How to Make Lanie's Awesome Turkey Burger

Who doesn't love a good birdy burger every now and then?  Packed with a lot of juicy flavor that won't leave you feeling all meat logged and bloated afterward, this turkey burger recipe completely rocks it.

What you need for this recipe:

1 1/4 pound fresh ground turkey

3 cloves organic garlic, minced

1 medium organic onion, minced

3 cups organic stuffing mix, crushed

1 6oz. can organic tomato paste

2 fresh eggs

butter, for cooking

water, for cooking

How to make these awesome turkey burgers!

1. You'll want to mince the garlic and the onion. Set them aside for the moment.
   
2. Next, you'll want to prepare the dry stuffing. If you don't have or don't want to use stuffing, follow the directions below for a nice alternative. You'll need 3 cups of crumbles for the burgers and there are a few ways to achieve this. One way (the way I did it here) is to pour some of the stuffing into a ziplock bag and smash it with a rolling pin until you get the texture you need. Another way to do this is with a blender or a food processor. You don't want to process it to crumbs but you want it broken up nicely.
    
   
3. Once the prep work is finished, you can mix it up. You'll probably want to use your hands for this. It's easier, believe me!
   
4. Combine the ground turkey, tomato paste and eggs until well blended. Salt and pepper to taste (remember that there is salt in the stuffing mix so don't overdo it!).
5. Add the garlic and onions. Again, mix well.
6. Add the stuffing mixture and again, mix well.
7. To keep the patty sizes consistent with each other, you can use a 1/3 cup size dry measuring cup to help you get the right amount every time. See below on instructions for doing this. Form your turkey burger patties.
   
8. I cooked mine in an iron skillet but you can also use a grill brushed with olive oil if that's what you prefer. For skillet cooking, add 1 tablespoon of butter to the pan and allow it to melt.
    
   
9. Place the burgers in the pan but be careful not to crowd them. Here's where patience pays off because you want to allow them to cook over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes without touching them.
   
10. When the time is up, carefully flip them over. I will usually add 2/3 cup of water to the pan once the burgers are turned. This keeps the outside from turning hard, makes the outside really soft and keeps them from drying out in the pan. Cook them until the water evaporates.
    
11. Take them out of the skillet and serve!
     
    

How to form the PERFECT burger patties!

1. Using a measuring cup, lightly pack the meat in. I always use a 1/3 cup dry measuring cup because in my opinion, it forms the perfect size patty.
   
2. Put your patty ball on a piece of waxed paper. Lay a second piece of waxed paper on the top.
   
3. Using your hand, lightly press down on the middle of your ball of meat. It will start to evenly spread out.
   
4. Pat the meat through the wax paper until you have the thickness that you want. I usually go for around 1/2" for turkey burgers and 1/4" for beef since it shrinks.
    
   
5. You can either put the patty directly into the pan, refrigerate or even freeze them between layers of wax paper for future use.

Important things to remember when cooking with ground turkey!

Ground turkey is very lean, meaning that there is not much if any fat in it. Sometimes this can make it difficult to work with in cooking since fat works as a binder, holding the meat together in the patty.

If your turkey burgers normally fall apart during the cooking process, you haven't added enough replacement binder to them to hold them together. Eggs are a great binder for lean meats but you don't want to add so much that you end up with scrambled egg in your turkey burger.

The other binder in this recipe is the tomato paste. I use tomato paste instead of the common tomato ketchup because of the seasonings in the stuffing. There is such a thing as having too many spices in a recipe and ketchup throws this completely off in my opinion.

Once the meat is mixed, it should have a little bit of a slimy feel. If it doesn't, you can try adding a tablespoon or two of milk or water to moisten it up. Milk can act as a binder too and I know a lot of people who use it in their meatloaf. You want the mixture moist, not dry. A dry turkey mixture will give you turkey crumbles, not burgers.

Patience when cooking is imperative! The more you handle the burgers while they are in the pan, the more chances of them falling apart. Watch them, but don't annoy them with a lot of fussy turning. If you have one that breaks up, one way to help hold it together once it is on the bun is to add a nice slice of cheese on the top.

How to Make Chicken Nuggets from Ground Chicken

Why Make Your Own Chicken Nuggets?

There are two reasons why we make these chicken nuggets. We make them because we love chicken nuggets but don't love all of the additives, fillers and preservatives that are put into the ones that are purchased at the grocery store. We make them because they are a nice change from the pieces of breaded chicken that are more like fried chicken than the chicken nuggets that we used to enjoy from fast food places.

These nuggets start out with freshly ground chicken. The beauty of grinding your own chicken is that you can mix it up a bit by combining the white and dark meat. If you don't have a meat grinder, ground chicken is readily available at any grocery store and if you find it on sale, making these chicken nuggets is an excellent way to use it.

