Pesto Chicken Burger Sliders with Roasted Red Pepper and Pesto-Hummus

Alright, I'm going be blunt. I'm pretty proud of this one. This was another instance of some weird culinary vision that I created in my head and couldn't seem to shake until I saw it executed. My first thought was to make chicken burgers, since I'm steering clear from red meat for a while but really love burgers. (This? And this?! I've made my case.) Then immediately I thought, "You know what I love more than burgers? Burger sliders!" I don't know what it is, but they're just so damn cute! And juicy. And you're eating less, even if you have four of them, right?

Anyway, Dylan and I made these last Friday before going out, and when I say they were amazing, that's an understatement. The pesto and lemon hummus spread is the perfect melt-in-your-mouth topping for these succulent chicken burgers, and the slightly warmed, soft ciabatta rolls made the whole burger literally melt with each bite. The best way to sum up these burgers is to quote Dylan's reaction. He's fairly honest with my cooking, and he never gushes unless I really hit the jackpot. So when he said, "I don't even want to go out anymore because this is already the best part of my night," I knew I found a recipe (and a boy) worth keeping.

Pesto Chicken Burger Sliders with Roasted Red Pepper and Pesto-Hummus
Makes: 5 sliders  Prep: 15 minutes  Total: 30 minutes

Ingredients
1 lb ground chicken
1/2 cup pesto
3 tbs egg whites
Salt and pepper
6 tbs lemon hummus
5 large roasted red peppers
5 mini ciabatta rolls

Directions
Combine ground chicken, egg whites, and 2 tablespoons of pesto into a medium bowl and mix with hands. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Once incorporated, form the meat into 5 mini burger patties. In a large skillet, fry the burgers for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until the meat is fully cooked and the juices run clear.
For the pesto and lemon hummus spread, combine the remaining pesto (6 tsp) with the lemon hummus. Before serving, briefly warm the ciabatta rolls in the oven and layer a generous amount of the hummus spread on the top bun. Assemble the burgers and serve with sweet potato fries.

Double Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies & Shake Shack Burgers: A NYC Weekend

I spent this past weekend in New York City with three of my best girl friends from school to celebrate our friend Dana’s birthday. The morning I left, I made a gigantic batch of these double chocolate chip peanut butter cookies, bringing half for Dana and leaving the other half for my other friend’s surprise party I had to miss. We lucked out with some beautiful weather, fun nights out, and an all around fantastic trip. New York can be dirty, unpleasant, and overwhelming, but it’s truly one of a kind.

There are thousands of hole-in-the-wall restaurants, each one better than the next. On Saturday, we took a leap of faith and tried a Venezuelan restaurant, suggested by Dana’s sister. This was a first for everyone, and it didn’t disappoint. Venezuelan food is awesome! It got me even more excited to dive into South American cuisine in a few weeks when I’m in Argentina. Here are a few photos from our meal.

Yoyos (fried plantains stuffed with white cheese)

Arepas (corn flour buns grilled and baked with shredded beef, black beans, fried plantains, and white cheese)

The biggest food adventure of the weekend was my relentless search for Shake Shack. If you haven’t heard of Shake Shack, then you need to get on your game. I discovered it about a month ago when my boyfriend sent me a link to this article from Serious Eats. It describes a lengthy competition between In-and-Out Burger (from Cali), Five Guys (based in DC), and Shake Shack, a newly emerging high-end fast food burger joint in NYC. The judges unanimously agreed on Shake Shack as the clear winner, and ever since I’ve been fantasizing about its juicy goodness.

Saying this burger did not disappoint would be a gross understatement. I waited with my two friends Garam and Shai for a full hour in a horrendous line and missed our 5:30 Chinatown bus back to Boston. (Luckily we caught the 5:45.) This burger is absolutely the most delicious, juicy, beefy, saucy creation I have ever had the pleasure of consuming. Do yourself a favor and book a ticket to New York ASAP – just be prepared to stand in line, and remember good things come to those who wait.

And now, what you’ve most likely been waiting for, (unless you already skipped this and went straight to the bottom of this page), my recipe for double chocolate peanut butter cookies. Enjoy!

