup Burger

I found this recipe for Campbell's French Onion Soup Burgers in some magazine I got for free in the mail.  When Mrblocko saw the torn page on the counter I think he inhaled 99% of the air in the room. 

"When are you gonna make that?!!!  That looks awesome."

Heh.

See, I don't think he read the recipe.  In fact I know he didn't.  He thought the condensed French Onion Soup went inside the burger. Nope.  You sear the burgers and then sort of saute them in the undiluted soup.

The burger was about as anti-climatic as this picture is.

Mark this recipe down as another one where I have set my expectations too high.

I think my main problem with these burgers was that there was no actual onion flavor in the burgers.  The only way to get any onion flavors was to keep dipping the burger in the sauce. Which is what we did.

The other problem I had with this burger was that it used canned soup. Yeah yeah yeah.  I know.  Duh. Duh. Double Duh. This should be a no brainer, but acting like I have no brains is my specialty so go figure. 

I keep forgetting how much of a processed funky aftertaste canned soup has.  I use it so rarely. When I do, it's usually mixed into a casserole where the other ingredients mask that weird chemical flavor.  (If you have a lot of processed or canned foods in your diet, this won't be an issue for you.  I never noticed the odd aftertaste until I stopped eating them for a few months.)  This recipe has two ingredients, soup and meat; so there is nowhere for the processed taste to hide.


Cambell's French Onion Soup Burgers from Cambell's Kitchen
1 pound ground beef
1 can (10 1/2 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed French Onion Soup
4 slices cheese (I used swiss)
4 hamburger buns

Shape the beef into 4 (1/2-inch-thick) burgers. Heat a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the burgers and cook until well browned on both sides. Remove the burgers from the skillet. Pour off any fat.

Stir the soup in the skillet and heat to a boil. Return the burgers to the skillet. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the burgers are cooked through. Top the burgers with the cheese and cook until the cheese is melted. Serve the burgers on the buns with the soup mixture for dipping.

BBQ Onion Rings and Burgers of Extreme Goodness

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Cheeseburger Soup

I've had this Cheeseburger Soup from She Who Makes on my to do list since August. I'm not big on soup in August. No matter how tasty it is. I'd much rather have an actual cheeseburger. Now, December, that's a different story. I could eat soup every day. Every. Day.

This soup does taste quite a bit like a cheeseburger.  I bumped up the cheeseburgery flavors by swapping out the salt and pepper for the same grill seasoning we use on our burgers.  Yeah.  I think that sends this soup over the top on goodness.  Wait, adding bacon would send this soup over the top on goodness.  But then it wouldn't be cheeseburger soup, it'd be a bacon cheeseburger soup!

Cheeseburger Soup from She Who Makes
1 pound Ground Turkey or Beef
3/4 cup copped onion
3/4 cup shredded carrot
3/4 cup chopped celery
4 cups diced potatoes (peeled or unpeeled, I use 6 small potatoes, peeled)
1 tsp basil
1 tsp parsley
3 cups chicken broth
2 Tbsp melted butter
1/4 cup flour
8 oz shredded cheese
1 1/2 cup milk
Salt and Pepper (I used McCormick's Grill Seasoning to taste instead)
1/4 cup sour cream, optional

Saute the meat and veggies until tender. Drain off fat. Stir in basil and parsley. Add potatoes and chicken broth, bringing to a boil and then simmering until potatoes are soft. Meanwhile combine melted butter and flour. Stir this into soup after potatoes are cooked. Once soup is thickened, stir in cheese, milk and seasonings until cheese is melted. Keep it on low heat so the milk doesn't curdle. Stir in sour cream, if desired right before serving.

Blow Your Mind Sloppy Joes

Soccer practice night is a bit hectic. We have to leave the house by 5:45, which doesn't leave much room for screwing around at dinner time, eating or preparation wise.  One night I was particularly pressed for time so I whipped out a good old fashioned can of Manwich...and steeled myself for a fight.

