Buffalo Turkey Burgers

We really enjoy Buffalo Chicken, so when I came upon the recipe for Buffalo Chicken Burgers on the blog "Will Cook for Smiles", it didn't take me long to make them.  I made a few small changes, but nothing too drastic, unless you consider swapping the chicken for ground turkey to be drastic!  The result was quite good.  Spicy from the hot sauce, and very flavorful from the mix of seasonings in the turkey.  We ate our burgers without the buns and had raw veggies on the side with ranch to dip the veggies and burgers in, but I'm sure they'd be even better with the buns!  My husband said this was the best thing I've made with ground turkey.  I make a lot of things with ground turkey and turkey burgers are known for not being as good as ones made from beef, so that's quite the compliment!

Quick note:  I used Frank's Red Hot Sauce.  This is by far my favorite hot sauce and to me it's not Buffalo Chicken (or Turkey in this case) if it's made with a different one.

Buffalo Turkey Burgers

1.25 lb extra lean ground turkey
1/4 C dry bread crumbs (optional, I did not use them)
1 egg
2 cloves minced garlic
2 Tblsp minced dried onion
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried dill
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 C water
Frank's Red Hot Sauce to taste (I used about 1/2 C)
4 slices cheese or crumbled blue cheese (I used cheddar)
4 toasted buns

Toppings:
ranch or blue cheese dressing
veggies like sliced tomatoes, sliced cucumber, and lettuce

Mix together ground turkey, bread crumbs, egg, garlic, onion, and seasonings.  Form into 4 burgers and poke a hole in the middle of each one to help keep them from turning into a turkey meatball when they're cooked.  Heat oil in a large, nonstick skillet over medium and brown burgers on both sides.  If they haven't cooked through completely by the time they're as browned as you want, you can add 1/2 C water to the pan.

When the burgers are done, remove them to a paper towel lined plate, and dump out the skillet if you added water (dry off the tops of the burgers as well if you added water).  Place the skillet back on the burner and add the Frank's.  Add burgers back to skillet, cook about a minute, then flip, move them around so they get coated in hot sauce, and place cheese on each burger.  Cover with the lid and cook about another minute, then remove the skillet from the burner and leave covered until the cheese has melted.  Serve burgers with whatever toppings you want (the dressing is a great addition).

Yield: 4 burgers

Black & White Turkey Chili

White chili has always been something I've really loved, even when I was a super picky kid I often asked my mom to make it and was fascinated by the dried beans she used!  White chili (with dried beans) is one of my favorite things to make in the slow cooker, not sure why I haven't shared a recipe on here yet. 

There are some recipes that I'm very loyal to and particular about, but white chili is not one of them.  I've basically never met one that I've not thoroughly enjoyed, and this recipe is no exception!  It's been pretty cold here lately (-40 yesterday) and I spend a good amount of time outside, so I decided to make white chili and remembered an awesome looking one I saw recently on a blog called Kitchen Meets Girl.  Ashley adapted it from a recipe she found, and I slightly adapted her version of it by reducing the amount of chicken broth and using ground turkey instead of cooked chicken.  I was intrigued by the use of a jar of salsa verde and black beans.  Sure enough, the salsa verde made it quite zingy, and the toppings (we did sour cream, cheese, cilantro, and lime) made it even tastier.  It's not spicy, just very flavorful.  My husband is definitely not as fond of white chili as I am, but he liked this recipe so much that his exact words were "Holy smokes, this is amazing!" and then asked to take part of the leftovers to work for lunch instead of putting it in the freezer.  Sounds like a sign of endorsement to me!

Quick Note:  The brand of salsa you use really matters.  I picked Herdez Salsa Verde because I knew we really like the flavor.

