Kentucky Derby Sliders

Oooooo the Kentucky Derby was fun this year.  It was 75 and sunny and we had some great friends over for some eating, drinking, and betting.  My horses didn't win (wah wah) but I ate 4 of these to make up for it.  

I love theme food.  Anything that inspires bread, bacon, butter, and cheese I'm totally down for...and this delivered.  I scoured Pinterest for Derby themed food and landed on a variation of these Kentucky Hot Brown Sliders. 

I started by shredding Gruyere cheese.  This cheese is awesome.  It has some flavor to it and it's a firmer cheese so it doesn't completely fall apart when you hand shred/eat it. 

Whenever a recipe calls for bacon, I have a really hard time controlling myself.  Unless the directions are "make bacon and eat", it's a serious exercise in self control for me.  I crisped up this bacon low and slow so it was nice and even and crispy and brown.  It takes awhile to make bacon like this...about 30-45 minutes at 350, with constant finessing of flipping, grease draining, and crisping.  I took it out of the oven for the last time and then I occupied myself with chips and dip.

When I see bacon like this, my heart sings a little song.  The lyrics go "less bacon, more oxygen" but it's a beautiful song regardless.  I allowed myself one piece. OKAY TWO.

Hawaiian rolls should be the Illinois State Bread.  I'm obsessed with them.  Perfect for sliders and they add just the best hint of sweetness.  Since I was piling all kinds of stuff on here, I decided to cut the bread loaves in half so I could layer in mass quantities.  If I made the sliders individually it would have gone everywhere and would have been more work.  Screw that.

 Now the fun part. I layered slices of turkey and chopped bacon on the bread....

...and then added mass quantities of the shredded Gruyere.  I'm not going to lie.  I probably ate a 1/4 of a cup of the cheese while I was waiting for the bacon to cook and I still had plenty.

 

The next step is the glaze for the top.  This stuff is ridiculous you guys.  You melt butter, saute finely chopped onions, garlic powder, and brown sugar to make this savory and sweet topping that melts into the sliders as they bake.  This is what makes the sliders extra special.   TOO GOOD.

Liberally brush the top of the sliders with the butter mixture.  If little pools of butter form like our friend on the right, just turn the other cheek.  I topped each of the little tops with a sprinkle of special finishing sea salt.  I used unsalted butter so I could add this little touch.  Totally optional and not necessary if you are using regular butter.  I'm just crazy and nuts about salt.  Don't mind meeeee.

After cooking for about 15-17 minutes in a 350 degree oven, the sliders were toasty and melty and super duper delicious.  I cut through them in seconds with an electric knife.  I recommend that if you want perfectly cut sliders.  A regular sharp knife would work too.  I didn't have a chance to take a lot of post oven pics because the people we had over were staring at me waiting to try one.  So this will have to do.

Here's the recipe adapted from My Recipe Magic:

24 Hawaiian Sweet Rolls (2 packages of 12, sliced length wise)
1 Lb of Roasted Turkey, Sliced Thick
1 Package of Thick Cut Bacon, Cooked and Chopped 
8 Ounces Gruyere Cheese, Shredded
1/2 Cup of Unsalted Butter
1/4 Cup of Finely Diced Onions
2 Tbs Brown Sugar
1/4 Tsp Garlic Powder 
Finishing Sea Salt (Optional)

Preheat the oven to 350.  Pre-cut rolls, brown the bacon, and shred the cheese.  Layer turkey, chopped bacon, and shredded cheese on the buns.  Put the tops back on.  Over medium heat, melt the butter. Add chopped onions and saute until onions become soft.  Add brown sugar and garlic powder and whisk until sugar is completely incorporated.  Let butter mixture cool for a minute and then liberally brush the buns (tops, sides) with butter mixture.  Sprinkle very top of buns with finishing sea salt if you used unsalted butter.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until buns are golden brown and cheese is melted through.  If buns become a little too brown on top, cover with foil and continue baking for another 3-5 minutes or until cheese is melted.  Serve immediately and try not to inhale the whole tray. 


