Salmon Burgers with Dill Mayonnaise

This is also a recipe from the Food Network, but I changed it so much I'll call it mine! I had Costco rolls on hand so I made mini salmon burgers, my family loved them! I like Dill, but I don't love Dill, so I put less of it in the Dill mayo than was called for. If there is a lot of dill in a recipe, I just can't taste anything else! If you love it though put the original 2 Tbs. in the mayo recipe instead of the 1 Tbs. I'm writing in.

Salmon Burgers

2 tsp freshly chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
1/2 sweet onion, diced
2 eggs
1/2 c. panko or regular bread crumbs
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp kosher salt
1 lemon, zested
4 Tbs. Dill mayonnaise, recipe follows
13-15 oz. can boneless, skinless Alaskan salmon, drained well
2 Tbs. olive oil

Preheat oven to 400.
In medium bowl, combine parsley, onions, eggs, panko, black pepper, salt, lemon zest, and dill mayo together. Add drained salmon and mix well. Form into 4 large patties or 6 small patties.

In large skillet heat the olive oil over medium heat. Place burgers in skillet. Cook until browned, turn over and repeat. Place in oven for 4 minutes.
Serve on buns with Dill mayo and lettuce.

Dill Mayonnaise:

1/2 c. mayo
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 Tbs. fresh chopped dill leaves
pinch cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients in small bowl and set aside.

Grilled Cheeseburger with Green Chile Sauce

I have been craving hamburgers lately! And then the Food Network had a special on them so I went online and printed out some of the recipes they featured. This cheeseburger recipe came from Bobby Flay. The homemade green chile sauce is really, really, good!

Grilled Cheeseburger with Green Chile Sauce

2 lbs. ground chuck (80-85% lean)
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
8 slices provolone or monterey jack cheese
4 good quality buns (I like using homemade or ciabatta rolls)
green chile sauce (recipe follows)
Romaine lettuce
4 thick slices tomato

Heat grill to medium heat. Form meat into 4 8 oz. patties and season each burger on both sides with 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Grill until charred on both sides and cooked to desired doneness.
Place 2 slices of cheese on each burger, at the same time cut buns in half and place cut side down on grill to toast. Close BBQ lid and grill until cheese is melted and buns are toasted, usually takes just a few minutes. Place burgers on buns and top with green chile sauce and lettuce, tomato, and mayo.

Green Chile Sauce:

1 poblano chile (they are big and green)grilled, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1/2 medium white onion, grilled and chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 Tbs. fresh epazote (it's an herb) or 1 Tbs. fresh cilantro chopped
1/4 c. cold water
1/2 Tbs. honey
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

I grill my onions and pepper at the same time that I put on the burgers. I rubbed olive oil all over the pepper and onions and grilled until they had grill marks on them and were soft to the touch.

Combine all ingredients in blender, blend until smooth.

Labels!

I have now implemented Labels, so you will be able to look up recipes by categories located in the side bar instead of scrolling through past months to try and find a specific recipe, Enjoy!

Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad

I LOVE Caesar salad, in fact, it's the only salad I ever eat. I found this recipe on the Kraft foods website and I just loved the presentation so much I wanted to try it. It was delicious! The best Caesar salad I've ever made. I love marinating the chicken in the Caesar dressing, it gave it so much flavor, and cutting into bite size pieces really shortens the grilling time. I would highly recommend using Ciabatta bread with this recipe.

Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
Caesar dressing (I love the Girard's Light Caesar)
1 head Romaine lettuce
Ciabatta or french bread
Grated Parmesan (not the powdered stuff)
Bamboo skewers (about 8)

Place your chicken pieces in a gallon sized ziploc bag. Add enough dressing to coat chicken, place in refrigerator and let marinate for 30 minutes. Place skewers in water to soak to prevent burning. Let soak for 30 minutes while meat is marinating.
Preheat grill to medium/low heat.
Thread about 6-8 pieces of chicken onto each skewer.
Slice bread into 1" thick slices, brush with melted butter or olive oil.
Oil grill.
Place chicken on grill and cook until done, turning once. On my grill it took about 5 minutes on each side, but if your grill tends to be hot it may only take 3-4 minutes, watch carefully to prevent burning. When chicken is almost done, add bread slices and toast on each side. Remove bread and chicken from grill and set aside.
Wash and cut lettuce, place in large bowl and coat lightly with Caesar dressing. Place bread slices around perimeter and lay chicken sticks on top of lettuce. Sprinkle liberally with Parmesan cheese and enjoy!

Oatmeal Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love these cookies because the oatmeal makes them so chewy! And with oatmeal and walnuts in them, they qualify as health food, right? RIGHT?!

Oatmeal Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 c. butter, softened
1 c. light brown sugar, packed
1/2 c. white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 3/4 c. quick oats
3/4 c. chopped walnuts
1 1/2 c. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325.
In large beat beat butter and sugar together for about 2 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add eggs one a time, add vanilla.
Combine flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into creamed mixture. Stir in quick oats, walnuts, and chocolate chips.
Bake for approx. 12 minutes.

Cupcake Pops! Yay!

