Turkey Burgers with Tomato-Onion Jam

I've been doing quite a bit of home cooking since I got home from my trip a few days ago, and these Turkey Burgers with Tomato-Onion Jam are the latest.  But can I tell you how I ate like a king last week?  I had such a great time at the Asian American Journalists Association's annual convention in New York City.  I caught up with so many old friends, made some great new connections, and got some ideas to think about.  I've never stayed at a hotel in my hometown before, and I figured if I'm going to eat out, I'm going to eat out.

Top row: Bouchon sweets and Havana Central shrimp mofongo. Bottom row: Pie Face hand pies and Ippudo ramen.

And boy, did I!  I had the lamb burger at The Breslin with my friend Bao, dinner with my mom and sis at Havana Central (not my favorite), and sweet treats at Bouchon.  I went to a dinner for 50 "fascinating" people at Zengo (good food, but terrible and rude service), and amused myself by wondering how I'd scored an invite.  I braved the summer heat for a bowl of the Akamaru modern ramen at Ippudo Westside, and made repeat visits to Pie Face.  The beef with tomato chutney, the pear with ricotta, and the chocolate hand pies make me swoon.

When I got home, I was faced once again with my surplus of garden tomatoes.  I had bookmarked the turkey burgers to try, and thought the tomato-onion jam would be a great use for my little orange tomatoes.  The recipe calls for plum tomatoes, but these tiny tomatoes worked just as well.  It will look like they've released way too much water, but that will evaporate by the last few minutes of cooking.  It's like ketchup meets caramelized onions, but chunkier, fresher, and naturally sweeter.  I'll be making more jars of this stuff as my garden gives us tomatoes faster than we can eat them.

And you can see while the burgers were still raw just how much stuff was packed into them.  They don't quite hit the spot for me like a red meat burger can, yet they're super moist and loaded with flavor.  Look at the herbs, chunks of feta, and chipotle pepper.  And if your spice tolerance tends to be mild, I would halve the amount of chipotle.  They're also a bit fussier to make than your ordinary burger, since they're seared and then baked, and you have to cook some onion and garlic first.  But they're well worth it.  Turkey can be plain and dry, but all the steps and ingredients ensure a juicy and flavorful burger.  And don't skip making that tomato-onion jam.  You'll miss out, big time.

Italian Stuffed Cabbage

I had heard of Polish stuffed cabbage but not Italian, and when I first saw the recipe at Smitten Kitchen I knew I had to make it.  A meatball of Italian sausage is rolled up in savoy cabbage leaves, and slowly simmered in tomato sauce.  But the recipe wasn't exactly healthy, so I set about with some tweaks.  I swapped out the pork sausage for chicken sausage, low-carb whole wheat bread for white bread, and low-fat milk for whole milk.  But it wasn't right: the meat was too lean, so the texture and taste were a bit lacking.  I tried again and went halfway, using a blend of pork sausage and chicken sausage, and the result was healthier and heavenly.  

Production and cooking do take time, so set aside a lazy Sunday when you'll want to putter in the kitchen.  You'll need to carefully peel and blanch cabbage leaves, make the filling, and then cook the parcels for about an hour.  Another error I made the first time was buying a small head of cabbage; the larger the head, the larger the leaves, and the more likely the leaves will fully envelop the filling.  The whole wheat bread also isn't as soft as white bread, and chicken sausage isn't as soft as pork sausage -- I used the food processor to blend them, buzzing the bread into crumbs and chopping the sausage up finer.  Finally, I did away with the toothpicks on the second try.  They're not necessary, and I don't like the idea of biting into a stray one.

The serving suggestion of mashed potatoes on the side is perfect.  Although it took a bit of work to put this together yesterday, all I've got to do tonight is reheat.  Joe really loved these, and I'm look forward to digging into the leftovers come dinnertime.

Flour's Country Ham, Cheddar and Tomato Quiche

This quiche is good, really good.  And not just for breakfast -- I'd happily have this with a salad for lunch or dinner.  The crust is buttery, sandy, and crumbly, and the freshness of the tomatoes nicely contrasts with the creamy filling, even after being baked.  I haven't had quiche in so long, I was imagining a big omelet in crust.  But this is a smooth, savory custard.  The amount of ham and cheese isn't over the top, and despite the richness of the dish it feels light on your stomach.  I wanted to photograph individual slices too, but there weren't any left!