Stay hungry! 

Turkey Burgers with Green Apple Slaw

I've never really been a fan of turkey burgers.  But these are different.  They're juicy, and loaded with herbs, garlic, and other good stuff.  They actually came out awesome. 

Start by mixing all of the ingredients together - turkey, minced onion, garlic, herbs, eggs, salt and pepper.

Give it a whiff.  You should smell the aromatics.  If you don't smell anything, add another clove of garlic.

I didn't want to add bread crumbs but Charlie was having a hard time forming patties.  So we threw them in to bind the patties.

Patty cake patty cake bakers man...

While Charlie was grilling up the burgers, I made the slaw, cabbage, onions, green apple, and a tangy dressing.  I love adding slaw to burgers.  It provides a nice crunch and some creaminess. My BFF Colleen was over so she helped me dress it up.  

Yum.  I wish I had more of this stuff.  We ate the entire bowl in one day.

TURKEY BURGERRRRSSS.  I went sans cheese but Charlie added Swiss.

Check it out!  We will be making these again - SOON!

Recipe:

Burgers:
1 Lb Ground Turkey
1/2 White Onion, Minced
2 Garlic Cloves, Minced
1/4 Cup Fresh Dill, Stems Removed, Chopped
1/4 Cup Chives, Chopped
2 Tsp of Kosher or Sea Salt
1 Tsp of Ground Pepper
1/2 Cup of Panko Bread Crumbs
Swiss Cheese

Slaw: 
1 Head of Green Cabbage, Chopped
1/2 White Onion, Minced
1 Green Apple, Diced
3/4 Cup of Hellman's Mayo
2 Tbs of Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Tbs of Agave Nectar
Salt & Pepper

For the burgers, mix all of the ingredients together and grill about 6 minutes per side.  Add cheese, if desired.    In a large bowl add the cabbage, onion, and apple.  In a separate bowl, mix mayo, vinegar, agave, and salt and pepper.  Taste and adjust if needed.  Add to the slaw, and toss.  Add the turkey burger to a whole wheat bun and pile high with slaw.

Stay hungry!

Turkey Tetrazzini

This is a dish that is very near and dear to my husband's heart.  It's his favorite meal that his Mom makes, and he just loves it.   My husband glows when he talks about this dish.  Eating this means he's home.  It means he's hovering around the kitchen with his Dad and brother going to town on one of their favorite meals.  I like to witness this feeding from afar so I can steer clear and not lose a limb.  It's dangerous out there in the wild land of Minnesota.

I've never tried to make this before just because I feel like you shouldn't mess with a perfect culinary memory, but I thought this year I'd reach out to Mom II (my mother in law) and see what this is all about.  It's such a great recipe for your left over turkey, I just had to share. 

I have to add a major disclaimer here that I switched up a few things.  I didn't have mushrooms on hand or spaghetti.  So I put in peas and used bow tie pasta instead.   I added pancetta because it would have gone to waste otherwise.  Since I added the pancetta, I did half milk and half cream since we were getting some extra fat from the rendered pancetta.  

Here are the ingredients that I used:

Turkey

Milk

Heavy Cream

Low Sodium Chicken Stock

White Pepper

Sherry

Pancetta

Flour

Butter

Petite Green Peas

Bow Tie Pasta

Start building your flavors by adding the chopped pancetta to a sautee pan.  Use a big enough pan so you can mix everything together later.  You can find pancetta at most super market deli counters.  I just order mine cut thick so half the chopping is already done.  If you don't have pancetta no bigs.  You can easily use bacon.  Just throw in some black pepper and some garlic powder while the bacon is cooking to compensate for the seasoning you'd be missing from the pancetta.

 It's embarrassing how much of this I ate while I was cooking the rest of the dish.  They were like little savory Chiclets!  I am weak.

