Pam's Sublime Turkey Burgers

Sometimes you just have a good idea and have to implement it. The inspiration for this recipe came from the fresh mint growing in our garden. I have used mint before in turkey burgers, and remembered that I also have drizzled said burgers with lemon juice. I took this idea to the next level by making my own mayonnaise using lemon-infused olive oil.

For two burgers I used:

1/2 lb. ground turkey
a few dashes each of salt and pepper
about a dozen fresh mint leaves, minced
a few shakes of crumbled feta cheese

Patties were hand formed and cooked on the stovetop.

For the mayonnaise I used

1 uber-fresh local egg gifted by a friend
1 dollop of lemon-infused olive oil
1 dollop of basil-infused olive oil
a few shakes each of salt and pepper

The ingredients were put in the blender and mixed until emulsified. The result was a bit heavy on the olive oil taste, so I added some more salt until there was a better balance. 

Burgers were placed on sesame buns and topped with the mayonnaise.

We enjoyed this on the back deck with some white wine and potato chips. Bats and birds helped to create an ideal atmosphere. The evening was complete when we got to watch the best back-yard lightning-bug show so far this season.

Chicken Breasts in Cherry Sauce

I adapted this recipe from the New York Times Cooking Pages recipe Duck with Cherries and Red Wine Vinegar. Besides substituting chicken for duck, I also substituted Dr. McGillicuddy's Cherry Liqueur for the Cognac (it seemed like the thing to do when I found the almost empty bottle in our liquor cabinet).

I was pleased to discover that we had all the other ingredients on hand (or at least reasonable facsimilies thereof) so I didn't need to do any shopping.

I started by grinding the fennel, clove, peppercorns, and bay leaves in our handy spice grinder. Our allspice was already ground so I just added that to the mix after. The breasts were seasoned and left for several hours to meld.

I started the sauce ahead of time as well with red wine vinegar, Malbec, sugar, chicken broth, cayenne pepper, fresh ginger and salt.

Once it was time to prepare dinner it didn't take long. The chicken breasts were placed in a skillet and cooked on each side for seven minutes. I finished the sauce with butter, more sugar, whole (pitted) cherries, and the cherry liqueur. 

The chicken breasts were sliced, plated, and served with cherries and sauce. I air fried some frozen sweet potato fries as a side dish, which made for a very colorful presentation. The meal was paired with the same Malbec I used in the sauce.

Very tasty!

A Birthday Celebration

James turned 61 last week - a cause for celebration! He always likes to have a cake made with lemon so I found a recipe for Lemon Ginger Bundt Cake online. I think our baking powder may be past its prime because the cake didn't rise as much as I would expect. It was still good. No one complained.

For the birthday dinner I prepared Creamy Fish with Mushrooms and Bacon from the New York Times cooking pages. We picked up some Halibut from our favorite fishmonger Kyler's Catch in New Bedford. I substituted sour cream for the heavy cream but otherwise followed the recipe. The meal was served with Kyler's fresh baguette (a must whenever we go). It was enjoyed by all.

Maple-Baked Salmon

A most appetizing dish (mine looks even better than the NYT photo!) pictured here with Greek Lemon Potatoes

Living as close as we do to the Atlantic Ocean, seafood is a perennial favorite of ours. Living in New England also makes us big fans of maple syrup. What choice did I have than to make this? From the New York Times Cooking pages Maple-Baked Salmon was a crowd-pleaser (the crowd in this case being me and James). We also are big fans of cilantro (which I know for some is a non-starter). We loved all the flavors and will definitely make again.

Marry Me Chicken

Although James has already married me, this dish looked tempting enough to make him realize he would marry me all over again. It worked.

 https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1024503-marry-me-chicken

Something for everyone

Pasta with Bacon, Cheese, Lemon, and Pine Nuts is described in the New York Times Cooking pages as "a modular meal". With pasta as a base and a variety of garnishes to pass around, diners can add as much or as little of each ingredient as they like. I used fettuccini as the pasta which turned out to be a good choice. Toasted pine nuts, cooked bacon, chopped fresh mint, red pepper flakes, grated Parmesan, and lemon zest were placed on the table in their own vessels so each of us could take as much as we wanted. Both James and I used all the "add-ons" but we were each able to decide how much of each according to our own tastes. Note that my labels include both "bacon" and "vegetarian" which illustrate the versatility of this recipe.

A very good and satisfying meal. We will likely try it again in the summer.

Fancy Comfort Food - Chicken with "a tangle" of noodles

One-Pot Creamy Chicken and Noodles comes from From the New York Times Cooking Pages. It is rather simple, and really is prepared all in one pot, however, it does take two hours. I started by putting some lemon-infused olive oil into our indispensable cast-iron cook pot, placed the whole chicken in, and then dotted with butter. The chicken was seasoned with salt, and lemon pepper (inside and out), and a bit of Paremesan rind was also put inside the cavity. A bunch of garlic cloves (still in their sheathes) were added to the pot as well. This baked in a 500 degree oven for 30 minutes. Then pot was removed to the stovetop, garlic cloves were crushed, and 5 cups of water added and brought to a simmer. Meanwhile the oven temp was lowered to 400. The chicken was placed back in the oven and baked for another hour, whereupon it was again removed to the stovetop so more water, and egg noodles could be added. The noodles and chicken boiled until the noodles were softened and then fresh rosemary was added to the pot. After five minutes several tablespoons of sour cream were added. 

We brought this most appetizing pot to the table with fanfare. I don't believe it would have been possible to have prepared a more tender chicken. We both had seconds, and are looking forward to enjoying the leftovers today for lunch!