Oh, Blockette likes Manwich well enough, it's just the bun she doesn't particularly care for.  My daughter, who loves carbs in all other forms, doesn't like hot dog or hamburger buns.  But this time I had an ace up my sleeve.  You see, back in September I saw this post for lunch lady sloppy joes over at Simply Scratch.  The idea is brilliant.

I told Blockette I was going to BLOW HER MIND.  First, I got out a hot dog bun for the sloppy joes, instead of the boring ordinary hamburger buns.  I could have just stopped here.  A hot dog bun, for sloppy joes?  Blockette was floored and amazed at this minor change.

Then I said, "Oh just wait.  I'm really gonna blow your mind."  And I whipped out the cheese sticks...and I stuck that cheese stick. In. The. Bun.

Whoa...

Her mind was sufficiently blown. And I continue to hold the trophy for the world's best mother.  (::insert visual image of me headbanging and playing the air guitar.::)

Basic Hamburgers

We've been making lots and lots of burgers this summer, thanks to having a grill that actually cooks the food without burning it. What a difference that makes. I like charred food, but charred is different from burnt and over cooked.

When we had my in-laws over for Blockette's birthday Mrblocko wanted to have burgers for dinner. Since we've had so many different types of burgers this summer, I told him he needed to be a bit more specific.

He asked, "Can we just have plain burgers?"

I said, "Just plain hamburgers? Meat with nothing else? Won't that taste a bit bland?"

Mrblocko replied, "Well, look on the internet and find something, that has a bit of seasoning, but is really basic."

So I did a search and came up with 10 different possiblities. Mrblocko found something wrong with all of them, until he came to the last one, which I call the no frills tasty hamburger.

Here is the recipe:
1 1/4 lb ground beef ( 20% fat)
3 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp montreal steak seasoning

mix, form into patties, and cook to your desired doneness.

They were exactly what we were looking for. Personally, I prefer burgers to have more seasoning, but they were very tasty and moist. I'll be making these again when Mrblocko gets a craving for plain old hamburgers.

Turkey Bean Taco Burgers

These burgers were delish. I thought they tasted just like a big burrito on a bun. I liked that they were so inexpensive to make too. Ground turkey is a $1 a pound on sale near me, and the meat gets stretched out further by adding rice and beans.
Blockette and Mrblocko didn't like this nearly as much as I did. That's ok. More for me! At one point Blockette started to pick the beans out of her burger, but once she realized she would have to eat the beans plain if she did that, the picking stopped. Surprisingly, she ate the rest of the burger without complaints. Ok. So it was not so surprisingly since we told her if she kept complaining about the beans she wouldn't get any ice cream for dessert.

We ate these burgers with salsa and sour cream on top. If I had guacamole or an avocado it would have been even tastier. The original recipe does in fact call for an avocado as a topping ingredient, but I forgot to pick one up at the store.

I made quite a few changes to the recipe so I'm going to post all my changes below. Here is a link to the original recipe for Black Bean Turkey Burrito Burgers from the Rachael Ray Show. One word of warning, don't put these guys on the grill. They will make a huge mess. They are meant to be cooked on a pan. Besides, if you cook them on the grill, the cheese in the patties will melt out. If the burgers are cooked on a pan, the cheese will get nice and crusty. Trust me, you want that. Your taste buds will thank you.

Turkey Bean Taco Burgers (Adapted from The Rachael Ray Show)
1 lb ground turkey
1 c cooked leftover rice
1 can black beans drained and rinsed
1 4oz chunk Colby jack, cut into 1/4 in dice
1/4 c cilantro, chopped
1 small red onion, minced
2 tablespoon chili powder
2 tablespoon grill seasoning
4 teaspoons ground cumin
2 tablespoon hot sauce (optional)
2 tablespoons EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil

In a bowl, combine the ground turkey, cooked rice, beans, cheese, cilantro, red onion, chili powder, grill seasoning, cumin and hot sauce. I made my burgers into 7 regular sized patties, and 2 Kid size patties. Preheat a large, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat with 2 turns of the pan of EVOO, about 2 tablespoons. Cook patties 6-7 minutes on each side, until cooked through. Serve with salsa, sour cream, tomatoes and avocados.

