Asian Turkey Juicy Lucies

This is actually a spin I took on another recipe I found on allrecipes.com. I subbed in a whole collection of items that i read about in the reviews and came up with my own thing. I eyeballed everything, so all the measurements are approximate. Hope you like it!

INgredients:

1 lb ground turkey (dark meat included)
1 whole large egg
1-2 tbsp white onion
1-2 tbsp cilantro
1/2 tsp soy sauce
1-2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/3 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1 large clove garlic, finely minced
1/4 lb C.O.C. (cheese of choice), sliced and shaped into a 1 x 1 square (thick slices are best here, as it will slowly melt while cooking)

1.Cover a medium or large plate (depending on how big you like your Lucies) with enough plastic wrap to cover edge to edge. Set aside.

2. Place all ingredients except for C.O.C. in a large bowl. Using your hands (or a fork if you're squeamish) gently incorporate burger meat together until combined.

3. Place 1/4 cup of the mixture dead-center on plastic covered plate. Gently smoosh it out from the center to the edges until it's about 1/3 inch thick. Place your C.O.C. in the center of the meat mass and cover with another 1/4 cup, smooshing out in the same fashion until cheese is completely enveloped. Place a square of waxed paper over the burger and repeat with the rest of the meat and cheese until all gone (should make about 4 medium burgers). Freeze at least 1 hour before grilling/cooking.

4. Grill 5-10 minutes per side, staying close by to prevent Burger Meteoring*. Flip once and continue to cook until internal temp is about 180, about another 5-10 minutes. Remove to plate, tent with a bit of foil, and allow to sit for 10 minutes while gathering condiments and veg.

*Occurs when grillers walk away and flair ups engulf the food being grilled. Especially likely to happen with burgers, even of the turkey variety, so baby your burgers!

Tips and pointers of burger-ing:

When the grill is good and hot, place burger patties around the area where the grill is medium-high heat. If you're in a hurry, you can put an old pot lid over each patty to speed up the heat (this also helps retain moisture). If not, just close the grill lid and wait about 5 minutes. Do not walk away; burgers are prone to succumbing to flair-ups, so baby those burgers! After first five minutes, check on them, looking around the edges to see if they are browning. Burgers will release when they are done cooking, which should take any where from 8-12 minutes, depending on how hot your grill is. When the burger releases from the grates, flip ONCE and leave them alone for another 5 minutes. Do not press on the burgers.

If you experience a lot of stickage, it just means that the burgers aren't ready to get off the grill. Good food takes time and patience. Just close the grill and sit around for another 2 minutes or so. They'll come off in their own juicy time.

To test for seasoning, I like to fry about a tablespoon of the mixture in a hot skillet until just cooked through. Try it out and season sparingly, testing in between additions until your taste buds are happy.

Take care to crimp edges so that cheese can't escape during cooking.

Patties can be prepared and frozen. Instead of forming them on a plate (which I only did because that's what fits in my side by side freezer), prep them on a sheet pan lined with wax paper then cover with another layer of waxed paper. Freeze until solid then remove to a large zip top bag for later use.

If you don't have a grill or just don't dig grilling, these burgers are easily prepared on the stovetop. Be sure to grease your cooking vessel with some no-stick spray. On the stove-top, stickage is less of an issue, especially with the aid of the cooking spray.

Letting burgers rest post-cooking helps the cheese and juices coagulate back into the meat, resulting in better eats and less mess. I like to keep things simple with condiments and such: a little mayo, a little mustard, a slice of onion or so, some tomato and some iceberg. Sometimes I like to eat these over a bit of Jasmine rice with a little stir-fry veg mix. I'd even venture to say that these'd be good as the meat in a chicken noodle soup deal, but i've never tried that. These are very filling, so sides are completely optional. Chow down!

All-Mine Apple Pie

These are most of the provisions you will need to succeed

This is all the hardware you might want to use to succeed.

Unfurling of refrigerated pie crust

Mixing all the filling goodness (no pun intended)

Assembly

Extra filling goodness (Again, no pun intended)

(Cinnamon sticks used as props.  This is not bark pie)

... And the fruit of your (not so) hard work.

Came up with this recipe when I received some beautiful fruit from a lady at church this last Sunday.  To be sure, of the selection I could name Granny Smiths and Golden Delicious, both fantastic for pie-baking and another one that appeared and tasted like a Gravenstein even though we're out of season for such a jewel.

I LOVE to bake, especially pies.  The only thing I don't like about a whole, slice-and-serve variety is how it all falls apart no matter how much of a dab-hand you are at slicing.  Today, a solution was born to my messy dilemma.

