Chicken Burger

I've been making chicken burgers a lot this summer. When picking out your ground poultry make sure it is fairly lean. I picked up one that was not on sale and the fat in it was outrageous. I can't remember how much fat is in a patty...not much.

I stir in salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder and maybe a touch of breadcrumbs (I don't even know why). Once they are done (you can easily tell because they will be come firm) I top mine with cheddar. DO NOT over cook these. I went to a BBQ and was served the same kind of chicken burger but way over done and dry and gross. I still ate it.

I also like to top mine with avocado.

Or fresh tomatoes.

Or thick sweet onion.

OH. And use good buns. Hun.

Vegan Peanut Butter Mousse

This is a quick, easy, and "healthy" mousse.

Tofu and peanut butter.

That's about it!

I swear it is good.

Do it. Do it now.

Vegan Peanut Butter Mousse
Source: Food Network Mag
Yield: 4 servings

Puree one 12.3-ounce package silken tofu and 1/3 cup each reduced-fat creamy peanut butter and confectioners' sugar in a blender until smooth. Divide among glasses, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set, at least 30 minutes. Top with a dollop of  Fluff and sprinkle with chopped peanuts and/or chocolate.

Frozen Summer Berries with Warmed White Chocolate

This one is for Brandi who is tired of reading about baby food!

Brandi, I hope you like white chocolate. If so, I suggest you go find some berries.

I saw this on the Fromogette blog and knew I needed to make it this summer. Not only did it look delicious but those frozen berries looked really photogenic, and they were.

These berries are all local. Awesome, right??  The strawberries and raspberries are from Litchfield. The blueberries are from my house and my father's house. The blackberries are from Dresden. Each little berry is perfection. So dang yummy.

White chocolate melted with some heavy cream to pour over the berries. YES PLEASE!

Bliss.

Frozen Berries with Warmed White Chocolate
Adopted from The Fromogette
Yield: One serving

A cup of mixed local berries, frozen and then left to thaw for 5-10 minutes
2.5 ounces quality white chocolate
1/4 cup heavy cream

Melt the chocolate in the cream over double boiler. Pour over berries. Wow.

Baby Food! Carrots (and mango and apple)

I think the worst part of making carrots is peeling the damn things. It takes for.ever. I would use the baby carrots but they don't have the organic kind where I shop.

I simply steamed these and then pureed them with a touch of water. DO NOT use the water that you used to steam the carrots. Something about nitrates.

I freeze almost all of the food I make. I bought a silicone tray and it tore after a few uses. I find that the ice cube tray works the best. One cube is about an ounce. After I freeze the food I pop out the cubes and transfer them to a marked heavy duty ziplock bag. I find that by freezing single ingredients I can be more creative. Carrots with apples. Carrots with parsnips. Carrots with mango. Carrots with all three.

You can also make a carrot, mango, apple puree all in one. Just roast the peeled chopped carrots, cored and halved apples (you can leave the peel on) and chunks of mango. I roast at 350* until the carrots were tender. Then transfer that to the blender. You may need to add a touch of water to thin it out.

Baby Food: Potato, Kale, and Green Beans

I haven't been very good about posting my baby food adventures on this blog. I have a Mommy blog and I talk about it some over there but I will try to do better about posting this here.

I think everyone should make their baby food. I see absolutely no reason you would need to buy that crap in a jar. I work 40 hours a week. I have a clingy baby. I have a husband that doesn't come home until 7:00 at night and works some on the weekends. And I have a household to manage. 98% of Abe's food is from scratch. I do buy the organic pouch food for emergencies, i.e. we are at Grampie's longer than we thought we would be and Abe is starving. He also gets mums on occassion. Oh. And Cheerios at breakfast.

Making baby food really is quick and easy. I swear.

I made this batch of food while making supper. Abe played on the kitchen floor, when he got antsy I gave him a mum and that occupied him for a good 15 minutes.

I always taste his food before I feed it to him. If I think it is gross why would he think it is good?? So far everything I've made has been very tasty.

This mixture turned a bit gooey since you are blending starchy potatoes. Still...very yum. Kale and beans fresh from the farm.

Potatoes with Kale and Green BeansSource: adapted from Fresh From the Start by Tyler Florence (my new favorite book)
Yield: about 18 ounces

1 large russet potato, peeled and sliced (I only had Yukon gold so I used two of those)
1/4 pound green beans
4 leaves of kale, stems removed
1 cup organic chicken broth (I only had veggie so I used that)
3T Parmesan cheese
1 T olive oil

Put the potato, beans, kale and broth/stock in a large pot. Boil over medium until the potatoes are tender. Pour all of this into the blender with the cheese and oil, puree, cool, serve.

How easy is that??