turkey and zucchini burgers

We made it through the first week of the school year. Today went significantly smoother. I had a productive day at work. I seared 11 filet mignons, made ratatouille, vinaigrettes, and assorted other prep foods for an event on Sunday. Am looking forward to the weekend.

Will be doing another TV segment tomorrow morning on WTNH, Channel 8. It's the cannoli cup segment. I have some ground turkey that I want to make turkey burgers from with roasted sweet potato fries. The recipe is below.

3/4 pound ground turkey

1 medium zucchini, grated 

½ C. grated carrot 

2 cubes frozen garlic

3/4 teaspoon Greek Seasoning 

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt 

1/4 teaspoon black pepper 

1 large egg

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix together with a fork until well combined. Heat a large nonstick pan on medium high. Make 4 patties and cook for 8 minutes on each side, flipping burgers only once.

Roasted Sweet potato fries

2 sweet potatoes
2 tbs. olive oil
1 tbs. Adobo or Lawry’s seasoning salt
black pepper to taste


Preheat oven to 450. Peel and slice potatoes into 1” thick coins. Toss potatoes in a bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and lay potatoes in a single layer on the sheet. Cook potatoes about 9 minutes per side. Turn once and serve hot.

Wipe out....

The girls finished their second day of school today, they were happy but completely exhausted. Our little one asked how many more days she has left of school...

I made tacos tonight and while cooking the meat realized I was out of Taco seasoning. I seasoned the ground beef with cumin, Adobo Salt and a little pepper. While the beef cooked, I heated up some refried beans, diced a tomato and some lettuce and pulled out some salsa and shredded cheese from the fridge.

The girls also like red kidney beans and ate those rolled up with their tacos's.

I am wiped out as well and hoping to get to bed at a reasonable hour tonight.

Off without a hitch

The girls woke up and were very excited for school. Below are some pictures of walking to the bus. They ate their "morning muffins" and off we went.

I had a quiet day alone....

Tonight will be leftovers of those panko crusted pork chops and a few bites of the roasted turkey breast I made a couple days ago. I bought some amazing corn from the market today and roasted a head of curried cauliflower. It's very easy and really delicious.

Preheat oven to 425.

Wash and cut cauliflower into large chunks. Drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper and curry powder. Roast on a foil or (preferably) Silpat lined cookied sheet for about 20 minutes being sure to shake the cookie sheet once or twice while it's roasting to make sure the cauliflower roasts evenly.

I ate some for lunch and will have the rest for dinner tonight.

A blink in time

The girls start school tomorrow... I know this is a blog about my evening meals, but I'd like to share a special moment we had tonight.

First let me tell you what we had for dinner. I came home from teaching a cooking class to a cute little girl and her mom, and while driving home noticed the summer light slowly beginning to change. The girls greeted me when I returned home and they both proclaimed they were STARVING!

While I normally never prepare 2 separate meals, Emma was desperate for fried egg whites and turkey bacon, and Abby wanted the crispy Panko crusted pork chops I had planned on making with apple sauce. (Recipe at the end of the blog.) I conceeded and made both dinners which got hungrily wolfed down.

After dinner, the girls asked me to paint their nails and read their bedtime book outside. I agreed on the terms that they do their evening routine (brush teeth, get jammies, pick out clothes for school). Somewhere in between all of the agreements, I forgot that I had promised that I'd make them "morning muffins". These are simply boxed pumpkin muffins with a few mini chocolate chips thrown in, but when you eat them, you need to say (in a very sing-songy voice, "morrrnnninnnng!" It always makes us smile when we eat them, and what better way to start the school year.

The girls sat on the counter and took turns pouring and stirring- we even found my heart shaped muffin tins. I felt so happy to have this as a memory and hope the girls will remember the late summer evening before the first day of school that we happily made Morning Muffins.

LIFE IS GOOD...

Panko crusted pork chops (serve with steamed broccoli and couscous)

1 C. panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
1 tsp. garlic salt
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
4 boneless thin cut pork loin chops

Preheat a large nonstick pan with ½ tablespoon olive oil. Make a paste with panko, garlic salt and a tablespoon of olive oil in a shallow plate. Rinse pork chops, and coat each chop with the panko paste. Add remainder of olive oil to a large nonstick pan. Sauté in pan on medium high for 2-3 minutes per side or until crispy.

end of summer meal

We have some dear friends who have a summer home across the street from us. We have 2 rituals amongst the many summer days we spend together- the night they arrive we eat pizza together, and the week they leave we eat dinner together. It feels communal and easy. They bring a few things and we do a few things.

Tonight, I roasted a Turkey Breast in a baja marinade I had sitting in the pantry. I threw in a few slices of purple onion, a splash of white wine and cooked it at 375 for about 1 1/2 hours. It did't need any basting and was tender and spicy. I also baked a couple of sweet potatoes and we had a salad.

We sat outside and enjoyed the last few warm hours of the day. The bees came and nibbled on our food, and we eventually moved indoors for a dessert of strawberries and dark chocolates. Tomorrow the girls have a meet & greet at school, and they are very excited.

I ventured to the market today and was greeted by all of the other mom's in our town! There is a palpable energy the few days before school starts, a gearing up, an excitement from not only the kids, but the parents too!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!!

Hello to those of you who are still faithfully checking in wondering where the hell I've been... Well summer has once again slipped through my hands like the drips of a cold popsicle on a warm day. It's August and gasp, I haven't written in 2 months. My apologies.... This does NOT, however mean I have not been cooking. I've made quite a few great dishes this summer. Most recently, I did a TV show where I showed viewers how easy it was to make End of the Summer Gazpacho.

Here's the recipe:
End of Summer Gazpacho

4 medium ripe tomatoes, chopped
4 cubes frozen garlic
1 English cucumber, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
4 cups tomato juice
1/4 cup or balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
½ tsp. cumin
kosher salt and pepper to taste
croutons


Place all ingredients in a large bowl and toss. In a blender or food processor, mix a few cups at a time until just slightly chunky. Add salt and pepper to taste and drizzle with olive oil before serving. Serve chilled.
Makes 4 servings.

I also made some extremely easy bite sized cannoli's from these cute little pastry cups I found at Stop and Shop of all places. They've created a great line of store brand items which are fab... These little cups are so versatile, if you're really in a pinch, you can even use tuna salad and shove a little spoonful in a cup with a little garnish of parsley and a dash of cayenne pepper. These cups make everything look beautiful.

This recipe is to make Cannoli Cups:

Mini Cannoli Cups with dark chocolate shavings


1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese
1 cup confectioners' sugar a.k.a. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 bar dark chocolate
1 package mini tartlet cups


Mix ricotta, sugar and vanilla in a bowl until well combined. Fill a Ziplock bag with mixture, cut a small hole at one end of the bag and squeeze mixture into cups. Using a vegetable peeler make shavings of chocolate. Garnish cups with chocolate shavings.

School is starting next week and I hope to be able to begin my daily dinnertime blogs again.

Try these 2 recipes, you can throw together an impromptu late summer dinner party with a few really cold beers.