Beef Burgers with Shallots and Boursin Cheese and Stuffing "Hushpuppies" - Tuesday, One Week Menu

Hello Everybody!
This meal was inspired by the television show "Bob's Burgers".  My husband and I have purchased the cookbook with recipes based on the burger of the day board that they have in the cartoon and have been trying to prepare one of the burgers each week.

I couldn't, in good conscience, do a burger from the book when I had so many items left over from Thanksgiving, but I decided that I would create my own burger of the day using leftovers.  It is not a turkey burger.  (I don't care for turkey burgers.  When my husband and I first got married, we had a month when our paychecks fell strangely and we were VERY limited on what we could purchase for food.  I got us ground turkey because you could get alot for very little cash and, added bonus, its healthier than ground beef.  So I got some and for two straight weeks its all that we ate...... in many, many, many different forms.  No matter what I made, it wasn't as good as it would have been using another meat.  It wasn't bad, it just wasn't as good.  And my husband and I haven't really eaten it since.)  But I do use the leftover scallions and the leftover cornbread stuffing that I had from Thanksgiving dinner.  That's two sides re-purposed! I know that not alot of you did the pan roasted scallions as a side.  So I am including the recipe here so that you will have an idea of what the flavor is like.

Pan Roasted Shallots

Ingredients
1 pound shallots, peeled and sliced
1 cup chicken stock, homemade is preferable
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 tbsp. unsalted butter, split
1 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
freshly ground pepper, to taste

Instructions
1.  In a large heavy bottomed skillet, place the shallots making certain that all of the shallots fit in the pan in a single layer.
2.  Pour in the chicken stock, white wine, 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, sugar, kosher salt and pepper.  The liquid should mostly cover the shallots, but it will be fine if a few poke above the liquid.
3.  Bring to a boil over high heat and then reduce heat to medium-low and bring liquid to a simmer.  Cook the shallots, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the shallots are tender, about 10 minutes.
4.  Raise the heat to medium and cook shallots, stirring frequently, until the shallots start to brown all over and are coated in a thick syrup.
5.  Once the shallots are brown, stir in the remaining tablespoon of butter and stir until completely melted.

Note:  These should be served warm, so time your meal so that they are one of the last items to go out on the table.

Beef Burgers with Shallots and Boursin Cheese

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
1 egg
1 slice bread, crumbled
2 tbsp. garlic and herb bread crumbs
1 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
Sprinkle of garlic salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup leftover pan roasted shallots
2-4 tbsp. Boursin Shallot and Chive Cheese (Or Cream Cheese)
Hamburger buns

Instructions
1.  In a large bowl, use your hands to  mix together the ground beef, egg, bread, bread crumbs, worcestershire sauce, garlic salt, and pepper.
2.  Divide the meat mixture in half.  Then divide these halves in half.  This should form four equal sections of meat.
3.  Take each section and roll into a ball, then pat and flatten until it is the shape of a hamburger patty.Over
4.  Over medium high heat, heat butter in a large skillet or grill.  Once the pan is hot, place your hamburger patties on the surface.  Cook four minutes and then turn to cook the other side and cook for another four minutes.
5.  While the burgers are cooking, put your leftover shallots in a microwave safe bowl and cook on high heat for 1 minute and 35 seconds.
6. Now we get to the fun part of assembling the burger!
Assemble your burger in the following order
bottom bun
hamburger patty
shallots
Boursin Shallot and Chive Cheese (1 tbsp. per burger, but you can put more or less as per your taste)

The warm shallots will make the soft cheese melt and your hamburger won't be dry.  So I suggest that you try it this way first before you add your usual condiments.

Bacon and Cheese Leftover Stuffing Balls

I don't know about you, but I love stuffing for the Thanksgiving meal but I hate eating it afterward.  This is why I came up with this recipe to turn the leftover stuffing into "hushpuppies".  This can work with any leftover dressing or stuffing, it does not have to be cornbread dressing.

Ingredients

2 cups leftover stuffing

1 egg

4-6 slices bacon

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions

1.  In a heavy bottomed skillet, cook your bacon to desired done-ness.  I usually cook mine so that it is crispy on the outside but still a little tender on the inside, this way it won't over-cook when the stuffing balls go to the oven.  Remove the bacon from the skillet and drain on a paper towel.  Reserve your bacon grease.

2.  Once the bacon has cooled enough to handle, crumble the bacon into small crumbled pieces.

3.  In a large bowl combine the stuffing, egg, bacon, and cheese.  Mix together with your hands until all of the items start to stick together.

