Hello! Yes, I'm back. My internet finally started working today. It should have been up and running last Tuesday, but like for some reason there was a problem with the wiring in the house.  

The earliest they could get an engineer out was late today!  They do say better late than never! I took advantage of the break getting things organized in the house, etc. and cooking a few things ahead so I could hit the ground running!

One thing which I cooked was these healthy, juicy and delicious turkey burgers!  Yes, you CAN have a turkey burger  that is moist and tender as well as being healthy and incredibly tasty!

 

 I have never been a huge fan of beef burgers, but have always loved turkey burgers. All too often, however,  turkey burgers can end up being a bit dry and flavorless.

Its a shame really because Turkey is such a healthy protein, and very good for you. Its actually considered to be one of the superfoods. Not only is a rich source of protein, but it is loaded with nutrients and vitamins.

 

It is also known to contain anti-cancer properties.  You can be sure that when you choose a healthy source of protein such a turkey over beef, you are doing something good for your body and your health!

It is especially rich in selenium, which is known to help prevent certain kinds of cancer, including bladder, breast, lung and stomach cancers! 

 

And if that alone is not enough to get you to switch from beef to turkey, if you happen to be a Diabetic (like myself) it is also a low Glycemic Index food. That means it won't cause the blood sugar spike that you would get from more sugar-rich and carb-rich foods! 

If you are a Diabetic, including some turkey in your diet can help you to keep your blood sugars under control!!

 

Low GI foods such as turkey can also help to promote heart health! Being low GI eating turkey helps to increase the levels of "good" HDL cholesterol in your body, and helps to remove "bad" LDL cholesterol.

LDL cholesterol is the kind of cholesterol that lines and furs up the walls of your arteries, increasing your risk of heart attack or stroke.  Including turkey in your diet as much as you can actually can boost your HDL cholesterol and increase your resistance to these diseases.

 

Turkey and poultry are also a part of the MIND diet. Scientists developed the MIND diet to help to slow the progression of Alzheimer's and other causes of dementia.  

By eating turkey and other types of poultry at least twice a week, as a part of the MIND diet, older adults can preserve their memory and thinking skills. As an older adult, I am all for that!!

 

These turkey burgers are a healthy twist on your regular beef burgers, and I can guarantee that they are so delicious you won't miss red meat at all. In fact I am positive you are going to love them.

The recipe is perfectly sized for just two people, and in face I actually cut the recipe down even further, cooking only one for myself. It is only ever going to be very rare from now on that I am cooking for more than that.

Do be careful not to use regular ground turkey in these, not ground turkey breast (which is usually labelled 99% fat free).  You do need a little bit of fat to help to keep these flavor filled and moist.

I used a healthy mix of both light and dark turkey meat. Not only does it help to boost the flavor but it also keeps them nice and lush.

 

A tiny bit of bread and milk are mashed together to form what is called a panade, a paste of bread and milk.  This is so easy to do. 

 You simply tear the bread into small pieces and mash it with the milk. Make sure you discard the crusts.  I used a rustic whole wheat bread myself to up the fiber and the protein.

 

It also helps to keep them beautifully moist and tender. Additional flavor comes from the addition of a good Dijon mustard and some Worcestershire sauce.

Those are pantry staples in my house.  I use them in a lot of things.  They are real flavor boosters!

 

Other than that there is a small amount of salt and pepper.  Easy peasy and not too hard on the budget without any fancy add-ins!

Initially they are seared in a hot skillet in a small amount of oil.  This initial searing helps to create a lovely golden brown crust on both sides of the burger.  Ideally this will only take about four minutes maximum per side.

 

Once you have done that, you can turn the heat of your burner down to a slow simmer, and half cover the pan with a lid.  Cooking them for a few more minutes at this lower temperature is the secret to keeping them from drying out.

This last bit of cook time helps them to gently cook through, without drying them out in the least.

 

You want to only cook them just until the juices run clear and the interior temperature of the burger is a safe 160*F/ 72*C. 

I did add a slice of cheese to my burger for the last minute of the cook time.  As you can see my burger is incredibly moist, despite being perfectly cooked through.

This was one incredibly delicious and juicy burger!  Feel free to serve these with your favorite burger toppings and buns. I like to toast the inside cut surfaces of my buns.  This helps to hold the buns together.

