Chicken Parm Burger April 22, 2011

These come from a recent issue of Cooking Light, although I can’t find it in the magazine at this moment so I can’t tell ya which one! These were very simple to make and had a LOT of flavor. The ciabatta rolls were the best part to me, soo much better than a plain old hamburger roll. These can easily be made whilst entertaining a 4 month old too, trust me, I did it last month! They go quick and finish off in the oven so no worries that you didn’t cook them through!

Chicken Parmesan Burger (light!)

2 (3-ounce) square ciabatta rolls
1 garlic clove, halved
1/2 pound ground chicken
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons lower-sodium marinara sauce, divided
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Cooking spray
1/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
8 basil leaves

Method:

Preheat oven to 375°.
Cut rolls in half. Place bread, cut side up, on a toaster oven (or regular) baking sheet.  Toast in toaster oven or regular oven  until lightly browned. Remove bread from pan. Rub each slice with cut side of garlic. Set aside.

Combine chicken, 1/3 cup marinara, rosemary, thyme, red pepper, salt, and black pepper. Divide into 2 portions, shaping each into a 1/4-inch-thick patty. Heat an ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add patties to pan; cook for 3 minutes. Turn patties, and place pan in oven. Bake at 375° for 8 minutes. Top each patty with 2 tablespoons cheese; bake 1 minute.
Layer bottom half of each roll with 2 basil leaves, 1 patty, 1 tablespoon marinara, 2 basil leaves, and roll top.

Eat and enjoy!

Pastrami on Rye Sliders November 9, 2010

Okay so, these look like they are gross, and perhaps I did not take the best picture in the world, but I assure you, they were actually really good!! Not sure how often I would make them, but they were interesting and at least something different! These came from my Everyday with Rachel Ray Magazine…probably the August issue or something, I forget. Mike made them while I napped!

Pastrami on Rye Sliders

slices of rye bread, cut in half or cut in circles to match meat patty size

1 lb ground pork

3 tbs grated or finely chopped onion (we just used one small onion)

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp granulated garlic

salt and pepper

1/2 lb lean pastrami, coarsely chopped

olive oil for drizzling

grainy dijon mustard

relish

(RR wants you to add pickled tomatoes and whole pickles, but we did the relish in place of these two ingredients)

Method:

Toast your rye bread in a toaster oven or regular oven until lightly golden. You can opt to cut each bread into small circles or just use halved slices.

Season the pork with the onion, paprika, garlic, salt and pepper. Place the pastrami in a food processor and pulse until a very fine chop (try not to get to a paste consistency though). Add the pastrami to the pork, mix and form into eight 3 inch patties. In a nonstick skillet, heat a drizzle of olive oil over medium heat. Add the patties and cook until cooked through, 3-4 minutes per side.

Place each burger on a piece of bread and top with some relish. Slather mustard on the top slice of bread and top off each burger. Enjoy! Chips are optional on the side, but really add to the meal in my opinion!

BBQ Chicken Burgers with Honey Slaw August 1, 2010

A fabulous entry from Rachel Ray. I must confess I can’t for the life of me remember which cookbook I have this in, but you can easily find the recipe on the foodnetwork website. I basically followed the recipe but I did change a few things, so here is the recipe as I made it.

BBQ Chicken Burgers with Slaw, adapted from Rachel Ray:

1 tablespoon butter, cut into pieces
1 small red onion, 1/2 finely chopped, 1/2 thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, eyeball it
1 1/4 pounds ground chicken
1 tablespoons grill seasoning
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons honey, eyeball it
1 lemon, juiced
3 rounded tablespoons sweet pickle relish
2 cups shredded cabbage mix
Salt and pepper
4 rolls of your choice, split

Method:

n a small skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Add chopped onions, garlic and tomato paste and sweat them for 5 minutes to soften and sweeten. Sprinkle in sugar and remove from heat. Cool in a bowl, 5 minutes. Add tomato paste mixture and Worcestershire to bowl and combine. Add chicken to the bowl then grill seasoning and combine the burgers well to evenly distribute the flavors and form 4 patties. Wash up.

Heat 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, a turn of the pan, in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook patties 6 minutes on each side.

Combine the honey, lemon juice, and remaining extra-virgin olive oil in a bowl. Add relish, cabbage mix and sliced onions and season with salt and pepper. Toss the slaw to coat and reserve.

Toast your buns in the toaster so they are a little bit, you know…toasty.

Serve burgers on bun bottoms topped with slaw and bun tops.

These burgers are really good and come together really fast. I Think the slaw is what makes them extra delicious, so don’t go without it!

March 9, 2010

These burgers are really really good. Easy to make and I must say, the the coleslaw really makes this even better so don’t skip it! This recipe comes from Rachel Ray’s “Book of 10” and the only problems I had involved the cheese: Rachel says to dice it and I did, but uh, when I cooked it, it squished out all over the place, making for some rather messy burgers. Oh well, next time I’d use shredded as I think it would keep it more intact with the meat and not so much all over the pan!

Chicken Cheddar BBQ Burgers

coleslaw:

1 c. ranch dressing

juice of 1 lime

1/2 c. fresh flat leaf parsely, chopped

1/4 c. fresh cilantro, chopped

salt and pepper

small bag of chopped red cabbage, or half a head, chopped

1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced (I didn’t have this so I skipped it)

3 scallions, thinly sliced (you will use the rest in the burger)

Burger:

3 scallions, thinly sliced

2 pounds ground chicken

1/2 c. of your fav. bbq sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray’s, that stuff rocks!)

1/4 pound sharp cheddar cheese, diced (um don’t do this, just do the shredded….)

4 kaiser rolls, split and toasted

Method:

This one is easy…all you do is mix the coleslaw ingredients together in a small bowl and set it aside. Then, on to the burgers!

In a separate bowl, combine the meat, cheese, scallions and bbq sauce and form four equal patties. Cook on a grill or in a grill pan on high heat for

5-6 mins per side. I covered mine to make sure they cooked all the way through as a raw chicken burger would be highly unappetizing!

Toast the buns and add a burger  topped with coleslaw. Enjoy! Its delicious and different!