Greek Turkey Burgers - The Month of Burgers

Greek Turkey Burgers
Greek Turkey Burgers with Couscous and Tabuleh

Greek turkey burgers are a tasty, welcome change from ordinary burgers. Enjoy them with couscous and tabouleh.

Greek Turkey Burgers

Turkey burgers are great in the summertime because of their light flavor. They are also pretty good for keeping your summer figure as they have less fat than beef. Of course, if you don't have ground turkey available, ground beef would work for these burgers as well.

Feta cheese is a Greek brined white cheese made from sheep's milk or a combination of sheep and goat milk. Crumbly with a slightly grainy texture, it is formed into large blocks and aged in brine. Its flavor is tangy and salty, ranging from mild to sharp. Although Feta is a mild cheese, some prefer a less salty variety. French Feta cheese is less salty than its Greek forebearer.

The yogurt used in the sauce is plain yogurt we made using a sous vide immersion cooker. Mixed with mayonnaise and white pepper, it makes a light sauce perfect for these burgers. You can use whatever buns you like. If you don't want to use buns, feel free to put your Greek turkey burgers in Pita bread.

My good friend gave me some tabouleh, easily the best I have ever had. We will be featuring that recipe soon. Anyway, what goes better with tabouleh than Greek Turkey Burgers and some curried couscous?

These burgers are great for the summer, on the outdoor grill, or on an indoor cast iron griddle. Use your favorite Feta cheese.  There are many varieties available, my favorite is French.  Of course, if you don't like Feta cheese, you could substitute your favorite cheese instead.  Don't be afraid of putting mint, it's not going to taste like peppermint candy.

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The Month of Italian - Curried Chicken Risotto

Curried Chicken Risotto
Curried Chicken Risotto

 

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This was something that I kind of threw together at the last moment, and it turned out to be quite tasty and easy to make. It's the month of Italian, and risotto is a traditional Italian dish made from arborio rice.  Curry is Indian, but I'm sure Marco Polo probably brought the spice back to Italy from his year-long stay in India, so this is fusion cuisine.  Please enjoy this easy to make Curried Chicken Risotto with your own garnishes.

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Turkey Stroganoff with Shallots

Turkey Stoganoff

Serendipity
An unsought, unintended, and/or unexpected, but fortunate, discovery and/or learning experience that happens by accident

~ Wiktionary

This Turkey Stroganoff was certainly serendipitous.  I don't usually buy the ground breast of turkey because it has such little flavor.   But, it was on sale, so I thought why not?  How awful could it be? When it was finished it was full of flavor and delicious. It's quick and easy, perfect for a weeknight when you are tired, coming home from work and hungry for something good and quick.

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Kung Pao Chicken - Boswell Style

Kung Pao Chicken
Kung Pao Chicken

Kung Pao Chicken - Boswell Style

This is my son's favorite Kung Pao chicken.  It's spicy but not as tongue blazing as the dish at our local Chinese restaurant, which we love.  This is also very simple to make, and you probably have the ingredients in your kitchen already - well, maybe not the Hoisin sauce, but that is available at a supermarket near you.  It's also very easy to add more heat if you want, just add more peppers.

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Bacon-Wrapped Spicy Stuffed Chicken with Ham Roll

Bacon Wrapped Spicy Ham Roll Stuffed Chicken
Bacon-Wrapped Spicy Stuffed Chicken with Ham Roll

Bacon-Wrapped Spicy Stuffed Chicken with Ham Roll

When I posted this on Instagram, a lot of people said it looked delicious. I told them it was, and I wasn't lying.  The recipe is based on Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Stuffed Chicken, which my good friend, Maria de la Rocha had posted quite a long time ago.  I had been meaning to make it, but when I actually looked at the recipe, I realized there were some changes I could make to make a better dish.

Spane's favorite appetizer is what I call Spicy Ham Rolls. It's basically ham slices rolled up with cream cheese and chopped jalapeño.  I got the recipe from a girl I worked with that had given her leftovers from a party she had had.  When I make them, they are gone immediately!

If you make this, you can use whatever barbecue sauce you like, or you can use the one in the recipe.  If you really don't like jalapeño, you can omit it and use bell pepper instead.

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Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

 

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

I love Chicken Cordon Bleu, but the problem with it is if you are not very careful, the cheese comes out while it is cooking and you wind up with a dried up piece of chicken with a remnant of cheese and some ham.  If you're lucky, they included sauce.

This casserole is so simple, and all the good things about the dish stay right where you want them, inside! Every bite has a little ham and a little cheese.

There is a little bit of backstory with this recipe, but, what recipes do I give without a backstory? When I was making this month's menu, I wanted chicken and I wanted something that we would have leftovers.  I made a note to make some kind of chicken casserole. Then, I was in one of my Facebook groups, and someone mentioned Anthony Bourdain's book, Appetites.  My friend, Chef John Farion CWC, introduced me to his show Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.  John really loved Bourdain, and they kind of reminded me of each other. John passed the day after Thanksgiving, 2017.  Bourdain passed in June of 2018.  I'm sure they are together in the big kitchen in the sky.

When John and I were roommates many moons ago at the Villa Carlotta in Hollywood, California, there was a lovely French café called La Poubelle, and the owner, Jacqueline, made the best chicken crepes I have ever had.  Jacqueline was good friends with my neighbor, Wally Coover, and we often had crepes at her restaurant.   Jacqueline and John did not get along at all.   Her daughter, Francois, has now taken over the restaurant, and the crepes are no longer on the menu.  When I was thinking about John, and living at the Villa, I thought of those crepes and how delicious they were.  I thought I could incorporate some of those memories into my casserole.

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Stovetop Smoker Highway Chicken

Stovetop Smoker Highway Chicken

Stovetop Smoker Highway Chicken

Apartment dwellers, rejoice! Yes, you, too, can savor the magical taste of smoked food, right from your apartment, no need to go outside.  Yup, that's right, smoking food on top of your stove and not having the smoke alarm blaring. All you need is a stockpot with a pasta insert, some foil, some wood chips, some protein, and a little bit of patience.

The recipe I am referring to here is one I did a while ago on the Weber grill, indirect method and I was curious if this method would give me similar results.  I am happy to say it did.  Feel free to use the Weber version of Highway Chicken if you want to go this outdoors.

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