Black & White Turkey Chili

1 tsp oil
1.25 lb ground turkey
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
15 oz can black beans, drained
15 oz can white beans (like Great Northern beans), drained
16 oz can salsa verde (I used Herdez)
2 C chicken broth

Toppings:
sour cream
grated cheese
cilantro
diced avocado
thinly sliced green onion
lime wedges

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high and add ground turkey.  Break it up with a spatula and cook until meat is cooked through.  Add spices and stir around for another minute.  Add beans, salsa verde, and chicken broth, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer while you prepare your toppings.  Divide chili among bowls and let people add whatever toppings they want to their bowls.

Yield: About 6 servings

Homemade Taco Seasoning

If you've never mixed up your own taco seasoning, you should really give it a try!  I have been making it myself since I came across this recipe on AllRecipes a couple of years ago.  If you have tacos a lot, you will save yourself quite a bit of money, especially if you buy spices in bulk.  This mix also tastes better than packaged seasoning and doesn't have any weird ingredients.  And if you need any more convincing, it doesn't take any more time to cook taco meat with this than the packaged kind.  If you mix up a big batch of the seasoning, all you have to do when you're cooking the meat is measure out the taco seasoning, sprinkle on a little flour, add water, and cook and stir.  Easy peasy!  Oh, and great served on homemade tortillas.

This base recipe is pretty mild heat wise, though that will depend on your chili powder and other ingredients to some extent.  It shouldn't be too hot for kids or people who don't like spicy.  If you want it hotter, just add more cayenne!  You can also leave out the salt (though I already cut down on the salt by 1/3 in the recipe I posted) or change any other ingredients.  Maybe even add a smidge of cocoa powder.  There are lots of options.  Oh, and you can use this for things other than meat- I'll bet it would be good in chili or sprinkled on popcorn or french fries.  In a couple weeks I plan to make roasted cashews sprinkled with this taco seasoning.  Yum!

Seasoning all mixed up:

  

and cooked with ground turkey:

Homemade Taco Seasoning

4 T chili powder
3 1/2 T paprika
3 T cumin
2 T onion powder
2 T garlic powder
4 t salt
1/4 t cayenne pepper

Place ingredients in a glass jar, put on the lid, and shake to mix.  To make taco meat, brown 1 lb ground beef or turkey in a large skillet.  Drain off fat.  Sprinkle on 2 T taco seasoning and 1 scant T flour (about 3/4 T).  Stir well until meat is coated, then add 3/4 C water and cook, stirring, until liquid has thickened, about 2 minutes.  Serve however you would regularly serve taco meat.

Yield: Enough taco seasoning for about 8 lbs of meat.

Greek Pasta Skillet

Okay, so this isn't really Greek- it's more Greek inspired and I'm willing to bet anyone from Greece would be horrified at how unauthentic it is- but it sure tastes good!  The recipe is from McCormick and my mom's best friend printed out a copy for me to try about 10 years ago.  I made it soon after and my mother and I both liked it a lot!  Over the years I've made it for several people and they've all liked it, too.  A friend of mine who never eats leftovers was even excited to have it again the next night.  It looks like your standard quick 1 dish dinner recipe, but the addition of ground cinnamon and feta cheese really set it apart.  If you're suspicious of the cinnamon or especially sensitive to spices, you can try halving it, but I do encourage you to at least use some cinnamon as it really does a lot for the flavor.  This is a slightly tweaked double batch of the original recipe so it makes a lot (I make a big batch because we like it so much and it freezes well), but if you don't want lots of leftovers, just use the amounts in the original recipe to guide you.

Sorry about the rotini pasta in the photo.  I've made this recipe many times and have always used penne, but ended up with tricolor rotini this one time!  It was good, but penne holds up better against everything else going on in the dish.

