Chicken cordon bleu burger

Now that summer is finally cooling off, I can breathe a little more easily in my kitchen which means I am cooking again! yay! I knew I had to get my ass in the kitchen when I got called out on Twitter by a reader who noticed all my restaurant check-ins… But they were nice about it.

“Do you ever cook at home?

yes, yes I do cook! and Thank you for calling me out! lol. There are absolutely no windows in my kitchen and while I’m not making excuses, it is impossible to do anything in the kitchen during the summer months without breaking into a drenching sweat. So, I took a cooking sabbatical. But now that there is a friendly breeze, I am ready to wean myself back into my menu planning.

While grocery shopping, I had a hankering for a burger- a homemade burger. But I didn’t want to eat beef. So, I picked up some ground chicken and walked the grocery store aisles, picking up other random things and thinking of inspiration.

And then? I saw it. The Canadian Bacon. And it hit me. Cordon Bleu. Chicken. Burgers. I made this once when I used to live with my mom and every now and then she asks me if I can make them for her again. I say yes but always get side tracked. There was no time like the present to revive this dish.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Burgers (serves 4)

Ingredients:

1 lb lean ground chicken

2 T poultry seasoning

salt

pepper

4 slices of canadian bacon (diced)

4 slices of swiss cheese (diced)

4 boston lettuce leaves

4 hamburger buns (I used flatbread)

I started by seasoning the ground chicken with the poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. I mixed it well and set it aside. I diced the canadian bacon and the swiss cheese.

I then portioned the ground turkey into 4 burgers. I took a handful of bacon and a handful of cheese and stuffed them into the burger.

In a non stick skillet, I cooked these burgers over medium heat for 4 minutes on each side.

I let the burgers rest for a moment before cutting into them and placed a burger on a bun with one boston lettuce leaf.

The innards of this tasty burger. It is well seasoned so it didn’t need anything more but if I had to put a condiment, I would use a little spicy mustard.

Look at that action shot! that’s an actual bite! It was great. My only regret is not having decent hamburger buns. That would be my only change next time- but it was still one tasty burger.

Brunching at Home

Ever wake up craving something?

Well on one particular night I went to bed dreaming of the pancakes from Kane’s Diner in Flushing. I sent my roommate a text (who was in the next room) as well as my neighbor Patty a text asking if they would be interested in taking a trip the following morning to get some amazing pancakes.

They both said yes.

However, saying YES and making PLANS are two different things. I went to bed dreaming of those buttery fluffy pancakes and woke up. At 11am. Texted my neighbor who was still sleeping (we party too hard, i guess) and my roommate who was already making breakfast in the kitchen.

i smelled bacon. And when one smells bacon, one might send a text to sleeping neighbor saying “F*ck the pancakes! Theres bacon in my house!” (Dont worry- neighbor couldnt make it to the diner that morning anyway) So i joined my roommate in the kitchen and decided to make some pancakes.

I used a tried and true recipe, plus the addition of some brown sugar and cinnamon in the batter.

The result: Fluffy (and free) homemade pancakes. All in the comfort of my favorite pajamas (the ones with the hole in the waistband)

We also had a bottle of proseco in the fridge waiting for the perfect occassion. Felt like the perfect moment for mimosas.

Roomie made amazing potatoes with some cajun seasoning, crispy bacon, and sunnyside eggs.

(mind the clutter at my tiny table) We sat down to a delightful brunch in our Pjs and had some girl talk while our boys stayed sleeping in their respective beds… (smh MEN! more lazy than us ladies!)

My plate of the savory yummies…

Followed by a short stack of homemade pancakes. We rubbed our full bellies and got a little buzzed from our giant mimosas. We cleaned the table and kitchen. We yawned. Smiled. And then went to take post-brunch, alcohol induced naps.

The boys woke up later and had brunchy Lunches.

In this heat, i welcome midday naps! I seem to wear my sunglasses at night these days.

Bacon and Spinach Quiche a la Dorie Greenspan

Happy Almost Friday.

I have decided to keep my Dorie Greenspan cookbook in the kitchen for more inspiration. I have made a few salads and am still hungry for more at home french style food. I passed the salad section and came across an easy dish that made my mouth water.

