Buffalo Chicken Burgers

First off, I know this is labeled as Buffalo Chicken Burgers and you are going to notice ground turkey in the recipe. My grocery store doesn't carry ground chicken (redics, I know!) so I had to substitute ground turkey. Use whichever your heart desires in this one guys!

Turkey Feta Burgers are one of our household favorites and I figured I would stick with what I'm good at and whip up another burger recipe. These were just as delicious in a whole different way. I usually can't handle too much spice, but these ended up having just the right amount of heat. Let me know what you think- cookingwithcait@gmail.com.

1 lb ground turkey breast (or ground chicken)
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp Lawry's season salt
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
3 tbsp hot sauce
2 tbsp panko bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten

6 oz bleu cheese

In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients besides bleu cheese. Separate into 4-5 patties (depending on size preference). Form patties around bleu cheese. Cook on griddle or in skillet with olive oil 4-5 minutes per side until cooked through. Serve on buns with ranch or bleu cheese dressing if desired.

Turkey Bacon Cheeseburger Calzones

I am really excited about this recipe. First of all, it was delicious. Second of all, it was semi-guilt free. I used turkey bacon, ground turkey, a mostly wheat pizza dough and my homemade marinara which is filled with veggies and low in sugar. I mean there is cheese and ketchup in there because hi, it is inspired by a bacon cheeseburger. I am excited that even with some simple swaps, it still tasted like it had 8000 calories per bite.

You could make calzones like I did or just a good old pizza with it. I also make quick flatbread pizzas sometimes using a FlatOut wrap, which is perfect for thin crust pizzas if you don't want to make/don't have the time to make the dough.

Pizza Dough

2 1/2 cups warm water
2 tsp granulated sugar
2 packets active dry yeast
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp salt
3 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups all purpose flour

In a mixing bowl (I used my Kitchenaid mixer), combine warm water and sugar to allow sugar to dissolve. Sprinkle top of water with yeast. Set aside until water is foamy, 8-10 minutes. Add olive oil and salt to water mixture. Using the dough hook on mixer, add flour in at 1/2 cup increments until both flours are fully incorporated.

Generously flour a work surface and knead out your dough for 3-5 minutes, until smooth. Slather with some olive oil, set in a bowl and cover with a towel. Allow it to double in size, about one hour.

Once dough has doubled, separate into two pieces. Knead each piece on the floured surface, and set aside again to rise for about 45 minutes.

Calzone Filling

1 lb ground turkey breast
8 slices bacon
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 cup mushrooms, diced
1/2 cup green pepper, diced
1/4 tsp onion powder
1 cup marinara sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tbsp mustard
2 tbsp brown sugar
Salt and Pepper to taste
1-2 cups shredded cheese (I used mexican cheese)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. While the dough is rising the second time, brown off the ground turkey in a skillet until fully cooked. Drain off juices and set aside. Next, cook up the turkey bacon. (Go ahead and use the same skillet, no sense in more dishes). Once fully cooked, set aside on a paper towel to get off any grease. Using the same skillet, heat the olive oil on medium heat. Add in garlic, mushrooms and green peppers. Allow to cook about 2-3 minutes to soften. Add in onion powder, marinara, ketchup, mustard, brown sugar, salt and pepper. Reduce to low-medium heat and allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes. *I didn't forget about the cheese, you'll sprinkle that on right before it goes in the oven.*

Once the dough has risen again, roll out each piece to desired calzone size. You want your dough to be about 1/2 inch thick. Place on pizza stone or baking sheet. Fill with about 1 cup of filling and top with some shredded cheese. Fold dough over the filling and seal the edges of the calzone with a fork. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Philly Cheese Steak Sloppy Joe's

Okay, so I was totally bored on my day off and reading through some of my favorite blogs looking for inspiration. THREE of the blogs I read had listed this recipe. I felt like that was a sign that I had to make them. You all know me, I enjoy creating my own recipes but if a recipe is good as is, I'm totally sharing it anyways. Apparantely this recipe was originally from my idol, Rachael Ray. The three blogs did exactly what I would do to make it a little lighter which is switch out the ground sirloin with ground turkey breast.