To pick up all of the crispy brown pancetta bits off the bottom, deglaze your pan with a touch of sherry.  I have never cooked with sherry and I gotta tell you, I liked it.  I like it a lot. 

Throw in your butter to the lovely flavor we just picked up off the pan to make your rue.

Add an equal amount of flour.

Sprinkle evenly and then whisk away.

Once it gets thick and bubbly it's time to add our other ingredients to make our sauce. 

Throw in your milk, cream, and chicken stock.

Once it's blended well and starts to thicken, add the rest of the sherry and the white pepper.

I whisked in about 1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmesan. I think next time I'll do a bit more. 

Add whatever pasta you want.  Just cook it in well salted water and lean towards extra al dente.  Since it's spending some extra cooking time in the oven later, you want the pasta to still have a nice bite.  I love bow ties (aka farfalle if you are a pasta snob), especially in a cream sauce like this.  The pasta has lots of nooks and crannies so the yummy cream sauce gets trapped inside for your eating pleasure. 

Add your shredded turkey and peas.

So this is one of those times where I hate admitting that my mom is right about something, but she was.  I went and grabbed frozen peas when we were grocery shopping about a year ago and she sent me back because they weren't "petite" green peas.  Ugh, eye roll, what's the difference?  Well, actually, there is a huge difference.  Petite green peas are smaller and crunchier and pop in your mouth releasing this delicious sweet flavor.  There is nothing worse than a mushy pea.  Trust me (and my mom) there is a difference.  I put green peas in everything, but especially in a cream sauces like this.  FYI - This is where the original recipe called for cooked mushrooms.

Stir everything together and add the pancetta.  I should have zoomed in here so you couldn't see just how much of the pancetta I ate.  Dang it!

Pour everything into a casserole dish and top with freshly grated parm.  Place in a pre heated 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until the cheese gets nice and golden brown.  Everything is already cooked, you just want to marry the ingredients in the chapel of love (i.e. oven).

 YUM.  Look how golden and crunchy that top is.  To die for.

Look at that creamy goodness.  I left it out on the counter like Charlie's mom and he came home and just gobbled it up.  No plate necessary (this one was for me), he just leaned on the counter and ate it like he normally does.  What are your favorite culinary memories?  No time like Thanksgiving to reminisce.  Try it out and stay hungry!

Turkey Tetrazzini Recipe
2 Cups Roughly Chopped or Shredded Leftover Turkey
1/2 Cup Chopped Pancetta
1/4 Cup of Butter
1/4 Cup of Flour

1/2 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup Heavy Cream
1 Cup of Low Sodium Chicken Stock
2 Tbs of Sherry, Seperated
1 Tsp White Pepper
1/2 Cup Frozen Petite Green Peas
1 Cup Freshly Grated Parmesan
1 Box Farfalle Pasta

Sautee pancetta in large pan until golden brown.  Remove.  Deglaze pan with 1 Tbs of sherry.  Add butter, melt.  Sprinkle flour and whisk to make rue.  Once thick and paste like, add milk, cream, and chicken stock and whisk.  Stir in half the parmesan.  Stir and thicken for 3-5 minutes.  Add remaining sherry and white pepper.  Stir in cooked al dente pasta to the sauce.  Add peas, turkey, and fold in pancetta.  Mix and add to a casserole dish and cook at 375 until golden brown, about 30 minutes.  Serve and enjoy!!

Curry Turkey Salad

I've been trying to think of creative ways to use my leftover turkey this year and this recipe turned out to be a winner.  If you've had enough turkey and stuffing sandwiches, this is something that's delicious and a little different.  I'm not sure what "enough" would entail - 3-4 dozen?  

Don't let curry scare you.  Even if you aren't a huge curry fan, I would still give this a try.  Balanced with the savory flavor from the soy sauce, the tartness of the cranberries, and the creaminess of the mayo, the curry doesn't punch your taste buds in the face.  It's more of a firm handshake, or an enthusiastic high five.  Try it.  You'll know what I mean.