Prep to finish: 1 hour
Servings: 4

Ingredients:

3/4 c white sugar
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon (I used Kirkland Signature Saigon Cinnamon.  Very punchy, strong flavor, so measure carefully!)
1/8 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated preferred
1 pinch of salt (or 1/8 tsp if you have to measure)
4 medium sized baking apples, peeled, sliced and quartered
1 recipe double crust, split into two equal balls
 or 1 refrigerated double crust (I used Pilsbury)
1 large egg, beaten with 1 tsp water (egg wash)
Sugar and cinnamon for dusting

1.  Preheat oven to 425 F.

2.  Measure all filling ingredients and stir together in a large bowl.  Add prepped apples and stir gently to combine.  Set aside.

2.  Dust counter with a/p flour and roll out 1 ball of crust dough to 1/8 inch thickness* into a large round.  Using a rotary-style pizza slicer, split the crust in half across the circumference, then into quarters.  Place about 1/4 cup of the filling into the center of one of the quarters and moisten all edges with egg wash.  Cover with another quarter of the crust and press dough together, being careful to remove as much air as possible without pushing out the filling.  Here, you can either crimp the edges with a fork or just make little pleats every 1/4 to a 1/2 inch along the edge until a triangular parcel is formed.  Do the same for the remaining six slices of pie crust to form 4 pies total.

3. Remove unbaked pie to a a sheet tray lined with parchment paper.  I could only fit 2 per pan, as I didn't want to over crowd the pies.  Gloss tops with egg wash and dust with sugar and cinnamon to taste.  Make two parallel slits in the center of each pie, no longer than 1 inch each.

4.  Place pies in preheated oven and bake (NO PEEKING unless you're looking through the glass window)  for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and filling can be seen bubbling through the slits.

At this point, it is absolutely imperative (as any baker or impatient eater will tell you) to let the pies sit for no less than 20 minutes, 1 hour if you have the time.  The pies should slide right off of the parchment (trust me, spending the extra couple dollars is worth the sanity saved, especially if you've cleaned your fair share of baked food concreted to your cookware).  After the waiting period has been patiently wethered, you can pick up your pie and eat it without even getting a plate or fork.  No muss, a litte fuss, and a whole lot of Autumnal goodness.

*If you are using the refrigerated pie crust, roll it out onto your floured work surface and prepared as mentioned above.  'Frigerated crusts are both time efficient and tasty, almost as good as homemade.  I make sure to stock up when they go on sale.


p.s.  I just took a bite of one of these hand-held goodies and I've got to say, I'm SO ready for Christmas to be here!!!

Fridge-to-plate everyday omelet

I made this for the first time a couple of days ago and was surprised at how well it came out.  For the egg lovers out there, especially those who like things simple, this is a good, quick meal you can make anytime and on the cheap.  What makes this omelet even better is that I used what I had in the fridge, including tater tots from lunch a day or two ago.

I just recently started eating eggs again and in the past have been an avid egg lover, so anything containing the lovely porcelain parcels rates high on my list of good eats.


From start to finish: 7 minutes or so

Ingredients:
(Per omelet.  One serving)

1/2 tsp margarine/butter
4-6 cooked tater tots, crumbled
1 or 2 large eggs
1 slice of cheese (I used a Kraft Single here, but block cheese is good, too)
a dash of water
salt and coarsely ground black pepper to taste
ketchup, if that's your thing

In a small none-stick skillet (I favor an 8 inch Pampered Chef one purchased a couple years ago), set over medium heat, melt margarine/butter.  Add tater tots, toss to coat as much as possible and cover to heat through, about 2 minutes.  When you take off the lid, you want to see some slight browning.  This indicates  a crisp texture.  Beat egg(s) with water until well incorporated and pour over potatoes.  Quickly turn pan to coat bottom and clamp the lid back on for about 2-3 minutes.  When you remove the lid, you want to see a firm set in the very middle of the omelet, indicating that it is cooked all the way through, with little to no browning along the edges.  If the edges are very brown, you will know that it is overcooked and the eggs will be tough.  Halve the slice of cheese and add one half in center mass.  Fold one wing of the omelet over the center, then use your spatula to gently but quickly flip the omelet onto itself.  Cover with remaining cheese, remove from heat and cover to allow cheese to melt.  Garnish with salt and pepper and drizzle liberally with ketchup, if you like.  Trust me when I say that the only way to eat this is piping hot off the pan.  Enjoy!