Aren't these the cutest things you've ever seen? They do take time to make but it's fairly easy. Such a cute idea for kid's birthdays or holiday parties. A lady called Bakerella invented these, click here http://bakerella.blogspot.com/search/label/cupcake%20pops to see the many different cake pops she's come up with. I love the ghosts and reindeers!

For cupcake pops you will need:

1 13X9 cake, any flavor you want, baked (I've done chocolate and strawberry)
1 tub frosting, regular, not whipped (again any flavor, I put chocolate with the chocolate cake and vanilla with the strawberry)
Lollipop sticks found at craft store
1 small scalloped cookie/fondant cutter (I found mine at Michaels, it's made by Wilton, it's a little over an inch across)
1 bag chocolate candy melts (again I found at Michaels)
1 bad pink candy melts
pink M&M's and a variety of sprinkles for toppings

Once your cake is cool crumble in a large bowl, add about 3/4 of the tub of frosting and mush together thoroughly with hands (this is quite fun!)
Form into small balls, about 1 1/2".
Place on waxed paper and put in freezer for 5 minutes.
Roll balls into an oblong shape. Place in scalloped cutter and push from the top and bottom so that the cake fills in the scalloped shape. Push out bottom to remove. Continue with remaining balls. Place in freezer for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt chocolate candy melts until smooth, you can do this on a double broiler and in 30 second intervals in the microwave.
Dip your lollipop stick in the chocolate, just so the tip is covered. Take one cupcake and dip bottom half in chocolate, wiping off bottom on side of bowl as you remove.
Place lollipop stick in the bottom, a little less than halfway through. Repeat with remaining cupcakes. You can place these in a piece of floral foam to harden up or a glass, you just don't want them touching.
When chocolate is hardened up, melt pink candy melts.
Dip top half of cupcake in pink candy melts, try to make the pink touch the chocolate so that you don't have cake showing through. Decorate immediately and place in foam to harden.
At the craft store they also have lollipop bags that you can put over the pops and tie with cute ribbon if you're taking them somewhere.

I would highly recommend going here: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/cupcake-pops?video_id=0&autonomy_kw=cupcake%20pops
to watch the how to video on Martha Stewart's show!

Pesto Pasta and Chicken

I'm sorry I don't have a pic for this one, it didn't turn out very well (the picture that is, not the pasta! :), but this pasta was to die for! It was so good, and the homemade pesto just put it over the top. This was another recipe Stefany taught at cooking group, thanks Stefany! I can't wait to make this for my husband, he LOVES pesto!

Easy Homemade Pesto

1/4 c. almonds
3 cloves garlic
1 1/2 c. fresh basil leaves
1/2 c. olive oil
1 pinch nutmeg
2/3 c. parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450. Place almonds on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly toasted. In a food processor, combine toasted almonds, garlic, basil, olive oil, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Process until a coarse paste is formed.

Pasta

1 16oz. package bow tie pasta
1 tsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
crushed red pepper flakes to taste
1/3 c. oil packed sun dried tomatoes, drained and cut into strips
1/2 c. pesto (can be purchased at store too, Costco has some that's really good)
Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta to al dente (still slightly firm); drain. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic until tender, stir in chicken. Season with red pepper flakes. Cook until chicken is golden and cooked through. In a large bowl, combine pasta, chicken, sun dried tomatoes, and pesto. Toss to coat evenly, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve!

Marinated Grilled Shrimp

My friend Stefany taught us how to make these at our cooking group last month, don't they look yummy?

Marinated Grilled Shrimp

3 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 c. olive oil
1/4 c. tomato sauce
2 Tbs red wine vinegar
2 Tbs. chopped fresh basil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 lbs. fresh shrimp, medium sized, peeled and deveined
bamboo skewers

In a large bowl, stir together the garlic, olive oil, tomato sauce, and red wine vinegar. Season with basil, salt, and cayenne pepper. Add shrimp to bowl, and stir evenly to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour, stirring once or twice. At this point add skewers to water to soak, this will prevent them burning up on the BBQ! They should soak for at least 1/2 hour.
Preheat grill to medium heat.
Thread shrimp on skewers, piercing once near the tail and once near the head. Discard marinade. Lightly spray grill with cooking spray. Cook shrimp for 2-3 minutes per side, until opaque and pink.

Strawberry Lemonade

This is my favorite drink to make in the summer, it's delicious!

Strawberry Lemonade

2 c. water
1 c. sugar
1 Tbs. grated lemon peel
1 c. fresh lemon juice
1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
2 c. club soda
ice
lemon slices for garnish

Grate lemon with a zester for the lemon peel and then juice lemons for fresh juice. About four regular size lemons makes 1 cups of juice.
In medium pot over medium high heat combine water and sugar. Let come to a boil and stir until sugar is dissolved, remove from heat. Add lemon peel and lemon juice. Place in refrigerator and let cool.
Puree the strawberries in a blender (I usually add some of the chilled lemonade mixture so it blends easier). Add to lemonade and stir. I pour the juice through a strainer a couple of times to get out all of the zest, pulp, and strawberry seeds. Right before serving add club soda and ice. Slice 1 lemon and place on top of lemonade. Cool and delicious!