The recipe for the filling looked very rich, so I subbed the heavy cream with more half and half.  Still not exactly healthy, I know, but I was afraid it might not set up if I used just milk.  I also correctly guessed there would be more filling than a standard tart pan would hold, so I opted for an 8-inch springform pan instead, making it narrower but taller.  If you do the same, just note that this will add 30 minutes to the cooking time.

My last few tips.  If you use a springform pan, wrap the outside in foil since my second try sprung a leak despite no visible crust cracks.  And like the recipe says, make your crust taller than necessary to account for some inevitable shrinkage -- mine originally came up to the rim of the pan.  An industrial-sized paper coffee filter is handy for holding pie weights during blind baking.  Also, save that leftover dough!  Any pieces of crust that break off or holes that appear after blind baking can be patched up with dough and then baked with the filling.

Update: This post made the daily Foodbuzz Top 9!

Eggplant Parmesan Sandwiches

The crispy, Panko-coated eggplant slices are so good, I could eat a whole plate of just those.  But it doesn't hurt to throw on some mozzarella, tomatoes, peppadews, and basil, and sandwich the whole thing in a ciabatta roll.  I was telling Joe just that when he asked, sort of absent-mindedly, "Is it crispy?" I bit into one, and the loud crunch got his attention.  Then he ended up pilfering some eggplant slices.

The recipe is a bit of a production, but I think you can easily streamline it without affecting the quality.  Skip the whole eggplant-salting thing for starters.  This is a graffiti eggplant, and it not only looks cool, but it's smaller than your typical Italian eggplant and not as bitter or full of seeds; hence, no need to salt and drain. One of these made about a quarter of the recipe, which was a perfect amount for us.  And I made those oven-roasted tomatoes (they're lost between layers in the photo, in case you were wondering), and they were good but I don't think worth the trouble again.  A spoon of marinara will do it for me next time.

You also don't need the whole inch of oil in the skillet, or the frying thermometer.  We're not making bone-in fried chicken here, so drop a crumb of panko in the oil -- if it doesn't do much, the oil's not hot enough, and if it starts to bubble up it's hot enough.  I cooked them by color rather than time, flipping and removing them when they were golden brown.  I hate spongy, al dente eggplant, but these were meltingly soft.  A bit of a production, yes, but also a very satisfying lunch.

This post was featured on Yummly's 10 Egg-cellent Eggplant Recipes.

I also wanted to thank Dawn at DJ's Sugar Shack for passing on to me the Versatile Blogger award and Anuja of Simple Baking for the Liebster Blog award.  Since I've received the Versatile Blogger award in the past, you don't need to read all about me again or the blogs I recommend.  But if you'd like to anyway, click here.  And definitely visit Dawn's and Anuja's great blogs!

Roasted Corn Salad

I could have attacked this whole dish with a spoon, it was that good.  Fresh corn and some poblano get slightly smoky under the broiler, and then mingle with the fresh flavors of tomato, scallion, and basil.  My friend Dorothy asked for the recipe, and I said, "What recipe?  I threw it together."  But it was easy enough that I roughly remembered everything.    

Fans of cilantro can substitute that herb for the basil.  Feel free to use more poblano if you like it spicy, or substitute a hotter pepper.  I meant to use lime, but after sampling a little salad with some juice I felt the lime overpowered the other flavors.  Throw in other vegetables that you like, and make it your own -- just keep tasting and re-seasoning.  For my personal tastes, it was the perfect summer salad.

Easter Ham and Pineapple Pizza ... a.k.a. "The Debby"

When my friend Debby and I were college roommates, we'd wake up hungry after the occasional (or semi-frequent?) night of too much drinking.  Debby would phone in a Hawaiian pizza for delivery.  A short time ago, she said I should create a dish for her on the blog, something salty and sweet.

So this one's for Debby: on this Easter Sunday I skipped roasting a whole ham and made a Hawaiian pizza, which is topped with ham and pineapple.  I threw on some grape tomatoes for a quick roast on top because Debby loves tomatoes, and a few pepperoni strips for good measure.  Have a slice with some beer!

The dough recipe makes 6 small pizzas.  Not feeding a frat party?  Throw some dough balls in the freezer for when the next craving hits.  That's 4 pizzas in the making in my freezer.

Mascarpone Gelato

I had been looking forward to trying this gelato, and Sis had been nagging me to make it.  Would I make it again?  Probably not, because of how much it cost!  The recipe calls for two tubs of mascarpone, and I was shocked they cost $4.99 each.  That means you're making a $10+ quart of gelato!  So I wasn't even upset when Joe returned from the grocery store with just one tub, and I halved the recipe.