4.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

5.  Using a brush, brush bacon grease onto a baking pan, non-stick is best.  Roll the stuffing mixture into balls.  (The size is really up to you, but I like to use an ice cream scoop to measure out my stuffing ball size.) Place the balls onto the greased baking sheet.

6.  Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake for about 8 minutes.  This will be just long enough to set the stuffing balls.

You can eat them plain or you can dip them in the sauce/condiment of your choosing.

Well, that is it for this set of leftover recipe, I will try to post a couple more today so that we can catch up from my internet being down.  But I also want to get some Christmas posts up.  Grrr.  I hate technical difficulties-but, hopefully, I will be caught up soon.

Turkey and Sausage Gumbo - Monday, One Week Menu

Hello Everyone!
Oh my goodness, I am so behind on everything this season!!!

 My internet went down for an entire week and I couldn't post my week of Thanksgiving leftover recipes. Then, once the cable guy finally showed up to fix the internet - it only took him three scheduled appointments before he arrived - I had rehearsals every night for a week.  I also got a new, eleven month old French bulldog puppy the week that this all happened.

This is Moss in his corner at the theatre where I work.

His name is Morris.  We call him Moss and he is our fourth dog.
That means that we now have four dogs and two cats.  ("Hi, my name is Carole and I have a pet addiction.")
All of this means that I am behind on both my posts and my Christmas decorating.  The outside of my house looks festive but the inside looks like any other time of the year.  I hope to change that tonight and tomorrow night.
I thought for a long time on how I should post the recipes that I promised for the one week leftovers menu, and I figured the best solution was to post the recipes as I originally intended so that they would be easy to find if anyone wanted to try them, but that I wouldn't put a notice up like I usually do and that I would try to get my Christmas posts up and those I would post on Facebook.  We'll see how that works.

Today I am doing a recipe that no one in Louisiana needs - a recipe for Turkey and Sausage Gumbo.  Everyone has their own version of grandma's gumbo. Since I don't have a Cajun grandma, but have lived in the state for years, I have come up with my own version of gumbo that I have learned from several of my friend's grandmas.  This is my recipe that my husband, who has lived in Louisiana all of his life loves.

Turkey and Sausage Gumbo

Ingredients
2 cups cooked turkey, cut into 1 inch cubes
5 tbsp. oil (for frying)
1 1/2 pounds Andouille Sausage  or Smoked Sausage, chopped into coins
6 tbsp. all purpose flour
4 cups onion, minced
1 bell pepper, chopped finely  (or about 1 cup)
1/2 cup celery, chopped finely
2 1/2 quarts chicken stock
2 tbsp. garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. ground thyme
3 bay leaves
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tbsp. basil
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 cup green onion, chopped (optional)

Instructions
1.  In a large, heavy bottomed stock pot, heat up the oil over medium heat.
2.  Add the Andouille sausage and fry for 4 to 5 minutes.  Remove with a slotted spoon and reserve on a plate for later.
3.  Turn down the heat on the stove to medium-low.
4.  To the oil left in the pot, add the flour and slowly cook until the flour is the brown color of dark chocolate, making certain to whisk constantly.  (This is the hardest step and is called making a roux.  If you have the heat too low, your roux will take forever to cook, if you cook it on too high a heat, the roux will burn and your gumbo will turn bitter and not taste very good.)  Another way of telling your roux is done, other than color, is the smell.  When it is close to being ready, it will smell like it is just on the edge of burning.  (My husband always knows the roux is almost ready by that almost burning smell.)

This is what the roux looks like when you first add the flour.

This is the color it should be when it is done

5.  When the roux is ready, add the onions, bell pepper and celery and saute until the vegetables are limp.

This right here, is a picture of Cajun goodness.  It is the trinity being cooked in the dark flour roux.  This is one of the best smells that you will ever experience.

6.  Add the chicken stock, a little at a time, and stir until blended each time.
7.  Add garlic, thyme, bay leaves, cayenne pepper and basil.  Stir until mixed well.  Carefully add salt and pepper to taste.
8.  Let the mixture slowly simmer for at least 40 minutes.
9.  After it has simmered for 40 minutes, add the turkey and the sausage.  Cook until turkey is warmed through and tender, about 20 minutes.
10.  Remove the pot from heat and add the green onions.  Let set for 10-15 minutes and serve over cooked rice.

This dish, minus the rice freezes great!
What my husband and I usually do is have our bowls for dinner, save enough for one more night's worth of meals and freeze the rest.  It makes a great quick meal in the winter time.