Greek Pasta Skillet

1 T oil
1.25 lb package extra lean ground turkey
4 C chicken broth
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
6 oz can tomato paste
4 t oregano
2 t cinnamon
1 t onion powder
1 t garlic powder
12 oz by weight penne pasta (or whatever shape you want, I prefer penne)
1 lb frozen green beans
6 oz crumbled feta by weight

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium.  Crumble in ground turkey and cook until browned, stirring frequently.  Stir in tomato products and spices until well combined, then stir in pasta.  Reduce heat and simmer over low, stirring occasionally, until pasta is almost done, about 10 minutes.  Remove lid and stir in green beans and feta.  Simmer, covered, until beans and pasta are tender.

Yield: 10 servings

Dirty Rice with Turkey Sausage

 When I was a kid, I was a very picky eater.  Not so much with veggies or grains, but with dairy and especially meat.  This meant that I didn't like much of what my mom served for dinner and I was often happy to just eat rice and veggies while everyone else ate the meat.  Without fail, I topped my rice with Messina's Cajun Creole Seasoning, which my dad brought home from a trip to New Orleans.  I just loved Messina's!  That was 17 years ago and while I'm now much less picky, I still love Messina's.  Lucky for me, my dad now lives in Louisiana so I can pick up jars of Messina's whenever I visit.

Now that my little story is out of the way, on to the recipe!  This is a thoroughly tweaked version of Christy Jordan's Dirty Rice over on Southern Plate.  Don't get me wrong- the original version is really good (if not authentic, since it's supposed to be made with chicken gizzards), but I'm not a fan of sausage and it turned out SO GREASY!  So the next time I decided to use ground turkey seasoned with spices you'd find in sausage.  Then the next time I figured out that you can just cook the rice in the skillet with the turkey, cutting down on dishes.  If you're in a hurry though, you can steam the rice in the chicken broth while you cook the peppers and turkey.  It's up to you!  Also, feel free to use fresh bell pepper and onion (one of each).  I went with frozen because it was $1.50 for a 12 oz bag and whole bell peppers were $3 apiece.

For the Cajun seasoning, you can use whichever you like, but how much you enjoy the finished dish will of course depend on how much you like the seasoning.  My husband likes Messina's, too, so we both really enjoy this dinner.  It's very yummy, easy, and pretty healthy to boot.  Perfect with a salad on the side!

Dirty Rice with Turkey Sausage

1 T olive oil
12 oz frozen onion and bell pepper strips
1 stalk celery, diced (optional)
1 1/4 lb extra lean ground turkey
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1/2 t ground ginger
1/2 t dried sage
1/2 t dried thyme
1 t dried parsley
3 C chicken broth
1 1/2 C uncooked rice
Cajun seasoning to taste

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high.  Saute onions, peppers, and celery until browned.  Remove to a bowl.  Add ground turkey to skillet and immediately sprinkle on the garlic and spices.  Use a spatula to break up the raw meat and to incorporate the spices.  When turkey has cooked fully, add the chicken broth and bring to a boil.  Add rice, stir well, cover, and reduce heat to low.  Let cook completely undisturbed (don't lift the lid!) for 20 minutes so the rice can steam properly.  When rice is cooked, add peppers back to the skillet and stir to combine, then add Cajun seasoning to taste (I use 1 1/2 t) and mix thoroughly before serving.

Yield: 6 servings

Cincinnati Chili

Well, look at that, another recipe without pictures! I kind of meant to take pictures of all the recipes I post, but let's face it. The vast majority of my food photos are not particularly appetizing and I don't like always dragging out the camera just to photograph a plate. So I'll just post pictures if I think it's worth it.

Last weekend we went to a potluck of sorts. Everyone brought/made some kind of pasta dish and we made homemade pasta (I now have about 2 1/2 pounds of homemade fettuccine in my freezer, yes!). Our contribution was Cincinnati Chili. It's supposed to be served over spaghetti so it did fit the theme of the evening even though everyone else brought Italian sauces. Also I've wanted to try Cincinnati Chili for years because it sounds so intriguing. As a cinnamon freak, the cinnamon and other spices piqued my interest, and anything served over pasta with shredded cheese on top is worth trying! After looking into it more, I learned that Cincinnati Chili was created by Macedonian and Greek immigrants. My favorite cuisine is Greek/Lebanese/etc so it's not too surprising that a Greek spin on chili would be appealing! And I was definitely not disappointed. The Cincinnati Chili turned out amazing! The flavor was great, a little different, still recognizable as chili. The flavor was very rich and deep and just generally yummy. My husband was a tad uncertain the first night but he happily ate leftovers with me for a couple of nights after that.