Directions for freezing these is included in the instruction. A double batch can easily be made and half of the nuggets can be frozen for a later time. Eating on the run doesn't mean you have to eat out of a box or bag. Pop frozen nuggets into the oven for a quick snack or meal when you don't have the time or are too tired to cook anything from scratch.

Things to Remember When Working with Raw Store Bought Chicken

• Always keep the work surface clean. You'll want to continuously wash the area where you are working with the chicken.
• Wash the chicken in cold water before using it. Except for ground chicken, washing the chicken in cold water (NO SOAP is necessary) to help wash off any bacterial that can make you sick.
• Always cook the chicken until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit. If your store purchased chicken has been exposed to salmonella, cooking to 160 will kill this harmful bacteria,

Prep Time: 10 minutes  Cook Time: 20 minutes  Ready in: 30 minutes  Yields: Approx. 20 nuggets

Ingredients

1 pound ground chicken

1/2 cup oats (quick cook)

1/4 teaspoon to 1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 clove minced garlic

1 tablespoon fresh minced onion

1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon salt (season to your liking)

1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (season to your liking)

1/2 cup bread crumbs

How to Make Chicken Nuggets

Raw ground chicken in the mixing bowl.  Ground chicken always looks wet and slimy to me so if that's how it looks to you, don't worry about it because it's normal.  :)

Add the oats and all of the spices/seasonings to the ground chicken.

Give it a good mix to make sure everything is evenly distributed.

Pour the breadcrumbs into a bowl.  You are going to coat the outside of your lovely chicken nuggets in the breadcrumbs.

Using a teaspoon, scoop the chicken mixture out of the bowl.  

Using your fingers (dampening them with a little water works best because it will keep the chicken mixture from sticking to your hands) shape the nuggets into any shape that you want.  I chose plain ol' circle shapes.

Roll your chicken nugget shapes around in the breadcrumbs to coat all sides.

Double check to make sure the whole thing is coated, including the sides.

Your chicken nuggets are now ready to either freeze, fry or bake.  

Freezing

If you want to freeze some or all of the chicken nuggets for future use, you'll want to have them on a single layer on a plate, platter or cookie sheet.  Place them in the freezer for at least three hours.  After the three hours and they are frozen through, you can put them into a ziplock freezer bag and store them for up to three months.  Whenever you want to cook them, just add a couple of minutes to the cook time when using frozen chicken nuggets.  How's that for fast food?

Baking

Now, I have eaten these baked and they are good but in my opinion, frying them is the way to go.  If you like baked nuggets, you'll want to preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Lightly oil a baking pan with olive oil or the oil of your choice.  Place the chicken nuggets on the pan and put them in the oven for 8 minutes.  After that first 8 minutes, turn them over and return them to the oven for another 8 minutes.  Once the time is up, use a meat thermometer to take the internal temp of a few of the nuggets.  They should register no lower than 165 in order to be completely cooked and safe to eat.

For frozen nuggets, just increase the time from 8 minutes to 10 to 11 minutes.

Pan Frying

In my opinion, this is the most yummy way to eat these nuggets.  I put between 1/4" and 1/2" of oil into a small frying pan or iron skillet and turn the heat onto medium high.  Once it is hot, I place the nuggets into the pan and allow them to cook for approximately 4 minutes before turning them over to cook on the other side for another approximately 4 minutes.  Sometimes it takes a minute or two longer.  I always use a meat thermometer to check the internal temp to make sure that it reaches 165 degrees or more so I know that the nuggets are completely cooked and safe to eat.

No matter which way you decide to cook these homemade chicken nuggets, you'll want to have a side of either ketchup, mustard or any of your favorite dipping sauce.  They really are delish and fast food has never been so easy to make!

How to Make Easy Cornbread from Scratch

When I was a child, cornbread was king. We always had it around the house. At meal times there was always a hot, fresh pan of cornbread on the table. It was always around and somehow, I never got tired of it.

Cornbread isn't just a dinner bread. Over the years, I think that many people have forgotten all of the beauty in this simple, old-fashioned quick bread. With the mixes that are now on the market, the old fashioned types of cornbread have been slid to the way side with sweeter varieties that are more like cake that the original bread.

This cornbread recipe does have a little sugar in it but it doesn't sweeten the bread into corn cake status. If you have never tasted an old fashioned cornbread, this one might surprise you. It is fluffy but not cake sweet. Depending on how fine your cornmeal is ground, you'll see that this recipe will make a cornbread without all of those little "pebbles" that you get in the mixes from the rougher cornmeal grind that they use.

This cornbread is great for mealtime, with a nice pot of beans and an anytime quick snack. It is also great crumbled into a bowl and covered with milk and eaten like cereal or with a spoon of homemade strawberry jam. Homemade cornbread also makes a wonderful cornbread stuffing when left out for a few days to go stale.