Turtle Burgers Two Ways

When it comes down to the bricks and sticks, I can't decide which one would be more gross to actually consume,
Low Carb Turtle Burger 1:

OR...

Triple heart attack (One burger = pound of beef +1/2 a pound of bacon+ three hotdogs)Turtle Burger 2:

Turkey Pesto Burgers

Pesto turkey burgers...first I have to say, "Duh." I forgot to take a picture of this burger. The camera was even sitting right there on the kitchen counter. Why must I be so hungry at mealtimes??? I get hungry and all I can think about is eating the food, not taking pictures of it. I really wonder how people with successful blogs do it. Do they have to make the dish more than once because they are too famished to remember to snap a pic?? Well, if I'm going to mess up and forget to take a photo of something is might as well have been this burger. Looking at it, it doesn't look different from any other meat patty.

I found the recipe on a blog called Oishii. In case you didn't know, oishii is Japanese for delicious. You'd better believe this Turkey Pesto burger was oishii...totemo oishii. I did have to make a slight variation though...you know I always do. I used store bought pesto.

Hopefully you have recovered from your shock and horror of this dreadful admission. I did have every intention of making pesto from scratch. First, both of my Basil plants have not fared well. The purple one is dead dead dead. The regular basil is struggling and only has a few salvageable leaves. My uncle gave me several basil plants but they are all seedlings still. Hopefully, at least one of them will thrive enough for me to make at least one batch of pesto from scratch.

Anyhow, so I thought I'd just pick up a bunch of basil from the grocery store. Um no. They sell bunches of mint, parsley and cilantro. The basil is in a little clam shell plastic container. I would have needed to buy at least 6 of them. No way. The jar of premade pesto cost less than one package of basil. Insane!!!

This recipe was so super easy, esp since I used the store bought pesto. I just took four spoonfuls from my handy dandy jar of Classico Basil Pesto Sauce and mixed them up with a pound of ground turkey. That's it!

The original plan was make this before we went to go visit my mom in Minnesota ,but our leftovers stretched out a day longer than I expected. The ground turkey had already been sitting in the fridge for several days, and I thought it might exceed its life expectancy if it was left there too much longer. I had done something moronic and let chicken defrost on that same plate. Well, as you can imagine, the chicken got its salmonillariffic juices on the ground turkey wrapper, so refreezing the turkey was not really an option. So, I mixed up the burgers, formed them into individual patties and popped the patties in the freezer.

I took the burgers out the night before we were going to eat them. By the next day they were still partially frozen. Mrblocko said that he thought this was a good thing. The burgers were very moist when I shaped them. I think their slightly frozen state helped keep them from falling apart on the grill. Mrblocko thought that he might have over cooked them, but if he did, they were not dry in the least. The next time I make these, if I freeze them first, I'll be sure to give them a light coating of olive oil as they stuck a bit on the grill.

Pesto Turkey burgers from Oishii
2-3 cups of basil leaves, washed and dried*
a big handful of walnut pieces, lightly toasted in a skillet
1 clove of garlic
a handful of Parmesan cheese
juice of 1/2 a lime
about 1/4 cup of olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
1 lb. ground turkey
hamburger buns of your choice
1 sweet white onion, sliced into thick rings
tomato slices
mayo

First, make the pesto: Combine the basil, mizuna (if using), walnuts, garlic, Parmesan, and lime juice in a food processor. Process until smooth. With the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil, until it reaches a good consistency. Season with salt & pepper. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed. Pour pesto into a small bowl, cover, and refrigerate until use (Makes about 1 cup – more than needed for the burgers, but you can freeze it if you want).