The gelato recipe also didn't get a thumbs-up.  I thought it was all right, but both Joe and Sis complained the lemon flavor was too aggressive, and lemon aside, it just failed to wow them.  I found that funny, since I used only the zest of one lemon.  And I left the pine nuts out, since no one wanted them.  The Mascarpone Gelato recipe is on this page.  If you know of a better one -- and if it doesn't cost over $10 to make -- let me know!  I've got another ice cream post on the way, a winner that I make over and over again.  Stay tuned!

And some gratuitous photos of a tomato tart with roasted garlic and fontina I made, just because the colors look cool.

The colors got very muted after baking.  Plus, I didn't have time to snap a photo before it got eaten at a potluck.

Feta, Shrimp & Vegetable Orzo

I didn't intend for this to look like fried rice, but between the wok and the shape of the pasta it couldn't be helped.  I've been eating this dish a lot lately, since it's nice and light for summer and uses up goodies from the farmers market.  I based it on a linguine recipe I found online years ago, but have long since ceased using a strict recipe, and I chucked the white wine (go ahead and add some if you really want to).  Lately I've been using orzo and adding various squashes I find from the market.  It's quick, fresh, and delicious.

As for my own produce, my tomatoes are still taking their time ripening.  I did harvest my first eggplant of the season today, and I've been snipping some flowers from the yard.  This apricot rose starts out as this pretty orange, then as it opens it changes to shades of pink and red.  The white hydrangeas look nice and rustic in my ice cream machine bucket.

BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches

It's Memorial Day weekend, and that means a couple months of sweet corn, burgers, ribs, and pulled pork sandwiches.  This pulled pork recipe, like many others of its kind, calls for being made in an oven and not the grill.  I find that's also the case for ribs, and I've come to prefer making ribs in the oven to avoid that char you get so easily on the grill.  I also love how easy this pulled pork is -- just marinate, cover and bake for a few hours the next day, pull apart, and you're done.  And unlike other pulled pork recipes I've tried, this one is truly pull-apart tender; no shredding with your knife is required.  It's a great hot-weather dish.

And speaking of hot weather, my little vegetable and herb garden is taking off.  We prepared a raised bed for the first time in our yard.  Removing the sod was the hardest part, and we kept the rest simple.  No poured concrete or deep barriers, since it is a rented house after all.  We've got four varieties of tomatoes --Early Girl (top right), Sun Sugar (a yellow variety), Roma, and Grape -- along with parsley, chives, buttercrunch lettuce, and eggplant.  There was originally more lettuce, but some of the young plants got drowned in heavy rain, as did my strawberry plants.  I cursed Mother Nature and went off to get more strawberry plants, but the store was all out except for what they called these urban planters.  It was more than I planned to spend, but it's got almost a dozen strawberry plants, and a cool pot.  It already has some green fruit and beautiful white flowers.  I'm excited for my upcoming summer bounty!

That includes peonies.  I'm crazy about these flowers.  Too bad they're such slow growers and last so briefly.  I planted the one in the top right photo a few years ago, and it finally had one bloom this year.  Just one bloom.  I had gotten so impatient I bought a potted one (lower left), and it also yielded exactly one bloom.  I just can't win.  At top left is a shrub that blooms every spring, but I have no idea what it is.  The Sun Sugar tomatoes, at bottom right, have begun to sprout flowers that will bear the fruit.

So back to that pulled pork...

I used a tenderloin instead of the pork butt the recipe calls for, since that was what I had in the freezer.  I was concerned it might turn out dry because tenderloin isn't as fatty as butt (go ahead, snicker), but you might be able to see that this tenderloin had some fat.  It was also half the size the recipe called for, but that's OK for our household of two.  We've still got leftovers for today!  I also have a confession: I didn't use the barbecue sauce the recipe includes, or even make my own.  I resorted to a storebought bottled sauce, but it was still delicious.  Come on, I had to work Memorial Day weekend!

Fish Steamed Chinese-Style

Steaming is such a healthy and fast way to cook.  This delicate fish was flavored by ginger, scallions, and soy sauce.  I've lagged on posting so much I don't even remember what kind of a fish this was. My guess is some kind of snapper or bass, but I do remember it was delicious, just like Mom used to make. Although I haven't been posting, I haven't been idle either!

