Tag Archives: Meaty Monday

Meaty Monday: Jalapeño Bison Burger with Low-Carb Fried Onions

Jalapeño and garlic stuffed burger topped with crispy crunchy onions

Jalapeño and garlic stuffed burger topped with blue cheese and crispy, crunchy onions

This is the first time I’ve not only eaten a bison burger, but cooked one.  I may not go back to beef for a while!  It was so juicy and tender (and lean!)  Because it is such an un-fatty cut, you need to add a punch of flavor and texture, in my humble opinion.  I roasted 2 jalapeños and chopped them up (with the seeds) into the ground bison as well as a few chopped garlic cloves.

While burgers are cooking, fry up your onions.  I have a bad ass fried onion recipe with 2 parts buttermilk, 1 part flour, but it is definitely not gluten free or low carb.  I think it’s the wet batter that makes them so rich, so I decided to experiment with a gluten free/low carb version.  It took twice as much liquid to create the same consistency when using coconut flour as the base…but it worked!  And JP said he might like these better than the real deal….not bad, eh?

I put some crumbled blue cheese on the burgers and then topped with the fried onion rings…DIVINE.

Meaty Monday: Jalapeño Bison Burger with Low-Carb Fried Onions

Meaty Monday: Jalapeño Bison Burger with Low-Carb Fried Onions

Ingredients

    Bison Burgers
  • 1.5 pounds ground bison
  • 2 jalapeños roasted and chopped up (I drizzled with a bit of olive oil and roasted them on high broil until blistered on all sides (about 5-7 minutes total)
  • 4 garlic cloves chopped
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • a few grinds of black pepper
  • 2 Tb butter
  • 1 Tb olive oil
  • Onion Rings
  • 1/2 cup coconut flour
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • canola or corn oil

Instructions

    For the Bison Burgers:
  1. Mix the garlic and roasted jalapeños into the meat.
  2. Shape into patties and heat up a grill pan with the butter and oil.
  3. When butter gets bubbly, add burgers and cook until medium rare, about 4 minutes on each side.
  4. For the Onion Rings
  5. Heat up 2-3 inches of oil in a large saucepan or dutch oven on medium high heat. When oil sizzles, onions are ready to fry.
  6. Mix wet and dry ingredients until batter is smooth. Dip onions in batter and pop into the oil. Turn over with tongs and fry until crispy on all sides.
http://whatsonparkersplate.flywheelsites.com/2013/12/meaty-monday-jalapeno-bison-burger-with-low-carb-fried-onions/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meaty Monday: Chipotle Turkey Roll with Guaco-Cream

Trifecta of Delish: Cheesy, Spicy, Crunchy!

Trifecta of Delish: Cheesy, Spicy, Crunchy!

Phyllo dough is the NeNe of Culinary Housewives– super high maintenance, super rich, but oh-so-worth the drama.

Making the filling for this is easy, so get that over first, so you can concentrate on the dough!

$$$  NeNe would agree. $$$

Filling:

1.3 pound package of ground turkey

Spice Mixture (recipe below)

1 cup chicken stock

1/2 block (4 oz) of full-fat cream cheese

3 Tb adobo sauce (from a can of chipotles)

1/4 cup (handful) of chopped fresh cilantro

Spice Mixture:

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp coriander

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions: Brown turkey meat (do not drain) and add spice mixture with the chicken stock.  Simmer for 10 minutes on low to combine and reduce broth.  Add cream cheese, adobo sauce and cilantro, stir until cream cheese melts and combines with turkey mixture.

NOW PAY ATTENTION, LOVELIES.  Here’s the phyllo fun….

Phyllo– (pronounced FEE-lo, by the way, which I botched for years…I thought it was FIE-lo) is paper thin sheets of unleavened dough.  You get it in the freezer section near the frozen pies/pastries at the grocery store.  Let the package defrost for an hour or two before you attempt to use it.

You’re going to need 10 single phyllo sheets and a stick of butter melted.  Yes, a whole stick.  It’s worth it, I promise.

It’s easiest to use a large baking sheet with tin foil that is sprayed with some cooking spray.  Then lay out your first sheet of Phyllo.  Using a spoon, or a basting brush, drizzle some butter on the phyllo sheet.  It doesn’t have to be even, just get it around all four corners and some in the middle.

Spread some butter over the first sheet of phyllo-- a basting brush makes it easy

Spread some butter over the first sheet of phyllo– a basting brush makes it easy

Then, add a second sheet, brush on more butter.  Add a third sheet, brush on more butter.  Add a fourth sheet, and so on and so on, till you get ten, (yes, 10!) sheets of buttered phyllo piled on top of one another.  It’s OK if the sheets rip a little, they’re all going to be baked in a layer so no one will notice if there’s a tear.

Layer 10 sheets of buttered phyllo dough

Layer 10 sheets of buttered phyllo dough

Next, take that creamy, chipotle turkey mixture and spoon it out lengthwise, close to the edge of phyllo so you can start to roll it up.

Spoon out turkey mixture onto phyllo off center, closer to the edge

Spoon out turkey mixture onto phyllo off center, closer to the edge

Then, start to roll up the phyllo dough burrito style…be gentle, cuz it’s a delicate process!