I will try to keep posting recipes and Christmas posts will be coming soon!

Turkey Piccata Pasta and Roasted Root Vegetables - Sunday, One Week Leftover Thanksgiving Menu

Hello Everyone!
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and enjoyed a lot of good food.  I actually had two Thanksgivings this year as I celebrated the actual holiday with my husband's family and then had a Friends-giving two days later on Saturday.

I have to admit that Friends-giving is my favorite because I can cook whatever I want and have my lovely friends come over and eat it and then we play games and drink wine.  It is a great sendoff for the Christmas season.
For my Friends-giving, I prepared the following menu:
Bread Cornucopia
Pear Shaped Blue Cheese Ball
Apple Shaped Cheese Ball
Oil and Vinegar Dipping Sauce
Roasted Turkey
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Ratatouille
Pan Roasted Shallots
Cornbread Dressing
Mini Apple Tarts
Mini Pumpkin Pies
Homemade Whip Cream
(I know, I didn't make a lot, but I was trying to keep it simple this year.)

I did figure out how to make my cornucopia, even though they discontinued my refrigerated bread sticks so I had to find another solution.  I was very pleased with the result and I will be sharing that recipe with y'all next Thanksgiving since I missed this one.

I usually decorate this more when I am doing a fancy Thanksgiving and using this as the center piece, but this was Friends-giving and I had to use my kitchen counter rather than my serving table, so I went a little more casual than is my usual this year.

I just love that this center piece looks good but is also delicious.  By the end of the evening, none of this tray was left except for the real apples.

I will also include the cheese ball recipes when I share the cornucopia recipe.

So, even though I prepared less this year, I still had leftovers.  The food items that I had remaining were:
Turkey
Cornbread Stuffing
Pan Roasted Shallots
I also had a leftover beef roast from the previous evening's dinner.  (Nicholas' family usually makes a turkey and a beef roast for Thanksgiving, so these are the two meats that are usually leftover to turn into other dinners)

Because I didn't have as many leftovers this year. and because I will be in rehearsals to work backstage for "A Christmas Carol" this year, I will not have the opportunity to make a two week menu.  (Next week will be soup and sandwiches for my husband and I.)  Instead, I am giving y'all a one week menu,  showing you how to make other delicious dinners out of the leftovers that I had from my dinner.  (I think most of you will have the same leftovers barring the Pan Roasted Shallots, so I will show you how to make the shallots quickly when they come into play for one of the recipes.)

Just because I think they are pretty, I am showing you the mini apple tarts before they went in the oven.  Aren't they cute?!?!?!?  I just love miniature versions of food.

One Week Menu

Sunday -  Turkey Piccata Pasta and Roasted Root Vegetables (fresh veggies I had leftover from the Ratatouille that had to be prepared before they went bad)

Monday - Turkey and Sausage Gumbo with Rice and Salad 

Tuesday - Beef Burgers with Scallions and Cream Cheese (or chevre) and Leftover Stuffing Balls (Mock Hush Puppies made out of stuffing)

Wednesday - Leftover Turkey Pasta Soup and grilled cheese sandwiches 

Thursday - Grilled Chicken Breast with Scallion, tossed salad and simple wild rice pilaf

Friday - Leftover gumbo sandwiches served on french bread (The au jus for dipping is the liquid base of the gumbo) with sweet potato fries (I don't have leftover sweet potatoes, but tis the season so I am including a recipe)

Saturday - Mincemeat Pies (Or for the more cautious of you, I have included a Beef Pot Pie Recipe.  The Minced meat will need to be prepped on Sunday and then eaten on Saturday.  If you are eating the beef pot pies instead, eat those on Sunday and move all the other dinners down one day.)

Now that we know the Agenda, lets get started!

Traditional Mincemeat Mini Pies

Fooled you!  We're not starting with the turkey pasta.  Why?  Because first we have to prepare the mincemeat for Saturday.

I know that most of us here in the United States have not had mincemeat pies and when we do think about them at all, we tend to think of them as a Christmas dish.  But mincemeat pie was one of the dishes that scholars know was served at the first Thanksgiving so I am bringing it back.  Most modern day mincemeat pie recipes do not contain meat, but they did back during the first Thanksgiving and they are going to in the recipe that I am going to show in this post today.  This mincemeat pie recipe is based off a version that was featured in a cookbook published in 1861 call Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management.  Ideally, the mincemeat filling should be prepared at least two days and preferably two weeks prior to the making of the pies so that the flavors can combine and meld.  But most of us, myself included are a little cautious when it comes to leaving meat in the fridge for two weeks, so I am going to do mine for a little less than a week.