I am totally not a fan of steak sauce, which is called for in this recipe. Jon is however so I still made it as it called for and I actually liked it! I made a couple Cait tweaks to the recipe I followed from Running Mama Cooks. I hope you guys like it. Jon certainly did!

P.S. This is another recipe where I use my mama's cheese sauce. I always have extra on hand which makes a recipe like this super easy to throw together. :)

2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 green pepper, finely chopped
2 clove garlic, finely minced
1 tsp paprika
1.25 lbs ground turkey breast
1/4 cup steak sauce
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tsp tomato paste
Salt and pepper
4-6 hamburger buns or sub rolls
Desired amount of cheese sauce

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, green peppers and garlic and allow to cook for about 2 minutes. Add in paprika and ground turkey breast. Cook until turkey breast has turned into a light brown. Add steak sauce, chicken stock, tomato paste and salt and pepper to taste. Allow to simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Serve desired amount of turkey mixture on bun or roll and top with cheese sauce. Enjoy!

Turkey Burgers with Creamy Feta Dressing

Remember the time I professed my love for feta cheese? It grew to a new level when I made these burgers with this sauce. The burgers are turkey because I'm not a huge beef fan. I honestly don't think you'll miss the beef even if you prefer it over ground turkey. The sauce is on the tangy side, you may want to work the lemon juice in a little at a time depending on how tangy you like it. If you are a beginner cook and you want to knock the socks off people who think you don't know what you're doing, start with these. They are so easy to throw together. They're simple, but have a different taste than your standard burger. People will be wow'd. I don't care if wow'd isn't grammatically correct, they'll be WOW'D!

Recipe yields 6-8 burgers depending on size you make them
Burgers:
6-8 hamburger buns
1 lb ground turkey breast
1 cup feta cheese
1/4 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, finely minced or hand grated
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 large egg white
2 tbsp panko breadcrumbs
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp sage

Dressing:
1 cup feta cheese
1 cup Greek yogurt
2 garlic cloves, finely minced or hand grated
1 tsp lemon zest
1-2 tbsp lemon juice (to taste)
1/8 tsp cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
Using a food processor, combine feta, yogurt, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, cumin, salt and pepper until smooth and combined.

In a large mixing bowl, combine turkey, feta, onion, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, egg whites, panko, salt, pepper, thyme, cumin and sage. Form into burger patties, making the middle a little thinner so when they cook, the middle doesn't puff up unevenly.

Cook on grill or griddle for 4-5 minutes per side, until cooked throughout.

*Just a warning, turkey burgers usually stick more than a regular burger would, so for best results, use a non-stick griddle with lots of cooking spray or olive oil*

Leftover Turkey Pot Pie

Sorry I don't have a picture for this post. Hopefully it's yumminess makes up for the lack of picture. This was only my second attempt at a Turkey Pot Pie. The first attempt was meh. It was good, but nothing to write home about. This second one was incredibly easy to throw together. I used some leftovers from Thanksgiving and some canned veggies that I had in my pantry.

I am definitely usually the type to use fresh vegetables. However, I made this the day after Thanksgiving and I was not in the mood to do over the top cooking the next day. I wanted to throw something together that was delicious and quick and get on my way to my closing shift on Black Friday at work. You guys can feel free to swap in the fresh veggies if you'd like. A 15 oz can is a little shy of two cups of fresh, chopped vegetables.

I also used the Bisquick biscuit mix for the topping to cut some more corners. You could also use a ready made pastry sheet, usually in the freezer section of the grocery store. Funny story about Bisquick. As you guys already know, I watch Paula Deen religiously. She is always using a dry biscuit mix for her recipes. I searched my grocery store high and low looking for a biscuit mix and couldn't find it. I finally voiced my frustration to my mom. She then informed me that I can just use Bisquick. I've always known Bisquick as a pancake mix, had no clue you could use it to make biscuits. It is dangerous that I now have a fast and easy way to make delicious biscuits. :O

Leftover Turkey Pot Pie

1 cup gravy
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 15 oz can of diced potatoes
1 15 oz can of corn kernels
1 15 oz can of peas & carrots
2 1/2 - 3 cups shredded turkey (or rotisserie chicken)
1/2 stick salted butter, diced

Biscuit topping:
1 cup bisquick mix
1 cup milk
1 stick of butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease baking dish with butter. In mixing bowl, combine gravy, cream, chicken stock, poultry seasoning, salt, cream of chicken soup, potatoes, corn, peas & carrots and shredded turkey. Pour into prepared baking dish. Place pieces of butter throughout the filling. Combine biscuit mix, milk and butter together and pour over top of filling. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until topping is golden brown.

