Mushroom Bleu Cheese Turkey Burgers

It was gorgeous today! It was the perfect jeans-and-a-t-shirt weather, which is my absolute favorite. It's not so chilly that you wish you had a sweater but also not so hot that you wish you had a pool.

Pure perfection.

The weather in NY is so bipolar. Two posts ago, I shared a recipe for white hot chocolate because I so cold all the time!

Well, nice weather makes me crave summer food. For me, summer food is anything that either requires no cooking or can be made on the grill.

Burgers are one of those foods. And I think a burger tastes best when eaten straight from the grill while wearing Aviators and sitting on a deck. So that's what I did.

Except mine came off of a grill PAN on the oven because my landlord doesn't allow grills. Major summer bummer.

My favorite part of a burger is the toppings. I generally use a Sandwich Thin or two pieces of lettuce (don't judge... it creates more room in my stomach for meat) because I don't want a bun distracting from the juicy burger and the plethora of toppings. However, this can make for a pretty messy situation because I don't have a huge bun to hold all of the goodies in. So for this burger, I decided to throw some of my favorite toppings INSIDE the burger. Mushrooms, bleu cheese, and onions.

I'm a genius.

I think the additions helped to keep the turkey burgers really juicy. But it also made them a little tricky to flip without breaking because they were so jam packed with veggies and cheese. I found that making the burgers a little smaller and thicker made them stay together better. If you think the mixture has too much moisture, just add some breadcrumbs to soak it up!

I ate mine with lettuce, tomato, and onion and a combination of spicy barbecue sauce and bleu cheese dressing. Unfortunately, I did not have any bacon in my fridge. But if I did, I probably would have skipped the Sandwich Thin and wrapped this burger in bacon. Because that wouldn't counteract the idea of a healthy turkey burger at all. Nope.

Mushroom Bleu Cheese Turkey Burgers

• 1 pound ground turkey
• 8 ounces fresh mushrooms, finely chopped
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• ½ cup crumbled blue cheese
• Buns
• Lettuce, tomato, and onion for topping

1. Lightly saute the onion and mushrooms.  Drain well (you may even want to pat them dry).
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the ground turkey, mushrooms, onion, bleu cheese and soy sauce. Season with kosher salt and pepper. Form into 4 burger patties.
3. Spray the grill pan with cooking spray. Place patties on the pan and cook for 10 minutes per side, or until well done.   
4. Serve with buns and any desired toppings!

look at the beautifully browned exterior!

Super Nachos

Happy 3rd week of football!  As promised, I have an appetizer recipe.  I actually just finished eating it so I can accurately describe how amazing it was in vivid detail.

Nachos, for me, are probably the most traditional appetizer.  My boyfriend, Tom, is visiting for the weekend and he requested nachos with a creamy cheese sauce so I set out on a search for something that would satisfy his craving and found a recipe for "Super Nachos" by Rachel Ray. I followed her recipe with some adaptations. I used ground turkey instead of ground beef because it's healthier (and was on sale). I used a taco seasoning packet instead of/in addition to her spice recommendations and omitted the jalapeno pepper in the mix. I added a can of Mexicorn to the meat and bean mixture. And I used jarred salsa instead of making pico de gallo because the tomatoes at the grocery store didn't impress me.

Well, they got the seal of approval.  Tom said, and I quote, "These are the best nachos I've ever had". And I'd have to agree.  They were pretty tasty. I credit my heavy hand on the spices because usually we have to add hot sauce to everything and it wasn't necessary with these (but if you don't like the heat, just omit or seriously cut down on the spices). I also used multigrain chips which gave a nice sweetness to counter the spice. I also thought the addition of the corn added flavor to the dish.  The only change I might make to this dish is that if you hate soggy chips, you should probably only put the chips on the outside or switch up the order of the layering of the ingredients.  I put the cheese sauce on first but if you want your chips to stay crispier you might want to put the cheese sauce on last because it's kind of liquidy. I might even cut down the milk in cheese sauce by a half of a cup. However, I don't mind a couple soggy chips because then I can reach for the fork and dig in :)

Also, this recipe makes a ridiculous amount of nachos.  Luckily I recognized this and didn't assemble them all so we have enough to make two more huge batches in addition to the gigantic platter that we just shared as a meal.  I left the recipe as is but if you're not feeding a small army, cut it down or only put together half of it and save half for the next day.

Now I have to go watch the Packers/Bears game.  Everyone should root for the Packers so that I don't start my week off in a bad mood. There's few teams I hate watching the Packers loose to other than the Bears.  At least I'll have nacho leftovers to console myself tomorrow if they lose.

Super Nachos (adapted from Rachel Ray)

• 2 bags of multigrain tortillas

Meat, Beans, and Corn Topping:

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 – 1 1/3 pounds of ground turkey
• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 packet of hot taco seasoning
• ½ tablespoon of cumin
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 can black beans,  drained
• 1 can of Mexicorn, drained

Cheese Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups skim milk (could reduce by ½ cup)
• 3/4 pound reduced fat pepper jack cheese, shredded, about 2 1/2 cups

Additional toppings to choose from, optional:

•  Sour cream
• Chopped black olives
• Sliced avocado
• Pickled jalapeno peppers

1. Arrange two bags of multigrain tortilla chips on a platter.

2. Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add oil, garlic, onion and peppers to the pan and saute 2 minutes, then add ground turkey and crumble with a spatula. Season meat with taco seasoning, cumin, cayenne pepper, and Max Hot (or any other hot spices that you like). Cook meat 5 minutes, then stir in beans and Mexicorn and reduce heat to low.

3. In a medium sauce pot, melt butter and add flour to it. Cook flour and butter 1 to 2 minutes over moderate heat, then whisk in milk. When milk comes to a bubble, stir in cheese with a wooden spoon. Remove cheese sauce from the heat.

4. Pour cheese sauce evenly over the massive spread of chips and top evenly with beef and beans and half of a can of salsa. Serve immediately as is or, garnish with your choice of extra toppings (I used the ones listed above).

Nachos, fall beer, and football?  Yes please!

Look at this happy guy.