July 25, 2010 Long Time No See

It almost looks as though I took the whole month of July off.  Well, from my blog, at least, I guess that's nearly true.  I've been doing some traveling, working and planning for fall, so I haven't spent much time in the kitchen other than making some of the foods I've already posted and some that aren't really all that interesting (baked chicken, steamed broccoli, etc.).

During my vacation travels in California, my mother did most of the cooking.  Since my mom is an AMAZING cook, I would have been a fool to spend any time in the kitchen myself, except to eat.  You just don't say no to that kind of pampering.

I discovered a few more ready-made items to suit my dietary needs, too, but I won't bore you with the details (unless you ask), since they don't really involve cooking. 

Last night, while I was watching "Julie and Julia" for the first time, I got hungry (who wouldn't?) and skipped to the kitchen to see what I could find to munch on.  I've been on vacation, and I like to leave as little as possible in the fridge when I'm away, so there really wasn't that much left in there that was already prepared.  I did have eggs, though, so I decided to make some deviled eggs.

Today's Find:  Eggs

Simple Deviled Eggs
hard-boiled eggs
mayonnaise
minced garlic
paprika
salt, to taste

Once your eggs are hard boiled (at least 2 minutes at a rolling boil) and cooled, peel them, rinse and dry them with a paper towel.  Slice each egg in half and pop the yolks into a medium-size bowl.  For every 2 eggs, add one tablespoon of mayonnaise and 1/2 teaspoon of minced garlic.  If you've boiled 4 eggs, that's 2 tablespoons of mayo and 1 teaspoon of garlic.  If you don't have minced garlic, use garlic powder.  Mix together with a fork.  I'm never willing to mess up my electric beater just for this little bit, but if you feel ambitious or make a large batch, go right ahead.  Beaters make the mixture much fluffier. Add salt to taste, but beware that the mayo will already add salt to the mix.  Scoop the mixture into the egg white halves until it's all gone and sprinkle the tops with paprika.  That's it.

Sometimes I get creative and add other ingredients to the yolk mix, such as taco seasoning or oregano to give it a little ethnic pop, or even tiny tomato slivers for decoration.  Use your imagination.

Try it.  You don't have to wait for a party to have party food, and the next time you go to one, you'll have something delicious to offer.

Donations are welcome, because while I'm writing this, I'm not working.

July 8, 2010: Turkey Burgers

Last night I had a couple of girlfriends over for drinks, food and relaxing conversation.  We had a great time and I prepared a very simple meal: Turkey burgers and salad.  As simple as it may seem to me, not everyone knows how to make a really tasty burger, so I'll share with you what disappeared from my table, even though there was plenty of other stuff to eat (such as hot dogs with fancy buns). 

Today's Find:  Ground Turkey meat (sometimes found frozen in tubes in the grocery store)

Turkey Burgers
1 pound ground turkey meat
1 chopped onion
1 tbsp minced garlic
salt (I estimated this; probably around a teaspoon or two)
Mrs. Dash Table blend (also estimated)
Olive oil (varies)

Mix it all together in a large bowl.  Some people like to use their hands to get it all mixed up.  I prefer to use a spoon.  You can form your patties by hand or, as I do, scoop out 1/3 cup measuring cups of it and squish it down after it's in the pan.  Put enough olive oil in the pan to help keep the burgers from sticking.  Unfortunately, when it comes to turkey meat of any kind, there's no way to prevent all sticking.  It's going to stick to your pan.  Your job is to try to minimize the sticking by keep oil in the bottom of the pan and scraping up your burgers occasionally.  Flip burgers consistently until when you push down on them with your spatula the juice coming out is just clear, bubbly juice.  It should be very hot in the middle.  Sometimes I cut one in half just to make sure there's no pink in there.  I don't think a rare turkey burger would be a good idea.  I was able to get about eight burgers out of this.

I served my turkey burgers with a salad of romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli and strawberry slices, topped off with my own balsamic vinaigrette dressing.  It was delicious and healthy, and everyone loved it.