Enjoy!

Gobble Gobble!

Hey Kids!

Okay so my mom called me last week to alert me of the deals Foodland (our grocery store) was having in preparation for Turkey Day. They were selling turkeys up to 16 lbs for $3.97! And not $3.97 per pound either, that's for the whole friggin bird! I was PSYCHED to say the least, I ended up with three birds around 15 pounds.

The first time I ever made my own Thanksgiving turkey was back when my skills in the kitchen were limited to Hamburger Helper and reheating take-out. Surprisingly, it turned out great. There are four things I care about on Thanksgiving, cranberry sauce (IN THE CAN), egg nog, mashed potatoes and gravy. If I didn't have turkey, I seriously would be okay. So the spread that year was Turkey (even if I could live without it, Jon couldn't), cranberry sauce, egg nog, mashed potatoes, gravy and dinner rolls. It was just Jon, me and the dogs. It was kind of nice not doing the hustle and bustle with family and everything.

This good experience of making my own turkey was a few years back and those who know me know my memory isn't always the best. (There Jon, I admitted it! I have a bad memory :P). So, I turned to my favorite- allrecipes.com for some turkey recipes. The first one that jumped at me was "The Perfect Turkey". The second was "Rosemary Roasted Turkey". I decided to somewhat follow the both of them, and then add in my own spin.

Gobble Gobble Turkey!

1 15 lb turkey
1 cup salt
1 stick butter, melted
Herb mix:
     1 tbsp salt
     1/2 tbsp rosemary
     1/2 tbsp poultry seasoning
     1/2 tbsp oregano
     1/2 tbsp sage
     1/2 tbsp thyme
     1/2 tbsp black pepper
     1/2 tbsp granulated garlic
1 large onion, chopped into large chunks
5-6 carrots, chopped into large chunks
2 stalks of celery, chopped into large chunks
1 lemon, cut into slices
7-8 cloves of garlic, peeled
3 bay leaves
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup white wine

Before I get into the instructions, a couple things I feel is important to know. First off, a "stalk" of celery refers to the whole bunch of celery (comprised of individual ribs). I had to google that a few months back, so I figured I'd share. Also, for easier peeling of garlic, smash it with the side of your knife so it cracks the outside layer of the garlic. I learned that from Rachael Ray. The Perfect Turkey recipe on allrecipes.com instructs you to brine the turkey for 12 hours the day before. Not going to lie, I didn't do that. I get too excited to actually make these recipes. It may be something you want to do, but I thought the turkey was delicious without! That is all, continue on...

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove giblets. Wash and dry the turkey inside and out. Using your fingers, loosen the skin from the meat of the turkey. Just slide your fingers in between the skin and meat. Take the cup of salt and rub it all over the turkey, including inside the cavity, between the meat and skin and outside of skin. Brush melted butter over all of turkey. Sprinkle both sides of turkey with Herb Mix. Place in roasting pan, breast side down.

Stuff turkey with half the amount of onion, carrots, celery, lemon, garlic and 1 bay leaf. Scatter remaining along bottom of roasting pan. Pour chicken stock and white wine over turkey.

Before turning it breast side up...

Cook in oven, uncovered, for 2 hours. After 2 hours, take out turkey and turn it over, breast side up. Cook for 1 1/2 more hours, until internal temperature reaches 180 degrees. Transfer to serving dish and allow it to stand for 20-30 minutes before serving.

Important note: Make sure you "baste" the turkey every 1/2 hour to hour to promote even browning.

If you guys have any questions, email me at cookingwithcait@gmail.com.

Almost forgot! Save those veggies from the roasting pan to make some turkey stock once you've ripped that bird apart!