You definitely can not go wrong with an old fashioned, homemade cornbread. Give this recipe a try and let me know what you think.

Prep time: 5 minutes     Cook time:  25 minutes     Ready in: 30 minutes  Yields: 8 servings

Ingredients to Make Cornbread

• 1 cup of all-purpose flour
• 1 cup of cornmeal
• 2 Tablespoons of sugar
• 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon shortening, lard or other oil to grease the baking pan

How to Make Homemade Cornbread

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Combine all of the dry ingredients in a bowl.

Add the milk, egg and oil to the dry ingredients.

Stir until combined.  Don't overmix it, it should be lumpy.

Let the batter rest in the bowl while you grease your pan.  I'm using a 12" iron skillet for my cornbread but you can use an 8" by 8" baking pan if you don't have an iron skillet available.

Pour the batter into the greased pan and put it into the oven.  Bake for approximately 20 to 30 minutes until when a toothpick poked into the center of the cornbread comes out clean.

When the cornbread is done it will be golden brown and a little darker around the edges.  Let the cornbread cool for a few minutes before you cut into it.  I know, it smells so wonderful that you want to cut it straight out of the oven but if you do that, it will fall apart and who wants that?

Enjoy your fresh, homemade (not home assembled with a mix out of a box) cornbread with dinner or as a snack.  Any leftovers can be put into a plastic bag, stored in an airtight container or wrapped in plastic wrap.  The leftovers will last on the counter for a few days.  At least that's what I hear because homemade cornbread never lasts that long in this house!

How to Make Fresh Home Made Garden Vegetable Soup with Eggs

Eggs can be added to different dishes to add a little something different. In this soup, I added the eggs as an extra source of protein. It made sense to me since the broth base is chicken, the rest of the ingredients are vegetables and honestly, it just sounded good. The eggs are able to not only stand up to the vegetables, but they contribute very nicely to the flavor and texture of the soup.

The yolk of the eggs adds an extra creamy layer to this soup and blends in well with the broth, basil and other ingredients. I know that soup is usually enjoyed in the chillier months of the year, but this one can be served hot or chilled to blend in with the current season. Of course it's thicker when it's served chilled but still nice and very yummy.

This type of soup is a great and unusual way to help utilize any extra eggs that you may have from your chickens or from a sale that you took advantage of at the grocery store.

The ingredients can be modified to whatever you have on hand along with what is in season. Experiment with local, in season vegetables instead of boxed, bagged or canned ingredients. You'll notice a popular vegetable is missing in this version of our soup, corn. It's because right now it is not in season in Indiana and our corn isn't being harvested quite yet.

In the fall, I would omit the spring vegetables and use things like carrots, turnips, sugar snap peas and anything else that is ready to harvest that you have on hand or in the garden. Vegetable soup is extremely versatile and home made is so much better than out of a can without as much work as you would think.

Vegetable soup freezes very well in a plastic freezer bag. You can make the soup, minus the eggs and freeze in single servings to defrost another day. This is especially nice once these vegetables have spent their harvest and are no longer available in the area.

Keep it simple and that keeps it easy and fantastic! That's exactly what home made garden vegetable soup should be. Simple, easy and fantastic.

Ingredients for the Soup as Pictured

• 32 ounces of chicken broth
• 2 medium size potatoes
• 1/2-pound cherry tomatoes
• a handful of Chinese long beans
• a handful of fresh green beans
• 1 onion bulb and top
• a handful of fresh basil
• 2 okra pods
• 4 chicken eggs
• 1/2 cup barley

How Long Does it Take?

Prep time: about 30 minutes    Cook time:  about an hour   Yields:  3 VERY generous servings

How to Put it All Together

All of the vegetables will need to be washed and roughly chopped. I leave the skin on the potatoes because I happen to like that but you can peel them first if you don't. Leave the skin on the cherry tomatoes to keep them together during the cooking. If you remove the skin they will disappear in the soup!

Test your eggs to make sure they are fresh, there is a video on the sidebar (<----over that way) that will show you how if you don't know. Hard boil the eggs then put them into an ice bath until you are ready to peel them.

While the eggs are cooking, pour the chicken stock into your soup pan and add the onion, potatoes and basil. Do the first seasoning of salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 20 minutes. (Your eggs should be ready for the ice bath about now.)

Add the rest of the ingredients and turn the fire to about medium/low heat. Just enough to keep it at a nice simmer for about 40 minutes.

Drain and peel the eggs while the soup is cooking. Periodically stir the soup to keep anything from sticking. Since there is only 32 ounces of broth, this will be a very chunky soup as some of the broth liquid evaporates with the heat.