Quiche.

I am a sucker for a buttery and flaky crust but throw in some creamy eggs, cheese and bacon? Dude. Its on!

And thats kinda what happened when i saw how simple and easy it was to make quiche a la dorie greenspan.

All i needed were eggs, a pie crust, crispy bacon, heavy cream, fresh spinach, onions and parm cheese. Most of these things were already in my freezer so after a quick shop at the grocery store- it was time for some quiche.

Once I crisped up the bacon…. which by the way- makes doggies very focused… I set it aside to drip dry on some paper towels.

In the bacon grease, (oh god please dont judge me) I sauteed the onions and when they were nice and tender i added fresh spinach.

Do you know what fresh spinach and onions taste like when they have been bathed in bacon fat?

Pretty amazing if i may say so myself. Dorie didnt tell me to use the bacon fat but I just felt like I couldnt waste it. And really, i think she might give me a thumbs up for that one.

I seasoned the veggies and bacon with salt and pepper and then took it off the flame.

In my whole wheat pie crust (gotta make it healthy where it counts) I added the veggie mixture to the bottom, covered it with cheese and then poured eggs and heavy cream on top of it followed by another healthy shaking of parm cheese.

I baked it for 30 minutes and when it came out of the oven, it filled the apartment with the aroma of bacon and buttery bread.

I would like to bottle the fragrance and sell it. Got any good names for that one???

I allowed this baby to cool for a while- which was no easy feat- and dug in (as well as the new boy) to a healthy slice. The boy doesnt like quiche (and veggies i just learned – gasp) but still ate it anyway. I loved the simplicity of this quiche as well as the flavors and textures. There will most definitely be another quiche in upcoming posts as there was another pie crust just chillin in the freezer waiting to be loved.

Bacon and Egg Salad over Asparagus

I did it again!

I cooked!

It was a great week where I made TWO things. Two Salads.

I half cooked. But- i have to say, that despite the fact that they are salad dinners, they were in fact hearty salads.  This beauty was inspired by Dorie Greenspan (again). I have permanently left her cookbook on my kitchen counter for inspiration. And how can you NOT get inspired when looking in the salad section of all sections and see things like BACON and EGGS?

Um, yes please?

You should know two things. One, this dish was incredibly difficult to photograph. I wanted it to be as picturesque as the lovely Ms. Greenspan’s… but no such luck. Two, my camera is on the fritz and is refusing to focus on anything. So, I’m camera shopping. If anyone wants to buy me an amazeballs camera, I will bake you a batch of brownies and hand deliver them…

I scored an amazing bunch of asparagus that i trimmed and washed and briefly cooked in a pan of salted water. They simmered in the shallow water for about 4 minutes or until they were crisp tender (maybe even a little more softer than that- but they still had some bite to them). When the asparagus was done, i transferred it to an ice bath to bring it back to its gorgeous bright green color. I set the asparagus aside and started to work on a gorgeous slab of thick cut bacon.

I attempted to trim this bacon but how HELLO! Do you SEE how amazing it looks? I just grabbed my kitchen shears, hacked thick pieces of bacon into a hot pan and let them crisp up.

  The bacon took several minutes the crisp up so while that was goin on, i soft boiled some eggs. Soft boiling eggs= crack tastic. It takes little to no time at all but when it comes to peeling the shells, make sure the egg is submerged in cold water before you carefully attempt to remove the shell from the tender flesh.

When the bacon was cooked, i transferred it to a paper towel to blot the excess oil.

To assemble my salad, i laid a layer of mixed spring greens with several sprigs of asparagus (minus a few i noshed on while cooking), sprinkled with bacon crumbles, and placed the soft boiled egg on top.

I dressed it with a light dijon vinaigrette.

This salad was definitely out of the ordinary but the elements together made for bite after delicious bite of wonderfulness.

I adore this dish and definitely see myself making it again in the future.

Sage General

Over the weekend, I attended a happy hour with some thirsty yelpers. What was supposed to be just 2 drinks, turned into 2 drinks and a butt load of shots. I wobbled my silly self to the train (12 blocks) in my not so comfy heels (like, seriously, what was i thinking???) and made it home in time to have a slice of pizza and pass out.