Place the ground turkey in a large bowl. Season the top with salt & pepper. Add 3 or 4 heaping spoonfuls of pesto to the bowl. Mix with your hands until pesto is incorporated into the meat. Divide meat into 4-5 portions (depending on how thick you like your burgers), form patties, and place on a plate. Cover and chill while you prepare the grill.

Brush the tops and bottoms of the buns with olive oil and set aside. Brush onion slices with olive oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Grill onions until nice and charred, about 3-4 minutes on each side.

Grill burgers about 4-5 minutes on each side. When the burgers are almost done, grill the tops and bottoms of the buns until golden and toasty.

Chili Burgers

I found this recipe for Chili burgers on a portobello bun on 30 Minute Meals back in 2004. 2004...that feels like twelve lifetimes ago. Or at least the lifetime before Blockette and the lifetime before I could be any kind of reliable in the kitchen.

These burgers are nice and easy to make. There is also the added benefit of using this recipe three different ways. 1. Burger with mushroom bun. 2. Burger with regular bun. 3. Mushroom with regular bun.

This time we decided to go with option two, plain chili burger. The recipe calls for topping the burger with red peppers and cilantro/parsley. We always skip that step and add grilled onions instead. The smoked cheese isn't necessary either. Just use whatever kind of cheese you like on chili, if you like cheese on your chili. We usually use colby jack or sharp cheddar.

As I was gathering my mise en place, I discovered I only had a half of a tablespoon of Chili Powder. How does that happen? Usually I'm pretty on top of my spices. For some reason I thought that I had just bought chili powder last week. Nope, turns out I just bought cumin. They both start with "C". Easy to get the wires crossed right? (I'm sure my mom just said, "Right." in her head just now. At least she understands!)

Of course I was too lazy to go to the store just for chili powder, so I looked in the spice rack to see what might be a suitable substitute. I came across a container of cajun style seasoning and another of bangkok blend. Both of these were free samples from the Penzey Spice catalog. I thought either one might be a reasonable substitute for chili powder as they each contained similar ingredients. I let Blockette smell them and let her nose decide. She settled on the cajun style seasoning. It must have been a good choice as none of us could tell a difference from the original chili powder version of the burger.



Rachael Ray's Open Faced Chili Burgers
4 portobello mushroom caps
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, eyeball the amount
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar, a splash
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, eyeball it, plus extra for drizzling
1 1/2 pounds ground sirloin
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons dark chili powder, a palm full
1 tablespoon steak seasoning blend
8 ounces smoked white cheddar or smoked gouda, sliced
2 roasted red peppers
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves or flat-leaf parsley

Preheat grill pan or large nonstick griddle pan over medium high to high heat. Brush mushroom caps with damp towel to clean them. Scrape away gills with a spoon. Combine Worcestershire sauce with balsamic vinegar, then whisk in 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil. Brush mushrooms with dressing. Grill mushrooms on hot grill pan or griddle for 3 or 4 minutes on each side, until tender. Transfer to a plate and cover loosely with foil to keep warm.

Combine meat in a bowl with onion, garlic, jalapeno, tomato paste, chili powder and steak seasoning blend. Form meat into 4 large (1 1/2 inch-thick) patties. Grill meat 4 to 7 minutes on each side for medium-rare to well done burgers. Melt cheese over burgers during the last minute or 2 the meat is on the grill. A loose foil tent will help the cheese melt quicker.

While the meat cooks, grind the roasted red peppers in a food processor with cilantro or parsley.To assemble, place a portobello cap-side-down on a plate and spread a spoonful or 2 of the ground roasted red peppers into the cavity. Top with a chili-smoked cheese burger and serve

Butter Burger

Well, I certainly have been awful at remembering to take pictures of the things I make. I guess I should stop being so hungry at dinner time. When I see the food, all I can think about is eating the food. Photography always ends up as an afterthought. Oh well. That's what your imagination is for right?