Cut the eggs in half and set them aside. By now the soup will have thickened up a bit because of the potatoes. If you can't resist the urge to press the cherry tomatoes to the side of the pan and pop them, go ahead because they shouldn't fall apart and disappear at this point. You'll do your final salt and peppering to taste here.

Scoop the soup out into bowls and top with the boiled egg halves. I suggest nipping the egg pieces with the spoon to get a little piece in every bite. It really is a fantastic ingredient in home made vegetable soup!

Add a nice garlic cheese flat bread, home made bread (my homemade wheat bread recipe is HERE) or crackers and you have a nice, healthy meal that won't weigh you down or make you feel like you just ate half the grocery store!

The last thing you'll need to do is enjoy it. Share it with friends. Share it with family. They will love you for it!  Refrigerate or freeze any leftovers to enjoy later.

How to Cook Chicken Offal- Chicken Liver, Chicken Gizzard and Chicken Heart

Chicken gizzards, livers and hearts in my kithchen.

Offal (pronounced "awful") are the organ parts of a slaughtered animal. In today's world, these parts of the animal are generally thought of as undesirable for eating. They are the stomach, liver, testicles, heart, tongue, intestines, eyes, etc. Some cultures around the world eat offal on a regular basis while others see it as a pauper's meal and something they don't want any part of.  In the United States,  some people eat it and some cringe at the thought of it.

Eating offal goes back to the time of using every part of the animal when it is slaughtered. Chicken feathers used to be made into pillows and used for stuffing mattresses. The skins of buffalo, cattle, goats, etc. were made into clothing and blankets. Their bones were carved into weapons and the bone slivers were used as needles to help create needed items. Every part of the animal was either used or eaten and that's where offal came from.

Rooster testicles.

Every animal that is processed has the potential for some wonderful offal dishes. For this recipe, we are going to be using the livers, gizzards and hearts of the chickens that my brother and I processed this spring. The collected organs on these chickens were larger, firmer and cleaner than what is purchased at the grocery store. We guessed it is because they are truly fresh, the chickens were treated and fed well and there were no additives to their feed, antibiotics or anything else that would hinder their natural growth.

If you have never tried chicken offal then this is a good recipe for a first time tasting. Since the pieces are dredged in flour, you aren't being reminded of what you are eating when you look at it. Each type has a different taste and texture. Chicken hearts are a little rubbery but they have a nice snap to them that is similar to a good sausage casing. Chicken livers are soft with a creamy texture that will literally melt in your mouth. Chicken gizzards have a bit of a bumpy texture to them. They are solid and unlike anything else that I have ever eaten.

If you have never tasted chicken offal, I highly recommend you try at least the chicken liver in this recipe.  You can usually pick up a pint of chicken liver at your local grocery store for less than $1.50 which also makes for a cheap meal.  Who knows, once you try it you may discover that it is in fact as good as I'm telling you it is.

Ingredients to Make This

• 1 pound of chicken liver, gizzards, hearts or a combination of any of them
• 1 cup of oil for frying, I use lard or a combination of butter/olive oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose white flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• salt and pepper to your taste

Some people also like to add a seasoning called hickory smoked salt to the breading which adds a fantastic flavor.  If you use the hickory smoked salt, omit the regular salt.

How Long Does it Take?

Prep time: 20 minutes    Cook time: 20 to 30 minutes depending on size of meat  Yields: 4 servings

How to Make This

First things first.  Measure out your flour and put it into a bowl.  Add the seasonings.  Crack the eggs into a separate bowl and wisk them.  This is the breading for the chicken pieces.  Ignore the speckled dog.  That's Spudward and whenever I'm cooking, he's never too far away. 

Pour your oil into the pan you are going to use to fry the pieces.  I always use a cast iron skillet because I think it cooks better.  Turn the heat on medium and keep an eye on the oil.

I start with the gizzard when I'm cooking a combination that includes them because they take the longest to cook.  Coat the pieces with the flour and gently shake off the excess.

Then drop each piece into the eggs, coating all sides.  Remove the pieces from the eggs and put them into the flour again, making sure that all of the pieces are covered with the flour.

Start putting the pieces into the hot oil.

Keep going until the pan is full.  Resist the temptation to start turning these.  If you play with them too much, the breading will start to come off.  Allow them to cook over medium heat until the bottom side breading is browned before you turn them over.

The breading will be brown when you give them their first turn.  Allow them to cook for about 10 minutes before turning them over again.

The finished offal!  It is dark and crispy on the outside and the livers are creamy on the inside.  The hearts have that little snap to them and the gizzards, well, the gizzards are really hard to describe but they are good.

I really do hope you give this a try.  It may seem a bit unusual to some but it's a great tasting, cheap meal that is extremely easy to make.