This is the base recipe that I used. Now I realize that hard core Cincinnati Chili fans would probably be highly offended because I used ground turkey and beans in my chili (you're supposed to use ground beef and then top it with kidney beans at the end), but that's how we like chili and I see no reason not to make recipes in ways that will appeal to us the most. Feel free to make the recipe as described though with 2 pounds of ground beef instead. Another thing to note is that I read it's more authentic if you boil the meat instead of browning it in a skillet. Boiling it results in much smaller pieces of meat. To do this, fill a large pot with cold water, add the ground meat and break it up thoroughly with your hands, then boil it until cooked through. Drain and proceed with the recipe.

Cincinnati Chili

1.25 lb ground turkey
2 16 oz cans pinto beans, drained
2 1/2 C beef broth
16 oz can tomato sauce
1/4 C chili powder
1 1/2 t onion powder
1 t ground cinnamon
1 t ground cumin
1/2 t salt
1/4 t ground allspice
1/4 t ground cloves
1/4 t cayenne pepper
2 T cider vinegar
1/4 C chocolate chips
Brown ground turkey in a skillet. Alternatively, you can cook the meat by placing it in a large pot of cold water and using your hands to thoroughly break it up, then boil until cooked through. Place in a 4 quart slow cooker with remaining ingredients except chocolate chips and stir to combine. Cover and cook on high for 2-3 hours or low for 5-8 hours (the amount of time isn't all that important). Stir in chocolate shortly before serving. Serve over spaghetti topped as desired with shredded cheddar and diced onions.
Yield: about 8 servings

Baked Mice (aka Mini Meatloaves)

I got the idea for these cute (or as cute as meatloaf can be) little Halloween mice from this recipe. They were easy to make and ended up tasting really good too. I would make these mini meatloaves the rest of the year sans mousie features. Lean ground turkey is usually pretty dry when made into meatballs or meatloaf, but I think the little hunk of cheese in the middle helped because mine didn't turn out dry at all. The cheese did leak a bit out of some of the mice but I think that just added to the effect! And yes, the noodle tails do cook completely in the oven. Serve the mice with mashed potatoes (the sauce is good on them) and a veggie.


Baked Mice

1.25 lb package ground turkey

1 egg

1/2 C seasoned bread crumbs

1 t garlic powder

1 t onion powder
1 t salt

1/2 t pepper

8 3/4 inch cubes cheddar cheese

3 spaghetti noodles, broken into thirds

16 oz can tomato sauce

4 T brown sugar

3 T yellow mustard

2 T Heinz chili sauce (not the spicy Asian kind- this is optional)

1/4 t black pepper

16 very thin carrot slices

16 black olive slices

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 7 by 11 baking dish. Combine the ground turkey, egg, bread crumbs and spices. Form 1/8 of the meat around a cheese cube, sealing well. Form a point on one end and make the other end rounded. Place in baking dish and stick one of the spaghetti thirds into the rounded end to make a tail. Repeat with the rest of the meat, cheese cubes and noodles. Stir together tomato sauce, brown sugar, mustard, chili sauce and pepper and pour over the mice, making sure to cover the tails. Cover with foil and bake 20 minutes, then remove foil and bake until mice are cooked through (165 degrees in the middle), about 20 minutes longer. Arrange mice on plates, cut a small slit on either side of the heads, and insert carrot slices for ears. Place olive slices on the face to make eyes.

Yield: 8 mice, 4-8 servings