Curry is such an interesting spice - made from several different spices, curry has this savory, smokey, sweet flavor that gives basic (and sometimes boring) recipes a little twist.  Curry powders made with turmeric (most are) also have this beautiful golden yellow color.  

I make this recipe often, but with chicken.  Also, instead of left over homemade cranberry sauce like we're using today, I'll throw in either mango chutney or dried cherries/dried cranberries.  I just loved the idea of using something else I had left over, so this worked out just beautifully.

Here are our ingredients for today:

Left Over Turkey Breast

Mayonnaise

Left Over Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Curry Powder

Soy Sauce

Red Onion

Start with finely shredding your turkey with your hands or with two forks, doesn't matter.  I like shredding turkey or chicken for this recipe because it comes out creamier.

Please use Hellman's mayonnaise. Miracle whip makes me want to end it all and will prevent us from being BFFs.

Now, I realize I make this in a bizarre fashion.  If you want, you could probably stir everything in at once, but I take a couple extra steps because it ensures the meat is the right texture and it allows the other ingredients to shine without getting muddled.

Add only half of the mayonnaise to the turkey.  Mash with a fork until turkey is nice and creamy. 

In a separate bowl, add your soy sauce and curry powder to the rest of the mayonnaise.

I like blending the dressing separately because it gives the curry powder a chance to infuse the mayonnaise.   I also have this super cute mini whisk and I wanted to use it.

Now, add the dressing you just made to the turkey.  Mix really well.  Keep using a fork.  This will break the big pieces down even further and help integrate the dressing. 

Ever have chicken salad and all of the mayonnaise is just coating big chunks of dry chicken and it falls out of the bottom of your sandwich?  I hate that.  This will prevent such a crime from happening. 

Now, add your finely chopped red onions.  If you don't have red onions, use white onions.  It doesn't really matter.  Also, if you want some extra crunch, throw in some finely chopped celery too.  Onions and celery are ingredients you will most likely have left over after cooking stuffing for Thanksgiving dinner. 

Mmmmmm my favorite part.  Again, I normally use dried cherries or dried cranberries here, but I didn't want this delicious cranberry sauce to go to waste.  I added it at the end so I could gently fold it into the turkey salad mixture.  If you added it at the beginning it would most likely turn everything pink.  Pink turkey salad would give me nightmares.

This is exactly how it should look.  You want to SEE your ingredients.  You eat with your eyes first, don't forget.

Give it a little try.  Mine tasted just right.  Notice how I piled as much cranberry sauce on my fork as possible?   Depending on your tastes, you might want to add a little pepper or maybe a little more onion depending on your preference.

Now, get two slices of yummy white bread.  Make it special.  Use Italian, or sour dough, or a nice rustic country white.  I toasted mine, but I would maybe try it with soft white bread instead.  You want to really appreciate the creaminess of the salad and the crunchy bread sort of took away from that.  I would probably eat homemade cranberry sauce off the floor if some happened to fall there, so I added extra cranberry sauce to one of the slices too. 

This was really, really, really good.  It's also a really pretty looking salad too.  Only I would describe turkey salad as pretty.

I'm really curious to hear what you guys think of this recipe.  Try it out and let me know what you think.  Keep cooking and stay hungry!

Curry Turkey Salad

3 Cups Shredded Turkey Breast

1/2 Cup of Mayonnaise

1 1/2 Tbs of Low Sodium Soy Sauce

1 Tsp of Curry Powder

2 Tbs of Finely Chopped Red Onion

3 Tbs of Homemade Cranberry Sauce 

Finely shred turkey breast.  Add half of mayonnaise and stir with a fork so turkey becomes nice and creamy.  Add curry powder and soy sauce to remaining mayonnaise.  Whisk together and add the dressing with a fork to the turkey mixture.  Add onions, mix.  Fold in cranberry sauce at the end and gently stir so shape and color of the cranberry sauce keeps its integrity.  Serve on regular or toasted white bread and enjoy!