My worst habit is checking my phone whenever i stir in my slumber. I pick up the phone and check my email, messages, and notifications. I usually put the phone back and go back to sleep… more times than not, i dont remember i did this.

The following morning from the thirsty happy hour, i woke up at 7am. splitting headache. semi nauseous. and completely miserable. I am clearly getting too old for this hangover business. In my habit of checking my phone, i saw my brother managed to get himself into a pickle and posted it on facebook. Feeling responsible for the child (hes 22) since my parents were away, i got up, showered, and set forth on a very interesting journey.

Without checking the train schedules, i automatically assumed that the trains i had wanted to take to rescue my brother in brooklyn were on wonky schedules so i concocted a plan to take several trains to brooklyn… spoiler alert: i really wish i would have checked the train schedule.

I ended up having to be re-routed in Long Island City. So i exited the train station and on my way to a completely different station, my eyes caught the site of a restaurant i have been wanting to visit since forever.

Sage General.

A small 7 table restaurant with straight up comfort food.

I was hungover. I was hungry. I was right in front of Sage General.

I sent my baby bro a text telling him i was going to be late.

Upon first entering this adorable spot, you are SMACKED in the face by the amazing aroma of SMOKED BACON.

I heard angels singing.

I made my way to the counter. Eyed the menu and decided on the BLT. With potatoes. and a side of bacon mac and cheese. And an iced coffee.

I over order when im hungry.

What should have taken 10 minutes took 30. The woman at the restaurant apologized profusely and refilled my iced coffee for free. I really didnt mind. the smell of bacoh was sobering. And the decor was amazing. I also learned while i was there that my good friend Guy Fieri had been there with Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. awesome.

My food was ready and they packed it up and sent me packing.

It was fate. Because from Sage general, i got to my brother in 10 minutes!

The BLT held up to the travel. The bread was toasty. The bread was also HUGE!

I wasted NO time in digging in. And bacon lovers, you must know the bacon on this sandwich was unlike any i have ever tasted! SO SMOKY and FLAVORFUL! I drool a little thinking about the flavor of that awesome bacon! The mayo, tomato and lettuce were perfect in the sandwich.

Feeling incredibly full, i moved on to the mac and cheese.

Sad to say, i didnt LOVE this. It was definitely tasty but texturally, the cheese sauce was gritty and i am not a huge fan of that. They arent shy with the bacon. Its bacony and comforting.

Little brother definitely enjoyed this dish. I actually have never seen him eat something so fast!

I told baby bro how thankful i was that he was a lame brain and locked himself out because had it not been for the fact that he was up shit creek, i probably would have never made it to sage general. And while i was explaining this to him, he interuptd me and said “dude, your train was running! You went through all of that for nothing!” and he laughed…

but really, i guess i should thank the yelpers for making me so hungover i didnt check the train schedule which never would have brought me to Sage General…So thanks baby bro AND alcoholic yelpers!

I would definitely go back! Especially for the bacon. But i hear their rotisserie chicken is a-mazing!

Happy Birthday Cow Girl!

Happy Birthday 21st (plus a few more) Tracey! You dont look a day over 18!
I told you yesterday there was an EPIC cheat coming up… a calorie fest of epic proportions… and this is it.
This is where I take my month of hard work and succumb to the aromas of smoked ribs and fresh bread. This is where I throw all my will power out of the window…
And this is where they make the birthday girl sit on a saddle and yell YEHAW at her. Yep, Im for SURE not in New York anymore. AS you can see from the photo above, the good looks run in the family. Lookin’ good Tre’… and remember that i love you dearly before you tell your husband that you are going to kill me. Surely, you had to know that if i snapped a pic of you it was likely to end up on this lovely blog.
We went to Texas Roadhouse… on a saturday night. And so did every one else. The wait with a reservation was 45 minutes.

But they had peanuts for snackage while we waited.

I wish i can say thats the number of peanuts I consumed but the truth is that this is probably what was left AFTER i snacked…

And I felt really bad for the kid that had to clean this mess up! The peanuts there are endless! That huge barrel is full of peanuts, when you get seated, you get a small bucket of peanuts, next to your table is another barrel of peanuts… everywhere!!!