I baked these to make up for the lost linzer cookies around December.  I know I said I bake them only once a year, but Sis never got them for our birthday/Christmas.  So now they're Valentine's cookies!

I also cooked up a sauce from San Marzano tomatoes and discovered why they cost about $5 a can.  The taste really is complex and sweet, but at that price I soon went back to ho-hum tomatoes.

And I made pizza topped with eggplant and sundried tomatoes.  Okay, so maybe Joe did all the work, but I cooked and assembled my own topping.  And got stuck with kitchen cleanup.  But back to the fish...

HELLO!!!  Don't be afraid because he still has a head.  If that turns you off, don't go shopping with my mom.  She once asked if I wanted fish for dinner, then took me to the corner market and bought one from the tank.  I knew what was going to happen, but the sight of the fish flopping around while the man decapitated it almost ruined my appetite.  Do make sure it's been scaled and gutted.

So here's how you steam.  You can use one of the short, metal racks to elevate your heatproof plate in the wok or saucepan.  But the traditional way is to crisscross a pair of wooden chopsticks above steaming water.

Place some sliced ginger (about 1 inch) and scallions (about 4) in the cavity of the fish.  I don't think it's possible to overdo the scallions and ginger, which are only used as flavoring and will be discarded.  Place your fish on a plate, and position the plate on the chopsticks.  Cover and steam for 15 to 20 minutes, checking to ensure the water doesn't dry out.  Then drain the steaming water from the dish, and sprinkle some fresh scallions and ginger on top, which won't have turned limp and discolored from cooking.  Pour 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of sesame oil on top.

Mom never did this part, not wanting to add unnecessary fat to food, but it's common to heat a few tablespoons of oil until it's crackling hot.  The effect is supposed to crisp the skin and brighten the vegetables, but I think you need a lot more oil for crispy skin.  Still, it's a nice sizzle.

Ming Tsai, and Backyard Veggies

I've never been interested in putting my mug on this blog, but it's not every day I get a photo op with Ming Tsai! The renowned chef of Blue Ginger in Wellesley and Simply Ming on PBS came to support the opening of the Asian American Journalists Association Convention in Boston. He was a sweetheart, and there are hopes he'll be doing more with our group in the future!

On to the rest. No recipes in this posting, but I have been munching happily on homegrown tomatoes! Aren't they beautiful?

I love the sweetness of the grape variety, and they're perfect for just throwing in salads. And the basil plants are growing in the same pots like weeds. Tasty weeds . . .

Did you know eggplant plants grew flowers? I had no idea. Pretty purple ones.

And this guy is still small, and the only one on the plant. I wonder if it's ready for picking. Come to think of it, I don't think I bought the big variety. Now, what to make with it . . .

My Favorite Use for Garden Tomatoes: Crostini

I once told a friend who says she can't cook how easy these are to make, and she replied, "But it requires a heating element." Come on, anyone can toast bread, right? That's all the cooking required!

My tomatoes only started ripening around the second week of August, probably due to the lack of sunshine with the nonstop storms we've had. My basil plant, on the other hand, is about 2 feet tall! And both are required for one of my favorite summertime snacks. The other must is fresh mozzarella -- the soft, creamy kind that's packed or stored in water. Don't buy the cheaper, rubbery variety at the store. That stuff is fine for melting and disguising behind other ingredients, but with something this fresh you need the good cheese.

Some people will want to toss it back in the oven to cook the tomatoes a bit and melt the cheese, but I like the summery freshness of it my way.

1 baguette

3-4 plum tomatoes, sliced

1 ball fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced

5-7 fresh basil leaves

Olive oil

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Slice the baguette into thin pieces and rub a bit of olive oil on them. Toast the bread on a baking sheet for about 20 minutes, until the bread is golden brown. You can also just throw them in your toaster oven, but that tends to brown just the outside instead of toasting the bread thoroughly for a nicer crunch.

After that, it's easy assembly. Top each piece of bread with a slice of mozzarella (the cheese acts as a nice barrier for the bread against the wetness of the tomato). Then top them each with a slice of tomato (and plum tomatoes are better because they have less water, leading to less sogginess). Slice your basil leaves into thin strips and scatter them over the tomatoes. Follow with dashes of salt and pepper. That's it!

These work great as party appetizers. You can also lay the ingredients out like I did above, but in larger quantities, and let guests assemble the finger food themselves.