Ingredients

Crust

1 pckg. Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crust Dough  (You can make your own pie crust dough, but I don't like the hassle of making dough unless I absolutely have to.)

Filling

1 cup finely chopped beef suet  (Some people can get this from their butcher.  If you cant, freeze a cup of butter - real butter- and finely chop that.  Try to touch it with your hands as little as possible because you do not want the butter to melt.)

6 tbsp. currants

6 tbsp. chopped rump steak or roast

1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 tbsp. brandy

1/2 tsp. and 1/4 tsp. chopped candied citron peel

1/2 tsp. and 1/4 tsp. chopped candied lemon peel

1/2 tsp. and 1/4 tsp. chopped candied orange peel

1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

1/8 tsp. to 1/4 tsp. nutmeg  (I would start with 1/8 tsp. and if you want a stronger nutmeg flavor, move up to 1/4 tsp.)

1 granny smith apple, cored and finely chopped

grated zest of 1/4 to 1/2 lemon  (Again, do 1/4 and if you want more lemon than add the rest)

Instructions

1.  In a bowl, combine beef suet, currants, rump steak, raisins, brown sugar, brandy, citron peel, lemon peel, orange peel, lemon juice, nutmeg, apples and lemon zest.  Mix well.

2.  Transfer mixture to a large mason jar and screw on the lid.  Refrigerate for two days to 2 weeks.

That is all you are getting of that for now.  I will continue this recipe on Saturday when I actually make the dish.  I will also include the beef pot pie recipe at that time.  Don't worry, I will include the full recipe on Saturday.  I just did this so you would know how to prepare the mincemeat.

Turkey Piccata Pasta

This is a nice lighter dish after eating some of the heavier dishes you get during Thanksgiving.

Basil wants some pasta.

Ingredients

1 handful linguine, dry

2 tbsp. unsalted butter

2 tbsp. bottled capers, rinsed and drained

1/4 cup reserved pasta water

1 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice, freshly squeezed

1 cup cooked turkey meat, bite-size

1 1/2 tsp. dried dill

1/2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, (You can used flavored olive oils, garlic is good with this one as is a Tuscan blend)

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper (to taste)

1/4 cup parmigiano-reggiano cheese, freshly grated

Instructions

1.  Cook linguine according to package directions until pasta is al dente.

2.  Meanwhile, melt butter in a medium sized, heavy bottomed skillet over medium high heat.  Add capers and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant.  (This will take about two minutes.)

3.  Add 1/4 cup pasta water and the lemon juice into the skillet and bring to a simmer.

4.  Drain the pasta and add to the skillet along with the turkey and dill.

5.  Simmer the turkey, tossing with tongs, until the turkey is heated through and the pasta is coated with sauce.  (About two minutes.)

6.  Remove the pan from heat and stir in oil.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Toss with cheese and serve.

One more picture of fall decorations and then, we move into Christmas.

Oven Roasted Vegetables

I did not put any beets or turnips in my oven roasted vegetables, but I just loved this picture.

This next recipe is totally not my recipe.  I stole it off of a Lipton Savory Herb and Garlic Soup Box.  I have modified it a little, but only so you know what vegetables that I used.  This is a definite cheat recipe, but it is easy and tastes good.  (They don't all have to be handmade. :-) )

Ingredients

1 envelope Lipton Savory Herb with Garlic Soup Mix

1/2 eggplant, roughly diced

1/2 zucchini, roughly diced

1/2 green bell pepper, roughly diced

1 celery, roughly diced

1-2 carrots, roughly diced

1/2 onion, roughly diced

1- 2 tbsp. olive oil (I eyeball it.  All the vegetables should be covered and there should be an enough oil so the vegetables don't stick to the pan.)

Instructions

1.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  

2.  In a 13 x 9 inch baking or roasting pan, combine all ingredients.
3.  Bake, uncovered, 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender. (Stir once about halfway through <10 minutes> baking time.)

I will continue to post more leftover Thanksgiving recipes, but I will also be showing you some craft ornaments to start gearing up for Christmas on a limited budget and I will start posting for the Christmas Season!
Good Bye Fall!

Fall decorations packed up and ready to go in the attic.

Hello Christmas!

She looks entirely too happy sitting with her bare thighs on that snow.  And if you look at the penguins, I think that they think she is, just a little bit, crazy.