When we were seated we were given two baskets of fresh bread. I have a serious weakness for fresh bread and had a roll… (plus one more)

With whipped cinnamon sugar butter. Seriously Roadhouse- you’re killing me! And when we finished our 2 baskets…why did two more come out?

This is not New York so there were no calorie stats on the menu. But guessing by the contents of hte menu, even the salads were gonna start at or around 1000 calories. After a quick text from Mari… who said I am entitled to ONE cheat… I went for the half slab of ribs.

I ordered a drink. Strawberry Margarita. There are no margaritas on the planet of New York that can match up to the margaritas in 5 Burro Cafe… but everyone was having one so i went for it. BAD idea. We are definitely not in New York; where the drinks are strong and the and margaritas taste good. This margarita was so WEAK. It tasted like strawberry puree.. and it wasnt just mine. My parents ordered a Grey goose martini that tasted like pure water. Roadhouse, do you water down your alcohol??? shame on you! I returned my drink and went for this:

A Jamaican cowboy. i have no idea what is in it but its mighty fruity tasting and i could have chugged this on an empty stomach and not feel a single buzz…I cant wait to get my margarita at 5 burro cafe!

Mom and tre got a caesar salad to start and I had to have a bite… I really liked the dressing. I ordered a mammoth half slab of ribs. Meaty slow cooked ribs. They were fantastic. I also ordered mashed potatoes with brown gravy to go with it. The taters were heavenly.

in an effort to have ONE green veggie in my meal i opted for the green beans… that came smothered in bacon and onions. DAMN. I tasted them- they were okay but my heart was set on fresh sauteed green beans.

Surprisingly, i didnt eat everything on my plate- my hard work is definitely paying off! But I still have to see if my calorie fest has an effect on the scale this week! Wish me luck!

Birthday Saddle anyone???

A little behind…

I’m a weekend behind on photos… so I have broken them down into days- so as not to bore or overwhelm. k, pumpkins?
Eating right… week 3. How does it feel?
pretty good.
Spoiler alert- i cheated over the weekend… pretty badly… but i promise you that I get back on track.
Big surprise as to what I had for breakfast Friday. Grits. But I had the kind with baco bits. It smelled so nasty when i opened the package and because I literally had nothing else to munch for brekkie, I prepared it anyway. And you know what? it didnt taste the way it smelled. it was actually pretty good. I like fakin bacon! yum!

Around lunchtime, I had a very boring turkey and cheese sandwich with a teeny tiny cup of soup. Those lil cupa-soups arent the best tasting things on the planet but really filling for only 50 cals. And please pick out those nasty freeze dried pieces of “chicken”- they are so damn disgusting!

pop chips! seriously, how can you not love these? I have converted a few snackers with these babies and now whenever my buddy gets a bag for herself she comes through with a bag for me. ((((friends))))

And after seeing a funny commercial about these… and them being right in my face at the checkout line in the drugstore (conspiracies) I thought – why not!

Pretty good. Kind of menthol-y, like a cough drop but not. They are refreshing and kill the snack attacks.

And now for my epic dinner fail…

I got a little over-zealous with my Korean marinade. It was GREAT on mahi mahi so i figured I would use it to marinate some chicken.

I should have stopped there. I really wanted some veggies and thought that the marinade would make a good stirfry sauce.

Frozen greenbeans and fresh broccoli.

recipe for disaster coming right up. As it was cooking, I was tasting to make sure I didnt over season or overcook. the broccoli took to the marinade nicely but the greenbeans were gross. In an effort to get my veggies in…

I added some portobello mushrooms to the mix…

they really saved my dinner. And they are amazing. I forgot how much i loved mushrooms. Its been too long!

For the exception of those greenbeans… dinner was pretty good. But i think i am taking a break from the korean marinade or maybe get a recipe for the vegetables…

How do you like your frozen green beans?

SOPA TUSCANA!

