Superbowl Round Up

Superbowl Sunday is in a few days! I have no earthly idea which teams are playing, but I know there will be balls and sweaty men wearing tight uniforms playing catch. Football is not my thing, but eating yummy foods at Superbowl parties is! I've compiled several recipes, both sweet and savory, that I've made over the years that are simple and great for feeding crowds. Here they are in no particular order. 

One-Bowl Brownies- Basic homemade brownies, with or without nuts that come together in s snap.  

Goldfish Bowl Bites- These goldfish crackers are coated in butter and Ranch seasoning. Addicting and great for snacking. 

Cheesy Spinach and Artichoke Dip- Gooey, cheesy and warm form the oven. Tasty with crackers, chips or veggie dippers. 

Soft Pretzels- I could eat these everyday. I love a warm, chewy pretzel. These are versatile and can be made  into a sweet or salty treat. 

Rolo Stuffed Ritz Crackers- Two ingredients. Ready in 10 minutes or less. Sweet and salty- yes, please!

Motherload Cookie Bars- These bars have something for everyone. 4 layers of cookie dough, together in one bar, then drizzled with chocolate. mmm!

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs- These pizza puffs are the most popular recipe on my blog, thanks to Pinterest. Pepperoni not your thing? Use sausage or veggies. 

Cap'n Crunch Peanut Butter Bars-  No bake and fuss free. marshmallows combine with creamy peanut butter to coat crunchy cereal. 

Aunt Nette's Scramble Dogs- My blog friend Jeanette used to make these scramble dogs. It's like a decomposed chili dog with the crunch of oyster crackers, served in a bowl. Messy man food!

Sopaipilla Cheesecake Bars- If you love cinnamon sugar and cheesecake, these are for you! Make them the day before you need them. 

Baked Corn Dog Muffins- I love corn dogs but don't eat them often because they're deep fried and no so healthy. These use cornbread and your favorite wieners and are baked in muffin tins. 

Bruschetta Burgers- Probably one of my favorite burgers ever. The garlicky tomato topping and the pesto mayo make these special. 

Buffalo Chicken Dip- The name says it all. Buffalo chicken flavors in a dip!

Cheesy Ranch BLT Dip- Cheese. Ranch Dressing. Bacon. Spinach. Tomato. On warm crusty bread. I could eat this hot dip as a meal. 

Crockpot BBQ Pulled Pork- Let the crockpot do the work for you! Juicy, spicy shredded pork sandwiches.

Ham and Swiss Sliders- These are fun and simple and both kids and adults like them. Toast them in the oven to melt the cheese and the buttery mustard topping soaks into the bread. Ohhh! 

Chocolate Sybil Cake- Also known as Texas Sheetcake. Chocolate cake, topped with rich chocolate frosting them sprinkled with pecans. Heaven help me. 

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Hope you guys eat well this weekend. What are you planning on making?

Ground Turkey: Then and Now

The first time I ever cooked with ground turkey was a disaster. Mr. H, my aunt and I went to the beach and rented a condo for a week during the summer of 2003. I was set on making foil packets since they were simple and required little effort. So while we went to lounge on the beach, build sand castles, fight the waves and pick up sea shells, I set the frozen package of ground turkey in the fridge to thaw. I was afraid I'd get food poisoning if I set it out on the counter to thaw, so the fridge it was.

After about 4 hours we came back in, covered in sand and sunscreen. We all showered and got ready to make dinner only to find that the ground turkey was still frozen! I let it sit out for about another 30 minutes but we were starving so I proceeded on. Since I was making foil packets and I needed 3 portions, I broke the the frozen meat into three hunks of meat. I think about this now and it makes me cringe and laugh at the same time, but back then it sounded like a good idea :-) I placed the turkey atop thin slices of potato and onion, seasoned it with salt and pepper and wrapped it up in double sheets of foil. Into the oven it went. An hour later, it was smelling good. We dove in, took our first bite and practically spit it out. It was SO dry and bland and not even a mound of ketchup could save it, though we tried. Note to self: A hunk of frozen, unseasoned turkey thrown into the oven can't perform miracles on it's own.