Double Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies
Makes: 2 dozen cookies  Prep: 10 minutes  Total: 20 minutes

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups chocolate chips 
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup peanut butter

Directions
Preheat oven to 375. Combine butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract. Stir dry ingredients, including cocoa powder and peanut butter, into the bowl and mix well. Add eggs one at a time, then chocolate chips and mix until the dough is light and fluffy.
Scoop tablespoon-sized spoonfuls of dough, roll into a ball and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes and let cool before serving.

"The Lure Burger" with Caramelized Onion and Bacon Jam

 
I went home to Upstate New York this Memorial Day for a long, relaxing weekend by the pool. I'll be heading to Argentina in less than a month for a study abroad program, and since it's winter in the southern hemisphere I'm trying to take in all the sun I can get before departing. It was great seeing my hometown friends and celebrating mine and my sister's May birthdays with my family!

Summer in Upstate New York is perfect - 80 degrees, dry and sunny. If I could, I would spend one last summer lounging in my hammock, sipping fruity drinks and reading books by the pool without any responsibilities. But alas, with college comes a transition into adulthood, and with adulthood comes work. Yuck. Why can't I just get paid to cook delicious food and hang out with friends?

Speaking of delicious food, Dylan and I cooked up these burgers before catching a 7 hour bus back to Boston on Monday. Based on the winner of the 2009 Rachel Ray Burger Bash, this recipe was surprisingly easy, totally delicious, and wonderfully... unhealthy. But hey, if you're eating a hamburger anyway, you might as well go all out.

"The Lure Burger" with Caramelized Onion and Bacon Jam
Adapted from Chef Josh Capon of Lure Fishbar's "The Lure Burger" *
Makes: 8 burgers  Prep: 40 minutes  Total: 1 hour

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
4 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Vegetable oil
4 cups white onion, diced
1 pound bacon
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tbs red wine vinegar
2 tsp Worcester sauce
Kosher salt
Coarse ground pepper
8 hamburger buns

Directions
In a large bowl, combine ground beef with Dijon, kosher salt and coarse ground pepper. Form into 8 burger patties and set aside.
Heat vegetable oil in a large pan. Add diced onion and cook on medium heat until caramelized, about 15 minutes. In the meantime, fry the bacon in a large skillet and drain on paper towels. When the bacon strips are dry, chop into fine pieces. Combine bacon bits and caramelized onion in a bowl, add salt and pepper, and mix well.
To make the sauce, mix ketchup, mayo, red wine vinegar, Worcester sauce, salt and pepper in a medium bowl and combine. Refrigerate until serving.
Grill burger patties on an outdoor grill until medium rare. Toast hamburger buns on the grill inside face down for several minutes before serving. Assemble burgers with sauce and onion and bacon jam. Serve with Sweet Potato Fries with Tangy Chili Aioli and fresh fruit.

*I changed the recipe quite a bit, so check out the link for Chef Capon's original burger.

Turkey Burger with Apricot Mustard and Gorgonzola

I took a trip to Washington, DC this past weekend for the Cherry Blossom Festival, and pretty much ate my way through the city in the process. My favorite spot was a gorgeous gourmet market called Dean & Deluca in the middle of Georgetown. They have a deli with THE BEST sandwiches I have ever tasted! If you know me, you know my favorite food is not a fancy entrée, or a decadent dessert… but a turkey sub. I split two sandwiches with my boyfriend. (He got the club sandwich, which weighed 1.25 pounds!) They both had this amazing apricot mustard spread on top that I just had to recreate. With a craving for turkey burgers and a desire to recreate this delicious spread, here is the result.

Turkey Burger with Apricot Mustard and Gorgonzola

Serves: 2  Prep: 10 minutes  Total: 40 minutes

Ingredients

1 pound ground turkey meat

1 egg

Salt and pepper

2 tbs grainy mustard

2 tbs apricot jam

½ cup Gorgonzola cheese

1 tomato

2 hamburger buns

Directions

In a small bowl, mix mustard and apricot jam until blended. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix ground turkey meat with egg and season with salt and pepper. Add Gorgonzola cheese into the ground turkey and mix well. Mold into two large burger patties. Grill patties until the insides are no longer pink.

Grill the hamburger buns on each side for one minute. Spread the top buns with a generous helping of apricot mustard. Place the turkey burgers on the buns and top with remaining Gorgonzola cheese and sliced tomato. Serve with pickle and a side of crispy potato chips.