When I returned from my cousin’s house after the Holidays i was craving that sopa tuscana that she made. The soup made with sausage and potatoes brings me back to the one of two times i ever went to the Olive Garden. (because apparently you don’t learn lessons the first time around- I despise Huge restaurant chains like Olive Garden because a lot of what makes food special is tradition and that homemade touch. I just feel a lot of it gets lost in being a Chain…. i digress) The first time i went to Olive Garden was with my cousin a few years ago when the endless soup and salad fad was all the rage. We went there for lunch and the unlimited soup and salad was included with the meal (jeez louise); I ordered chicken parm and when asked about my soup my cousin said sopa tuscana because it was really good. It was a cloudy broth that had chunks of soft potatoes, carmelized onions, crumbled sausage and a smoky bacon taste. I had 3 bowls and brought my chicken parm home (which is where i discovered my hatred for Olive Garden and they horrid sauces).
Well, My cousin made this soup over Christmas break and it was even better than I remembered it. I helped with the prep and figured I could play around with this recipe on my own.
And here are the goods!
2 tbsp milk, 1 tbsp flour, 1 lb of smoked bacon (i used turkey), 1 med sized onion, 6 cups of chicken broth, 6 potatoes sliced into rounds, 1 lb of sausage (sweet or hot), 1 bunch of kale (washed, trimmed, and cut into large pieces)

I washed my kale and ripped the leaves into chunks, discarding the stem and ugly pieces. i set them in a colander to drip dry until i was ready for them.

I roughly diced an onion and sauteed it in a pan with a light drizzle of olive oil.

Roughly diced up some smokey turkey bacon…and added them to the onions. Sautee until the bacon slightly crisps and the onions carmelize.

Get a large pot out and add all your chicken broth to the pot. Start to heat the broth since we now have to cook potatoes in there.

After scrubbing some yukon gold potatoes, I sliced them into rounds and added them to the now simmering chicken broth. I leave the skin on because i loves it… but if it grosses you out you can peel them.

Add you bacon and onions to the chicken broth and potatoes and get ready to cook the sausage. I was looking for the giant tube of jimmy dean sausage filling but I couldnt find any. If you find it, that would be ideal but if not, grab a lb of sausage, take them out of the casing and cook them up on the stove top using your cooking utensil to break them up into bits.

MMMM. Sausage crumbles. Do not taste them crumbles as you cook them. they are more addicitng than they appear.

Once the sausage is cooked…

Add it to the pot of other yummy stuff. Season to your liking. I added some italion seasoning, granulated garlic, salt and lots of cracked black pepper. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Add all of your kale… don’t worry- it will wilt down and turn into something gorgeous.

OH YEA! thats the stuff! We’re almost done! take a small bowl and put a few tablespoons of the broth in the bowl. add the milk and flour and whisk till there are no lumps. this is our thickening agent in our yummy soup. If you want to experience the full effect of this soup, omit the flour and milk and add 1/4 cup of heavy cream… However, with it being a new year and damn near everyone is on a diet I figured i would lighten this up just a little! once the mixture is lump free pour it into the soup and give it a giant stir. Soup is ready when potatoes are fork tender and kale is soft.

Have a big bowl wearing a warm snuggie and get that cozy feeling (hell, i know I needed it with all this FRIGID weather!)

And look at all those leftovers. Its gonna be a SOUPY week for me!

My version of the soup was a bit more “peppery” than my cousins. the addition of garlic powder made the flavors a lot bolder in the soup- with all the smokiness from the bacon- it could be ommitted and still taste amazing.

My apartment still smells like bacon and onions but thats not such a terrible thing…. unless someone comes over unaware that i made a bacon and onion based soup and thinks i need a shower…

Everything tastes better with Bacon

Another Thanksgiving appetizer.
Last year i made Bacon Wrapped Asparagus. Everyone loved it but I didnt love how I prepared it. When I think bacon with a vegetable, I think bacon flavor INFUSED into the vegetable and in order to do that you have render the fat. When i made my asparagus last year I baked it, the flavor was okay but I really wanted to snap into a crispy bacon greasy spear of asparagus on bacon crack, ya know?
I was asked to prepare a side dish and I almost immediately thought “something green with bacon” and I wanted a challenge. My family eats with their eyes. If it looks gross they wont eat it. But I also wanted to dare them to eat something they wouldnt normally eat prepared the regular way.
Brussel Sprouts. Everyone thinks of them as the god awful vegetable that was forced upon children to eat…or else no dessert for you. I will proudly wolf these bad boys down because they got bacon in ’em. MMMM!
Start with a pack of bacon. I got whatever was on sale. Just make sure its smoked (and i dont think turkey bacon will yield the same effects). Get a frying pan screaming hot and add the bacon to it. No need to add anything to the pan because the bacon has its own grease (Oh sweet Cheeses!) I put the bacon on medium and kept moving it around the pan to help them crisp up.

