Italian Turkey Burgers

The leaning tower of Turkey Burgers

Last week I gave you the chance to vote on which recipe you’d like to see on the blog next in a poll on my Facebook page. I’d got a few ideas floating around but I’ve been so busy what with my final exams at law school and looking for a job, I hadn’t quite had the chance to put pen to paper so to speak.

Those of you that voted decided you wanted to see my Italian Turkey Burgers!

I used to make burgers a lot at university and over the last few months I’ve reignited my passion for them. Not only is it slowly but surely becoming BBQ season – the time during which burgers are king – I’ve also recently bought a burger press so I can finally produce professional looking patties.

The patties

What I love most about a burger is that you can flavour it with almost anything!

The meat you choose is your base. I find beef is particularly good with deep flavours. It is stronger than turkey mince so can take the addition of smokey BBQ flavours, as well as salty cheese. Turkey mince on the other hands requires more delicate flavouring.

This burger is very much a “light” burger – not only because it’s made with turkey mince which is leaner than beef mince, but because it is built up in its bun with fresh spinach, succulent beef tomato slices and creamy (low fat) mozzarella as well as sweet caramelised onion rings. Each layer is carefully selected to bring a fresh, summery (and Italian) flavour to the burger.

[BBQ Recipe] Barbequed Courgette and Bulgur Wheat Salad

Barbequed Courgette and Bulgur Wheat Salad

It can be really difficult to watch your weight when heading to a BBQ with friends and family. There will be a mountain of meat, some sumptuous fish, and if you’re lucky the odd veggie kebab on the BBQ too. The table of sides often isn’t much better with mayonnaise laden potato salads, coleslaw swimming in yet more mayonnaise and sugary condiments.

My Mum and I are often the bringers of “green salad” to these kind of events but the limp lettuce tends to get pushed around the plate. One leaf might make its way into a burger bun if its lucky.

With that in mind I’ve started making a conscious effort to serve up more exciting salads when cooking up a storm around a BBQ.

Before I thought if people weren’t willing to eat a simple green salad, why would they be willing to try a cous-cous or bulgur wheat one? I won’t lie to you, I have had mixed success in this regard. My Nan and Grandad simply won’t touch the stuff, but it turns out the rest of my family are much more willing to try new things.

With that in mind here’s one of my favourites. It’s a warm salad with the courgette grilled and served over the fluffy bed of bulgur wheat at the last minute. This gives it a bit of theatre and people feel like they’re not betraying the BBQ!

Traffic Light Fajitas (with Red Pepper, Yellow Pepper and Courgette)

Traffic Light Veg

The results are in!!! This week I asked you, the reader, which recipe you would like to see posted on the blog next. You voted on twitter ( @KitchenGoddess3 ) and on the Facebook Page and decided that you wanted to see my Traffic Light Fajitas, so here they are!

These Traffic Light Fajitas are so called because strips of red, yellow and green make up the bulk of the filling. The bold, vibrant colours remind you of fiery hot Mexico and the beaming hot sun. What a better way to celebrate the start of the hot weather than with this fun dish.

We often have “Mexican Night” in our house and although we eat our fair share of enchiladas, burritos and tacos, fajitas are the firm favourite.

Fajitas can be filled with almost anything. Chicken, beef and pork work really well but for the vegetarians among us (or meat eaters who just fancy a change) mixed peppers are the stars of the dish. Their ability to soften under the fiery heat of the pan yet retain their shape and a slight bite gives them the perfect texture when wrapped in a soft corn tortilla.

Courgettes may not initially an obvious choice. Often used in ragouts and slow cooked dishes where they are given the chance to soften and break down, they might not seem suitable for fajitas. However, by cutting the courgette into strips and cooking it hard and fast on a high heat you are able to retain the same kind of bite you get in the peppers.

I find the prep when making fajitas quite therapeutic. I think it’s the repetition of cutting neat, clean strips all of the same length and width. Or maybe it’s the fact that it’s normally carried out with a margarita in hand!!!

But it’s all part of the fun. Fajitas are all about everyone chipping in and sharing and what better way than with a jug of margaritas right?!



Traffic Light Fajitas with Orange and Chilli Salsa, Sour Cream and Avocado and Corriander Salad

So we’ve got the perfect red, yellow and green combination for our Traffic Light Fajitas but that’s only half of the battle. The sweet flavour of the veg needs to be kicked up a notch with a fiery blend of spices.
I first made my own spice blend when I had friends round in a “Come Dine with me Style” competition at university. Since then, Mr KG has refined it and we now have our house blend. It’s worth noting that everyone has different tastes so as you go do have a taste – some like it hot, some like it peppery. It’s up to you! As much as you can customise what condiments go into a fajita you can also customise the spice.