Many years later, turkey and I have become friends. We have an understanding of eachother. I have promised to treat it with respect, season it nicely and not over cook it, and it in return has always been moist and flavorful. These burgers are simply flavored with a little steak sauce (trust me!), salt, pepper and a little parsley, dried or fresh. They're topped with buttery sauteed mushrooms and a slice of muenster or provolone cheese to hold them in place. Sometimes I serve them 'as is' if I'm watching my carbs and other times I like them between a bun with a little ketchup. It's become one of my favorite burgers and as long as I don't overcook it, it turns out perfect everytime unlike that hunk of meat back in 2003.

Turkey & Mushroom Burgers
from Monica H
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• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 3 Tbsp. A-1 steak sauce
• 1/2 tsp. dried OR 1-2 tsp. fresh chopped parsley
• salt and pepper to taste (use the salt sparingly since the steak sauce can be salty)

• sauteed mushrooms (recipe below)
• cheese slices
• buns
• condiments

Mix up all ingredients but be careful not to over handle the meat. Mix just until combined. Form into 3 or 4 patties.

Cook in a saute pan with a little butter over medium high heat. Cook on one side til golden brown, then flip over and cook the other side til browned, about 4 minutes on each side. Cook just until done, once they're over cooked they will become dry.

Top with sauteed mushrooms (recipe below) and a slice of white melty cheese. We like muenster or provolone. Allow to melt then place on burger bun of choice with desired toppings.

Sauteed Mushrooms from Monica H

• 1 container fresh white or brown mushrooms, sliced
• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• salt and pepper to taste

In a medium saute pan, melt butter over medium high heat. Add sliced mushrooms and saute til slightly golden brown. Stir mushrooms a couple times and cook until tender. Season with salt and pepper after they've been cooked.

What kitchen Disaster to Success stories do you have?

Burgers For Dad

Do you have plans for Father's Day? I think we're going to have Mr. H's parents over for dinner or we may go out to eat at a cute new cafe we just discovered. Not entirely sure yet. My father does not live here and our relationship has deteriorated over the last few years so it will probably be just us four and the doggies :-) I'll stop by to see my step dad and send my grandpa a card but one thing I know for sure is that we will be celebrating my husband and father-in-law this coming weekend.

These burgers would be great to serve for your favorite Dad on Sunday. They're a nice twist on the "regular" burger and they're just as simple but so much better! The bruschetta topping on this burger is what makes it extra special and tasty. It consists of diced tomatoes, garlic, basil, olive oil and parm cheese- good stuff! I found these burgers on Debby's A Feast For The Eyes. I've seen these burgers on her site before but she recently reminded me of them again and I made them the very next day. We loved them.

We like our burger patties cooked to medium, with a little pink on the inside but even if these were cooked all the way through , they'd still be good. Just don't cook them til they're tough like shoe leather- that's the only thing that could ruin this burger. ha ha! The meat was juicy and flavorful but the star was the bruschetta. The tomatoes were fresh and summery tasting, then you got a little punch from the grated garlic and saltiness from the cheese. I made some pesto mayo to slather on the buns and that finished them off perfectly. Make these this weekend, they'll be a hit, I'm sure! Thanks Debby!

Bruschetta Burgers adapted from A Feast For The Eyes

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Serves 3-4

Bruschetta Topping:

• 2 ripe tomatoes on the vine, seeded
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh basil or basil puree
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
• pinch of kosher salt & fresh cracked pepper to taste

Pesto Mayo:

• 3 Tablespoons good mayonnaise
• 1 Tablespoon prepared pesto

Beef Patties:

• Ground beef, seasoned only with salt & pepper
• Mozarella or Provolone cheese, to melt on the burger

For the bruschetta: Mix all the ingredients together except salt. Add salt right before topping the burgers so the tomatoes don’t get watery. Set aside.

For the pesto mayo: In a small bowl, mix the pesto and mayo together. Set aside.

For the burgers: Season your ground beef with salt and pepper, then form them into patties of your desired weight. (We prefer 1/3 pound burgers so I made 3 patties, if you don't want them as thick, you can make 4 quarter pound burgers). Cook burgers to your liking either on the grill or on the stove top. Once cooked to your desired internal temperature, place cheese on top of burgers while they're still hot so it melts on the patty.

Assembly: Toast buns or foccacia then generously spread on pesto mayo. Top the bottom bun with patty then scoop bruschetta on top of that. Sandwich it all together with the top bun and eat up.