Gently, now...start to roll the phyllo

Gently, now…start to roll the phyllo

End with seam side down and brush with a little more butter on top of the roll.

Now you're turkey roll is ready to bake, baby!

Now you’re turkey roll is ready to bake, baby!

Once you have your turkey roll buttered (again)! Bake at 350 for 20 minutes until browned.

I serve it with some guaco-cream on the side.  The fresh garlic gives it a real kick and is the perfect companion to the turkey roll.  Here’s that recipe:

Guaco-Cream

Mix in food processor:

1 avocado

2 garlic cloves

1/2 lime

pinch of kosher salt

1 tsp honey

Scrumptious on a plate

Scrumptious on a plate

 

Meaty Monday: Asian Meatballs with a Soy Ginger Dipping Sauce

Meaty Monday Meatballs

Meaty Monday Meatballs

I love meatballs….I have several go-to recipes, but they’re all Italian Jersey Shore style and I wanted to change it up a bit.  Meet Asian Persuasian Meatballs with a little Snooki mixed in.  I mean, you always need a little mozzarella with your meatballs.  The only Meatball Problem you’re gonna have is that they’ll be gone faster than The Situation’s shirt on a Saturday night.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

1 pound ground pork

1 onion (pulverized in the food processor)

4 garlic cloves chopped

2 Tb fresh chopped ginger (or use the same amount with Gourmet Garden’s Ginger tube in the produce aisle)

2 jalapeños

2 Tb soy sauce or Tamari

1 Tb garlic powder

2 Tb Sriracha sauce

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1 egg

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1 cup cilantro chopped

Spring onions chopped for garnish

2 Tb butter

1 Tb olive oil

Directions:

My grandmother’s meatballs were legendary in our family.  She would put her onion and parsley in the food processor till they were pure liquid and then mix it into the meat. That way, you don’t get any chunks of onion when you bite into the meatballs, but you still get all the flavor.  Brilliant. For this recipe, I blast the onion in the food processor for about 30 seconds and pour it all into a big bowl with the meat.  Add all of the other ingredients and mix with your meaty hands (don’t be afraid to get ’em dirty!) Ball up into golf ball size balls.

Preheat oven to 400.

Heat up 2 Tb butter and 1 Tb olive oil in a frying pan on med/high heat till butter gets bubbly, then add meatballs in batches.  Don’t crowd the pan too much– I do about 6 at a time.  Brown on all sides– about 5-7 minutes total.

Put those bad boys on a rimmed cookie sheet (I put foil down and spray with Pam) and bake for 20 minutes until cooked through.  Make sure you test one out to double check they’re done!  (And to double check the delicious factor….)

While meatballs are baking, make your dipping sauce.  Saute the chopped garlic cloves in 1 Tb olive oil on medium heat for a minute– keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn.  Add 1/2 of a chopped jalapeño, the soy sauce, sugar, sherry, spring onion and ginger.  Bring to a simmer and then turn heat down to low to keep warm until meatballs are done.

I usually make this with rice– then add some of the dipping sauce to your rice…it’s awesome.  Drizzle the sauce on the meatballs and make sure to put a little extra sauce on the side for added dipping pleasure!

Dipping Sauce:

1 1/2 cups soy sauce or Tamari

3 Tb sugar

1 Tb fresh ginger chopped

2 garlic cloves chopped

1/2 chopped jalapeño

1 chopped spring onion

1 Tb sherry (use the real thing, not anything labeled “cooking sherry”)

Meaty Monday: Buttermilk Thyme Chicken Thighs

What's up, tender juicy chicken thighs?

What’s up, tender juicy chicken thighs?

This is my new favorite way to prepare chicken!  In the past, I’ve used buttermilk for frying chicken, but since I’m trying to keep things extremely relatively healthy, I decided to branch out into the buttermilk marinade style.  The buttermilk really tenderizes the chicken beautifully.  This is inspired by a Rachael Ray recipe that used a portion of the marinade for salad dressing (and that’s put aside BEFORE you marinate the chicken!…We’re not prepping a salmonella salad,  y’all!)

Try my version– it’s fabulous and super easy.  And, it’s perfect if you’re low-carbing.

Marinade:
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup full fat mayo
2-3 Tb fresh thyme
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp kosher salt

Chicken:
1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut into chunks
1 Tb butter
1 Tb olive or canola oil

Whisk together and set aside 1/2 cup to use as salad dressing.

Cut up boneless skinless chicken in chunks or strips and soak in remaining marinade for 2 hours in fridge. Heat up a grill pan on medium/high with 1 Tb butter and 1 Tb oil. When pan is hot, put chicken chunks in (don’t crowd them) and grill for about 7 minutes per side on medium heat. Don’t move them around in the pan too much– let them sit and sizzle so they get that yummy, crunchy, caramelization!

1 pound of chicken pieces will require 2 batches of grilling. Replenish with more butter/oil before grilling second batch.

Serve with a salad tossed with the leftover dressing. Top chicken with a few sprigs of thyme before serving.