Our spice mix is as smokey as it is hot, but it’s not a pure chilli heat. The cayenne gives it a peppery kick too for a more well rounded flavour!

Stuffed Marrow with Cheese Sauce

Updated: 26 August 2013

 

 

 

Every now and then I like to go back and revisit a recipe.

The majority of recipes on my blog (perhaps the cakes excluded) get cooked on a regular basis in my house.

Of course some things are seasonal – in fact this recipe in particular is one that only really comes out at the end of the summer. But when August is here and our veg patch is heaving with marrows we’ll have this dinner once a week.

But, because I cook these recipes so often it’s nice to go back and look at my original post and work out what about that recipe still works well, or how I might have tweaked it to make it EVEN better.

 

Check out my giant marrow!!!

 

You won’t find any changes to this recipe here. Really they fall into two categories - #1 is presentation. Instead of cutting the marrow in half, scooping out the seeds and filling with the mince, I now Cut the marrow into chunky disks, scoop out the seeds and fill the centre with the mince. Don’t worry – it’s still smothered in cheese sauce post-oven.

Change #2 is the mince sauce. It still tastes fab whether you choose to use meat or a meat substitute such as quorn, but we’ve recently moved away from a tomato based sauce and instead use stock and gravy for a truly savoury filling.

Check out the full recipe below to see the upgraded version!
 

  

Keep scrolling down to find the original post:

 

Originaly posted: October 2012

 

Just over a week ago now, my church held a harvest festival lunch. First, they collected in tins and other preserved goods to give out to people in the community, and then everyone shared in a feast made up of dishes that each different family bought to the table. There included salads, quiches, and cold meats, as well as some authentic African and Indian cooking from different groups within the congregation. And, of course there were plenty of yummy cakes on offer too!

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend as I was working. Gutting I know!

Nonetheless, harvest festival is one of my favourite times of the year as it marks the begging of autumn (or fall from my American friends), YAY!

Now, what’s not to love about autumn? First of all there are knitwear, and snugly boots, big socks and scarves. Plenty of fun food related festivals, such as Halloween with toffee apples and other candy-related goodness, bonfire night (or Guy Fawkes night) with soup, burgers, hot dogs, cinder toffee and candy floss (what’s not to love) and last but not least, the event we’ve all been waiting for...CHRISTMAS! Now there’s just too much food related goodness to mention for Christmas.

But do you know another thing I love about harvest time? Giant...vegetables...

For some bizarre reason, harvest always reminds me of giant, prize winning vegetables, from giant pumpkins, squashes, marrows and more!

We’ve had our fair share of giant veg in our vegetable patch this year. Our marrow plant has not only taken over the vegetable patch, but the lawn and the patio – with its 4 large arms reaching out to grow even more marrows.

So what’s the best way to cook a giant vegetable?! In my opinion, you’ve got to STUFF it!

In the past, I’ve stuffed aubergines and a butternut squash but this year it was the turn of the marrow

The idea is simple, these giant marrows have such a delicate, almost sweet and creamy flavour that nothing could match it better than a savoury mince topped with a creamy cheese sauce.

What makes this meal such a family favourite, is just how easy it is to prepare, how easy it is to get veg into fussy eaters, and how a giant marrow can easily make 4 perfect portions.

Top Tip: this recipe can easily be made vegetarian by replacing the beef mince with either a veggie substitue or lentil, like in my lentil lasagna. 

Courgette and Feta Bake

Since Easter I have lost nearly a whole stone and have now reached a rather healthy plateau bang smack in the middle of my recommended BMI range, WOOHOO! Unfortunately for me, both high blood pressure and high cholesterol run down the female line in my family. Despite only being at the top of the healthy BMI range for her height, my Mum was recently told she needs to keep her weight down to reduce her chances of suffering a stroke like her Mum did. Understandably, now that I’ve reached this weight I want to stay here so that I don't suffer the same fate as other women in my family. As a result, I have come up with even more delicious but low-calorie recipes.

Mum and Dad are also on diets and this has become one of their firm favourites! It’s incredibly simple with just 5 ingredients (including the 1 cal spray!)

If you haven’t come across one cal sprays yet, where have you been? You can get all sorts, from olive oil and sunflower oil to even balsamic and ceaser salad dressings. By turning the oil (or dressing) into spray form you can much more easily control the amount of oil you use. If you don’t want to keep buying the sprays another alternative is to get an oil pump spray – unfortunately mine is currently in a box labelled “Emma’s House”...I don’t have any plans for moving for over a year yet but that’s another story! Anyway, I digress...