I also spread the bun with a bit of mayonnaise made with olive oil and added a healthy layer of mixed spring lettuces and sliced ripe tomatoes.

With a tossed salad on the side, this made for a very healthy and delicious meal for one or two if you follow the recipe exactly. These are quite large burgers, each one using six ounces of turkey. If you are not up for that, you can cut the amount from 12 ounces (for two burgers) down to about 10 and still have a really delicious burger!

Enjoy!!

 

When I was cheffing at the Manor, once or twice a month my boss would entertain all of her friends from her internation women's club to lunch.  They were actually supposed to take turns, but she ended up doing it most of the time. 

 

First of all I think she was probably the wealthiest of them all and secondly I think she liked to show off to the others and get her money's worth out of me. I didn't mind as they were wonderful opportunities to stretch and exercise my skills.

 

All of the ladies would enter at the back entry way where I would greet them with a cold drink, usually an option of a glass of wine or an ice cold elderflower drink, which I would have gotten ready prior to their arriving.  It was my job to greet them because the Mrs, despite having had all morning to get ready would probably only just be getting in the shower, having spent several hours faffing about with flowers in the laundry room.  She spent an inordinate amount of money on her flower arrangements.  I can't even begin to tell you .  Let me just say that the flowers for one of her luncheons would have cost more than an entire month's wages for myself.

 

While she was faffing about with the flowers I would be setting the table for the luncheon which would have been either in the Conservatory,  the dining room, on the stone patio deck at the side of the house or under the arbour out in the back garden.  A lot depended on the time of year,  and what the weather was doing.

 

As well as that I would be trying to organise and prepare all of the courses for the luncheon.  First there would be three bite sized nibbles for them to enjoy with their elderflower/wine prior to the luncheon.  They would need to keep themselves occupied with something while they were waiting for her to make her grand appearance, so nibbles it was.  I usually tried to keep these simple because the ladies didn't really want to fill up too much.

 

Usually there would be a first course.  She liked to serve soup for the first course.  Depending on the time of year it would be either a hot soup or a cold soup.  She had beautiful dishes to serve them in.  One of my favourites was the soup dishes that looked like vegetables, each with their own leaf plate. they were really quite pretty.

 

After the first course they would enjoy the main course which would be either some poached salmon or chicken with vegetables or a salad of some sort. Of course this is simplifying things somewhat as it was never quite as simple as poached salmon, but always something fun and delicious and colourful!  This would be followed by a choice of two desserts.  And yes, I did all of it by myself. The preparation of everything, the serving, the clearing and the clean up afterwards. Let me tell you at the end of the day I would be zonked.  Thank goodness if I was working a luncheon I didn't have to cook supper that evening!

 

Things like this Turkey Taco Salad would have been popular luncheon options, although she would have preferred a salad that was a bit fiddlier than this one. This one is dead simple . . .  from start to finish and oh-so-delicious!!

 

I am sure the ladies would have enjoyed it immensely.

 

A crisp homemade tortilla bowl  . . .  created by draping small tortillas over muffin cups spritzed with canola cooking spray, so easy . . .

 

Filled with a spectacularly flavour filled turkey mixture, perfectly seasoned and beautifully spiced.

  

Garnished with some grated cheese, shredded lettuce and sliced spring onions  . . .  then drizzled with ranch dressing and sprinkled with cherry tomatoes.  This would have gone down really well with the ladies I am sure.  I think you will enjoy it as well. Quick, easy and delicious!

 

Turkey is a superfood, filled with plenty of vitamins and nutrients and is also thought to help lower your risk for cancer.  I don't know how they know these things, but I am sure they have done their studies of it.  Odd how I can't really stand the texture of ground beef, but I love ground turkey! 

 

Every now and again, I like to enjoy a good burger.  I have to confess however, I am not totally fond of Beef Burgers. In truth I would rather have a Turkey Burger. 

 

Its a texture thing really  . . .  as soon as I get a bit of gristle or something even closely resembling it in between my teeth, my gag reflex kicks in.  It is a problem I have mostly with beef or pork.  I haven't experienced it with turkey yet.

 

Its awfully hard to enjoy eating something once the gag reflex kicks in.  My mother used to try feeding me hamburger (s) when I was a child and it was a no go. I used to hide it under my plate, (only got away with that one once), under the carpet (that worked until my mother hoovered), and in the cold air vents. (Worked until Spring Cleaning kicked in.)