Shortly after Mrblocko got his swanky new grill, I did the typical nerdy thing and went to the library to check out books on grilling. Not that I would do any actual grilling on Mrblocko's grill. That is his toy. I don't want to go near it, just like I wouldn't want him to go near my sewing machine. That's MY toy.

Anyhow, in one of the books I checked out, they suggested putting a pat of compound butter in the middle of the uncooked hamburger patty. The butter was supposed to melt and help insure the meat retained its moisture during the cooking process.

So, I softened a stick of butter, and added some chopped parsley, oregano, basil and chives fresh from my rinky dink garden. Then I minced 2 cloves of garlic and mashed all that stuff up with the butter. With the aid of some plastic wrap, I formed that gooey mess into a tube about the same size and shape as the original stick of butter. Then I waited while my fancy butter chilled out in the freezer until it solidified.

I was less that thrilled with the burgers. I guess my expectations were overly high. The assumption I made was that the herbs from the compound butter would flavor the meat. Nope. The burger tasted like an ordinary run of the mill hamburger. It was very moist though.

The thing is, we haven't had a problem with our grill turning out dry hamburgers. I think I'd rather save that compound butter for something where I can appreciate all it's flavors, like on toast. It's scrumptious on toast!

Thai Burgers

Hey it's a burger! So what. Big deal. This isn't just any burger, but a burger that incorporates a lot of flavors in Thai food. Num. Num. Gimme some!Ok, so this burger isn't for everyone. Say, like my best friend, who can't stand peanut sauces or cilantro. She would not like this burger. But, if you are among the majority who like peanut butter in any way shape or form, you are gonna love this dish.

Whenever possible, I get Mrblocko to do the burger mixing. I hate the squishy feel of raw meat. I'm not so grossed out that I can't handle raw meat. It's just like killing bugs. If there is someone else around that I can convince to do the job, I'm gonna utilize them.

Mrblocko said he thought the burgers were going to be nasty as he was making the patties. Peanut butter? In a burger? Ew. He was not afraid to admit he was wrong. All the flavors are very complimentary. There is a great balance of sweet from the peanut butter and brown sugar, spice from the ginger and red pepper flakes, and tangy from the lime and soy sauce.

You could omit the cilantro if you are a hater. I happen to love cilantro, and when it is added to all the flavors I mentioned above, it brings out that Thai food vibe. Sadly, my cilantro plant is still too wee to harvest. I had to use dried cilantro which isn't that great in my opinion. Fresh is best. Still, I'm glad I used the dried cilantro, rather than skipping that flavor note all together.

This burger is very moist so keep that in mind if you are grilling it. A gentle touch is needed when flipping. If we had our old grill, the burger would have fallen through the grate and been a nasty burnt mess. If your grill is temperamental, or you don't have one, the burgers could just as easily be cooked in a pan on the stove or under the broiler.

You can find the recipe for Thai-Style Burgers over at Cookie Baker Lynn.
1-1/2 lbs ground chuck
1/2 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter
2 Tbsp sour cream
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp minced fresh cilantro leaves
2 Tsp peeled and grated fresh ginger
2 tsp light brown sugar
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp finely ground black pepper
6 hamburger buns, grilled or toasted
Lettuce, sliced tomatoes, and sliced onions
Barbecue sauce of your choice

Prepare a medium-hot fire in your grill. Combine the beef, peanut butter, sour cream, soy sauce, lime juice, cilantro, ginger, brown sugar, red pepper, salt, and black pepper in a large bowl, blending well with your hands. Shape into six patties 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick. Place the burgers directly over the coals, cover and grill to your desired degree of doneness, 5 to 7 minutes for medium rare. Place the burgers on the buns ad top with lettuce, tomato, onion, and barbecue sauce.
Makes 6 servings.