The Cooking Nurse

Buffalo chicken burgers

emily676 — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 07:52:11 +0000

I didn’t have high hopes for these. I thought the texture might be weird, or they would be dry, or flavorless. But, they were freaking awesome! I couldn’t help rave about them and I actually am going to make them again next week. That never happens. They were juicy juicy juicy! They tasted awesome and had a slight hint of hot sauce. I thought about getting blue cheese, but I’m really glad I stuck with the cheddar. Here’s what I did:

Buffalo chicken burgers

3 chicken thighs, bone in, skin on (4 b/s would actually be a lot better)
1/4 cup (ish) fresh bread crumbs
Splash milk to moisten bread crumbs
1/2 beaten egg
3 tbsp (ish) Frank’s red hot sauce
1/2 green onion, minced
2 tbsp fresh parsley, minced
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Shredded cheddar

Directions:

Remove thigh meat from bone and discard skin and fat. Cut meat into small chunks. In thirds, process the chicken meat in the food processor. The chicken will be a mixed of chicken paste and small chunks. No big chunks!
In a bowl, mix other ingredients besides cheddar well. Add chicken and mix everything together with your hands.
Shape into three burgers. (I had 9.5 oz of chicken meat.)
Heat splash of oil in skillet on medium-medium high heat
Saute for about 10 minutes. The temp should be 150s because it will rise a little more after cooking. After flipping, add cheese, squirt some water, and cover to melt the cheese.
Serve on buttered, toasted buns with homemade ranch and extra hot sauce for Jacob!

Homemade ranch

1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup light mayo
2% milk (combined with lemon to make buttermilk) to thin, as needed
1 splash white vinegar
1 splash hot sauce
1 big splash Worcestershire sauce
1/2 green onion, minced
Fresh parsley, minced
Salt and pepper

Ragu

emily676 — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 07:41:44 +0000

I cooked my ragu for 4 hours, and even though it was torture smelling it all day, it was totally worth it. I was intrigued by the use of milk in a meat sauce, and I tried veal for the first time. I also added sage leaves, only because one recipe suggested it and I happened to have some. Here are my ingredients and quantities, and below are the links to the great recipes that inspired me!

Ragu

1 lb 85% lean ground beef
1/4 lb ground veal (maybe increase next time?)
Splash oil
1 slice pancetta
1 small onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 medium carrot, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 chopped sage leaves
2 springs fresh thyme
1/2 cup (ish) red wine
1 1/2 cups (ish) juice from whole tomatoes (I had previously passed a huge can of whole tomatoes through a food mill)
1 cup (ish) milk
S&P, for every layer

http://www.versesfrommykitchen.com/2011/02/beef-ragu-my-favourite-bolognese-sauce.html

http://www.hungrycravings.com/2011/06/souvenir-from-bologna.html

http://whatsgabycooking.com/three-meat-lasagna/

Chicken feta croquettes with greek salad

emily676 — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 07:59:56 +0000

It was pure luck that I found this recipe during the week I was making baked potato soup and roasted chicken breasts. I reserved enough chicken and potato to make 1/2 the recipe, or 4 croquettes. They were really, really good. It is important to read the instructions! I almost added way too many eggs, panko, and flour to the croquettes. But I realized just in time that those ingredients were for a breading station. The oil was a little too hot when I cooked mine. I took them straight from the fridge into the breading and as a result, my croquettes browned before the feta inside got hot. I added dried greek oregano and S&P to the panko.

For the salad, I only used cucumber and cherry tomato. I used some dried spices instead of fresh. I did have fresh parsley. It was awesome after letting everything (including the cheese) marinate on the counter for about 45 minutes.

http://annies-eats.com/2011/05/23/greek-salad-with-chicken-and-feta-croquettes-and-a-giveaway/

Crockpot Korean beef tacos

emily676 — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 08:29:17 +0000

Yum! It was a very sweet dish, and I was really wanting some Sriracha to balance it out. Now that I have it, I need to make this again!

http://www.jasonandshawnda.com/foodiebride/archives/8582

Baked potato soup

emily676 — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:18:22 +0000

Another version! I made this a day ahead, which was good because it reeeeally needed some tweaking. After making, it wasn’t potato-y enough so I had to go buy another potato. Total potatoes used were about 2 1/2. It is important to cook the potatoes in the oven or boiling water until they are really soft or they won’t process all of the way. I ended up simmering the soup a little longer than I planned just to cook them a little more. Luckily, the soup pureed nicely in the blender. I reserved a lot of the potato skins so I could chop them up and return them to the soup after pureeing. Also, I saved some potato chunks to stir in as well. The soup needs a looooot of salt and pepper, don’t skimp! Here are my ingredients and proportions. The directions are from Life’s Ambrosia. I also looked at All Recipes and Our Best Bites.

Serves 4

3 slices bacon (I removed some of the fat
1/2 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
Fresh thyme
Cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons flour
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
3 cups 2% milk
3 large baking potatoes, baked, peeled and chilled, diced into bite size pieces
Salt and pepper
Green onions, diced
Shredded cheddar cheese
Sour cream

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2010/10/baked-potato-soup/

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/baked-potato-soup/

http://www.lifesambrosia.com/2009/03/baked-potato-soup-recipe.html

Oatmeal butterscotch cookies

emily676 — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 08:14:30 +0000

I took a bite and expected to find a raisin, but I was pleased to have the taste of butterscotch instead! The coconut doesn’t stand out as much as I wanted, but it’s a good cookie. I made 14 cookies, 107 calories each.

http://annies-eats.com/2011/06/17/oatmeal-butterscotch-cookies/

Brown butter ice cream

emily676 — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 08:12:25 +0000

Perfect texture, and the flavor of brown butter is awesome. I made 1/2 the recipe. Wayyyy too many calories but worth it!

http://www.thenovicechefblog.com/2011/12/brown-butter-ice-cream/

Briacole

emily676 — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 01:38:51 +0000

I was really worried the beef would be tough, but it turned out perfect. The guys at central market were able to slice my eye of round less than 1/2″ thick. I got a little more than 1/2 lb The pieces were really small, like a little bigger than my palm, so I used two for each roll. I ended up making 5 rolls. My rolls looked ugly and my toothpicking skills are lacking, but the end product was delicious. I braised for 1 1/2 hours the first night, and about 1 1/2 hours the second night before dinner. The sauce was absolutely delicious and thickened nicely after the long braise.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/braciole-recipe/index.html

Nordstrom’s tomato basil soup

emily676 — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 01:34:25 +0000

This soup was ok, but it needed a little tweaking to be really good. I didn’t think it was tomato-y enough so I added some tomato paste. I strained to make the soup extra silky.

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/02/dinner-tonight-nordstroms-tomato-basil-soup-recipe.html

Bbq bacon sliders

emily676 — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 08:35:15 +0000

Jacob went nuts over these, because they are one of the best burger creations I’ve ever made or eaten. I added a splash of cream to about 8 oz of burger meat, along with garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. I then mixed in several tbsp of my favorite homemade bbq sauce. It was a pretty thin sauce, so I didn’t add the vinegar. I think I added some panko but I can’t remember. I sauteed 3 slices of bacon, and saved a little of the bacon fat to cook the burgers in. I topped with cheddar cheese and bacon after flipping. I served with extra bbq sauce, but we ended up not enough using it. And I served on warmed pretzel buns. It’s making me drool just thinking about them!

http://www.mylifeasamrs.com/2011/09/bbq-bacon-sliders.html