Next, Pearl Onions. Adorbs! I was gonna use shallots but C-Town had a very sad looking bucket of rotting shallots the day before Thanksgiving… travesty! So i figured Pearl onions were oniony enough but mild at the same time. I boiled these for 5 minutes to help with the peeling processs.

After 5 minutes, let these babies cool. then slice off the ends and you can give them a litlle squeeze while the pretty parts “ploop” out.

I made 1.5 lbs of brussel sprouts. I wanted them to be soft so I trimmed them (what a pain in the ass!) and sliced them into 4’s. I boiled those for 5 minutes too.

If you want them to be mush tender, boil them a lil longer but I boiled these till they were slighty fork tender.

Drain. and wait for bacon to crisp.

Takes a while. Smells great. My dog kept licking her lips when i turned the pan… dogs love bacon as much as I do. See all those bubbles!! GREASE!!!

Using a slotted spoon, scoop out the crispy stuff as this will be your garnish when the veg is done. Lower the heat and gently add in your onions and brussel sprouts to the bacon grease. Fold them every 2 minutes and let them saute in the bacon drippings for 5-10 minutes.

When you plate them, garnish them with crispy bacon.

Under normal circumstances I roast my brussel sprouts with a little salt and pepper but for thanksgiving its okay to go full fat. Its just one day a year. And I will say that a few family members tried brussel sprouts for the first time at the Thanksgiving table and really enjoyed them… but who wouldnt love a vegetable that is cooked in bacon drippings???

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

okay so Im a few days late!
I’ve been digesting, okay?
I had to break this post down because I was responsible for several menu items that deserve their own spot on the recipes tab so if you see anything on this post that you like…there might be a recipe post to follow. (like Baked Brie, Goat Cheese, Brussel Sprouts with bacon and Creamy Garlic Mashed potaotes)
When we arrive at my uncles house every Turkey Day, we arrive usually on almost empty stomachs and as of last year I have started preparing fruit and cheese platters to snack on to hold us over till dinner time. Above we have spanish peperoni (AKA Salchichon), baked goat cheese, garlic crostini, and water crackers. Also served but not shown: baked Brie with fruit preserves.

My camera decided to crap out on me on one of the biggest eating days of the year for me. (not to camera: you are in big trouble!) I made some mashed potatoes but those will be in another post. Above is homemade turkey gravy. Yes I made it. It was so easy. Auntie handed me her Rachael Ray magazine and asked if i could assist in making the turkey gravy.

Assist? I can handle this! Basically, drain all the trimmings and fat into a measuring cup. We had an 18lb bird and that bird yielded 4 cups of fat, to that I added two cups of chicken stock. Then whisked in some flour… 1.5 cups of flour. I heated the mixture and let it simmer till thickened. Since the trimmings were so full of flavor, I didnt need to add anything else to the gravy but the recipe called for salt. We all agreed to make our own gravy from now on. 🙂

I got the honor of carving the turkey this year. I had some difficulty and got more chunks of turkey than I did gorgeous slices of the turkey. But when I cleaned out the cavity, I got some delicious homemade stuffing courtesy of my aunt. She makes the stuffing every year! Its my favorite! yum yum yum!

A horrible shot of my mashed potatoes that could have used a touch more garlic.

White meat and Dark meat. I like the darker meat for its juiciness!

Another one of my aunts specialties. Candied yams. Cinnamony, sweet and perfection in every way.

Green bean casserole. A favorite!

My plate. Ya know, I usually can shovel my food in my mouth on thanksgiving day with no problems. In the past I hve had seconds and even thirds of thanksgiving sides. This year I barely finished my plate and I think i enjoyed my leftovers more. Does that happen to you?

Well. My cousin decided after dinner he needed a nap. He looked really comfy… i couldnt lay on my belly after all that food… so we went to the basement and did some Karaoke. Good times. Good Times.