 

I would be told that I had to sit there until I ate it, and I would sit there all afternoon if need be, and on into the evening, patiently awaiting my opportunity to ditch it. (We had no dog.  If we had, it would have been a lot easier!)  My mom finally gave up.

 

I still don't really ground meat of any kind mixed into anything.  I think I was the only child on the planet who could pick out all of the hamburger from a hamburger casserole, eating the pasta and sauce, but leaving the hamburger behind. (Yes I was that annoying!)  Again, it was a texture thing. 

 

I can eat and do enjoy meatballs now, and occasionally a Hamburger, but for the most part I leave them alone.  I do enjoy ground turkey however, so more often that not, this is what we will have.

 

This is a recipe I found on the Hellman's site.   The original called for the use of Chorizo sausage.  I couldn't bring myself to use that, so instead I used their suggestions for an alternative, which was basically a spice mix.

 

You may think I am picky, and perhaps I am, but I think Chorizo tastes like dirty socks. (Not that I have eaten or tasted dirty socks because I haven't. To me it just tastes like what I imagine dirty socks to taste like.)

  

The end result was a very delicious Turkey burger, with lovely smoky flavours and a moist texture, as you can see from the photographs.  I cooked them on our electric grill. Todd enjoyed his with a nice bun. I enjoyed it all on its own, both with sweet potato wedges on the side.

 

I added some mayo, some of my Christmas Cranberry Chutney, sliced tomato and shredded lettuce.  (If you have gotten this far after reading about the taste of dirty socks and gristle, I applaud your tenacity!)  Seriously though, they really are quite good. 'Nuff said.

 

When I was raising my family in Canada, several times a year we would pop across the border into the US for some shopping.  Of course that always involved a trip to a grocery store, and we would bring back a couple of large turkeys. 

 

They were relatively inexpensive, and with five children, they made great sense economically.  I always had lots of things that I could do with a turkey and it's leftovers aside from roasting them. 

 

Soups, casseroles, sandwiches . . . there was no end to my creativity.  Of course with just two of us  now in our home, it doesn't make a lot of sense to buy a whole turkey other than during the holidays.  We just wouldn't get through it fast enough and over here, roast turkey's are really expensive! 

 

You can get turkey breasts without the bone to roast relatively cheaply however, and turkey fillets, so I often avail myself of them and will cook one for us to use in sandwiches and casseroles.  This recipe is usually how I roast it.  It turns out perfect every time. 

 

And we always get about 3 meals from it.  One on the day, at least one casserole and then sandwiches.  I don't like to buy the deli turkey here.  It never seems quite right to me.  I prefer to roast one of these turkey breasts and then use the meat from that. 

 

At least I know what I am getting, and it's not over the top expensive like most sliced deli turkey meat is. 

 

Sometimes I will do us hot turkey sandwiches, with gravy  . . . 

 

Sometimes a pot pie will show up on the dinner table . . . 

 

This week I did a Turkey & Broccoli Casserole . . .

 

Turkey and broccoli are great flavour partners.  Actually broccoli goes well with any kind of poultry, and fish for that matter.  Actually, now that I think about it, broccoli is one of those vegetables that goes well with everything!  (Beef and broccoli, num num!)

  

This is a really simple casserole which requires no tinned soup, nor the making of a cream sauce. It could not be easier.

 

You simply blanch your broccoli (broken into florets, and the stem peeled and cubed, waste not want not) and then layer it with some softened onion and the turkey in a baking dish.  (season it all lightly)

 

Then you whisk together some sour cream and some stock and pour it over everything . . .  

 

Crisp bread crumbs, seasoned and then mixed with some cheddar cheese get sprinkled on top . . . 

 

And then the whole thing gets baked in the oven until the casserole is bubbling and everything is well heated through. 

  

As they say, "Easy Peasy, Lemon Squeasy!"  You really can't get much better than this.  Its fabulously tasty!

 

You can serve it with rice, or baked potatoes, mashed potatoes or as I did the other day some roast sweet potatoes.  I just wash up some unpeeled sweet potatoes, prick them and roast them in a hot oven until soft.  If you cut off one end, they just slip out of the skins very easily and they taste wonderful just as they are!  This makes a great weeknight supper that everyone loves!  Bon Appetit!