Yummers!

Labor Day Two-fer

I have a lot of recipes that I haven't blogged about. Like 30 of them waiting to be written about and yet I am still baking other things and I continue to get backed up! It's never ending. So I thought I'd treat you to two different recipes today that can be whipped up in no time and would be perfect for this weekend.

I bring you Coleen's Taco Burgers and Strawberry Watermelon Popsicles! The burgers were a nice change from the ordinary. They're made with ground beef but they have the addition of ground Fritos and taco sauce in the patty, making it taste like a taco--on a bun! As Taco Bell says, "Think outside the bun!"

The strawberry watermelon pops were delicious too. They were refreshing and you could taste both fruits. It has a squirt of lime juice that wakes up the fruit but it's not quite distinguishable. I added mini chocolate chips to resemble seeds but they all sunk. So if you add them make sure the pops are semi frozen so they stay suspended in the pop. These are a perfect way to wrap up summer.

A few of you asked me where I got my popsicle molds. I got mine from Goodwill for $3 but the exact mold can be ordered through Amazon and it includes 50 popsicle sticks for under $15.

Taco Burgers from Coleen's Recipes

• 1 lb. extra lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup of crushed Fritos
• 1/4 cup taco sauce
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• cheese and toppings of your choice

Mix the ground beef with the crushed Fritos, taco sauce and salt and pepper.

Shape into patties and grill over medium heat to desired internal temperature. Just before it's finished, top each burger with a slice of cheese and let it melt.

Serve burgers on bun with fresh veggies and more taco sauce if desired.

Makes 3- 1/3 lb. patties.

Watermelon Strawberry Pops

• 1 cup strawberry puree, strained of seeds
• 2 cups seedless watermelon puree, strained
• 1/2 cup sugar
• juice of half a lime
• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (optional)

Add strawberry purees to a bowl. Add sugar and lime juice and stir until sugar has completely dissolved.

Pour mixture into pop molds and insert sticks. Freeze pops until for about an hour til semi frozen then add mini chocolate chips if using. Using the handle of a long spoon or butterknife, press the chips down into the watermelon mixture.

Freeze until solid. Overnight is best.

Makes 8-10 3-oz. popsicles.

Have a great weekend. Be safe and eat well!

Some Assembly Required

I made these yummy homemade hamburger buns and the next day, I topped them with these even yummier burgers.

Everyone likes their burger a certain way. I prefer mine with mustard on the bottom bun and ketchup on the top bun next to the tomato. The lettuce goes under the meat patty because if it's next to the tomato it slides around and that drives me nuts. It must also have melted stringy cheese (Sharp Cheddar or Muenster) on it. I like my pickles crisp, so they stay off to the side. I absolutely not, under no circumstances put mayo or miracle whip on my hamburgers. Eww! I don't like the warm mayo taste with the ground beef- gag me. (Donna, do you like to be gagged?)

My husband loves miracle whip and mayo so he slathers it on both sides of the bun (Donna, hush!) and fills it with a patty covered in American cheese, tomato, lettuce and pickles. Sometimes he'll even add a dollop of ketchup. However you like to assemble your burgers, be sure to start out with fresh ingredients and the final product will always be good.

Steakhouse Burgers

• 1 lb. Lean Ground Beef (We use 90/10)
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 tsp. Steak Seasoning
• 2 Tbsp. Butter

Toppings (Optional)

• Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, Bacon, Cheese, Mayo, Mustard, Ketchup, Pickles etc.

In a medium bowl, mix together ground beef, Worcestershire sauce and steak seasoning by hand. Mix until just combined but don't overwork the meat or it'll be tough. Form into 3- third (1/3) pound patties.

Place butter in pan and heat over medium-medium high heat til butter is melted. Place patties in pan, but don't overcrowd them or they won't get brown and crusty. Cook on each side for 3-4 minutes per side for a medium doneness. 5-6 minutes on each side for well done burgers. Dress your burger to your liking.

NOTE: Because I use lean ground beef, I don't over cook them because they'll dry out. If you like your burgers a little more done or cooked all the way through, use a ground beef with a higher percentage of fat. Use a meat thermometer to check for doneness.

How do you like your burgers?