I wasn’t entirely sure what to call this recipe it to begin with – essentially it is finely sliced courgette, crumbled low-fat feta (I actually use "Be Good To Yourself Salad Cheese from Sainsburys), egg, Italian herbs and the one cal spray all baked in an oven. Spanish omelettes and frittatas traditionally contain potatoes, but the only veg inside this eggy-bake is courgette. But it’s not cooked in a pan either so it can’t be an omelette? If anyone has any insight into what this should really be called, do leave a comment!

For now I will simply call it a courgette and feta bake! I think the name of a dish should explain what it is and hopefully that does the trick.

Twice Baked Sweet Potato

I do love a good jacket potato don’t you? There are endless topping choices from coleslaw to cheese, from chilli to beans and so much more! Even a simple dollop of butter will do.

But...they can get a bit boring...

Being a student I most definitely eat my fare share of jacket potatoes! In the winter I can easily eat 4 in a week and it can get extremely repetitive! So, I was determined to come up with a jacket potato with a twist, something new and exciting and perhaps more appropriate for a light dinner as winter moves into spring.

The rather delicious sweet potato was my starting point. I love its soft sweet flesh whether its mashed or turned into wedges, but I’d never actually had it quite simply as a baked potato.

Parmesan Crusted Chicken with Lemon-Mediterranean Veg!

Many of you have probably gathered that I don't eat meat very often, so when I do I like to come up with something new and interesting.

Today it was just me and Dad for dinner and he hates all things vegetarian, so I knew I had to make him something tasty that included veg for me but enough meat for him!

His first comment when he came in was "I hope there's nothing green" - whoops! I'd included courgette...never mind!

Fortunately this recipe went down a treat! (Though he did ask where his potatoes were! Haha!) It must have been the combination of moist chicken with a beatifully salty crust with the sharpness yet sweetness of the mediterranean veg to cut through that he enjoyed so much.

Delicious!

Harissa spiced Lamb Steak with cous cous and moroccan veg.

I am absolutely terrible at going to the reduced section in supermarkets - when I see a bargain I simply can't resist it, so somehow (despite my normal tendency to shy away from meat, in particular lamb and beef) I found myself taking home two huge lamb steaks!

What on earth was I going to do with these?!

I do a delicious veggie tagine (even if I do say so myself) which you can find here, so I wanted to do something a little different, but still with a Moroccan edge, and I came up with this recipe!

The basic idea is that you have slow cooked veg and chickpeas inspired by a traditional tagine, lemon and coriander cous cous, with a big fat juicy harrisa spice lamb steak on top!

Sound good?

Well here's the recipe:

Beef Chilli

Any students out there in need of a winter warmer? Then this chilli is for you! If you like it hot, turn up the heat and add more chilli, if you like it cool, why not serve with a dollop of sour cream?

You may notice that the recipe does not include kidney beans, and that instead I used borlotti beans. Personally I think these make the chilli even tastier and now I've started using them I certainly won't be going back!

After being blown away by just how delicious they were (and in anticipation of writing this post) I thought I'd do a little bit of research about them, and I found out that they are actually a variety of kidney bean! Who would've thought!!!

Their flavour is nutty and they have a creamy texture. Apparently they are more commonly used in Italian and Portuguese cusine, but they worked perfectly in this chilli!

Of course I won't be offended if you go back to the standard kidney bean! 

My favourite thing about this recipe however is not just how delicious the beans make it, but how versatile it is. I've already made suggestions for turning up (or down) the heat, but it can also be served in a variety of ways.

This Guy Fawkes Night a made dinner for my mum, dad, sister, boyfriend and house mate, and served this chilli inside warmed taco shells! I've never seen plates left so clean!!! Last night I served it with fluffy white rice, but tonight I will be having it with a jacket potato and salad!

Bear in mind if you are someone who lives on your own this will serve two. It's a brilliant dish for batch cooking and you can either leave some for the next day, alternatively it freezes really well.

Here's the recipe...

Stuffed Aubergines with Bechamel Sauce

This has to be one of my favourtie recipes! Pefect for sharing with someone special, this dish is quick and easy to make at the same time as being very very tasty.

Sometimes it can be hard when you look in your fridge/freezer to come up with new and interesting ideas. You see a bag of mince and shpeherds pie/spag bol/lasagne springs to mind. When you see an aubergine it screams curry or mousakka! This is a twist on a few of these recipes to create something new!

Lentil Lasagne

I am not a big fan of meat substitutes such as veggie-'mince.' As a meat eater, I just don't think you can replicate meat, nor do I think you should!

This lentil lasagne, in my opinion, is BETTER than a meaty version! The textures are perfect, there is lots of lovely fresh veg, and the flavours are so vibrant that it makes for a brilliant sharing dish in the centre of the table. At just £1 a portion its a brilliant way to impress family and friends!

Give it a go and let me know what you think of this veggie alternative to an Italian classic!