Chipotle Turkey Burgers with Chipotle Sauce

I made this as a combo of several recipes found online.  I think it's ok.

Cheese and Bread Crumbs
Spices
Inspiration
Frying Technique (Turkey Curry Patties recipe)

CHIPOLTE TURKEY BURGER
INGREDIENTS:

1.25 lbs of ground turkey
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1.5 tsp minced garlic (where 2 tsp = 1 clove)
1 canned chipole chili in adobo sauce, minced
1tbsp butter
kosher salt and ground pepper
1 tbsp spoon fresh cilantro or parsley
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp ground cumin
a little less than 1 tsp of dried oregano
1/3 cup plain bread crumbs + 1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
a little less than 1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese
1tsp chili powder
1.5 tsp dijon mustard
1 egg
Peanut oil for frying


Melt butter.  Mix in finely chopped onions, minced garlic, salt and pepper.  Cook until translucent.
Take off heat and add chipotle pepper.
Mix herbs, plain bread crumbs, cheese and spices (plus more salt and pepper) in a bowl.  Add onion mixture.  Blend.
Mix egg, salt, pepper and dijon mustard in a separate bowl, then blend.
Add turkey and mix.  Make patties, roll in Panko bread crumbs and cook in peanut oil.

CHIPOTLE SAUCE
INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup of mayo
1/4 cup of ketchup
juice of 1/2 of a lime
a couple dashes of cayenne pepper

Serve burger on toasted Kaiser Rolls with chipotle sauce.  Garnish with bacon, lettuce and tomato.

Strawberry Tart with Graham Cracker Crust and Bird's Custard

Crust from "Make and Takes" (adorable site!): http://www.makeandtakes.com/homemade-graham-cracker-crust

I think the butter was too buttery.

 I forgot to take the sticker off of the tart pan, so that's what that smell was!

Used this glaze recipe from Carol (Carol, again!):http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/strawberry-tarts/Detail.aspx

and my british fiance's Bird's Custard Powder from Cost Plus, his suggestion as we are trying to save money.

I used frozen strawberries, thawed in microwave, halved, then tossed into the glaze to warm them up.

Keep stirring custard as it cools. Assemble.

Chill in refridgerator for an hour. Thank's Martha Stewart: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/strawberry-tart

This recipe was ok, I will not use the custard again, but make the pastry cream.

Pan Au Chocolat Part 1 and 2

Using Nigella Lawson's recipe taken from here:

http://dessertaholic.blogspot.com/2007/09/pan-au-chocolat-chocolate-croissants.html

cut in half and translated into American units.

For the liquid, a measuring cup was used.
Heat milk and water in microwave, 30 sec, (2/3cups)
Beat egg then whisk in.

Put approx. 3 cups bread flour in bowl, add sugar (2 tbsp), yeast (1 packet, 7g instant, dry), and salt (1/4 tsp) - mix.
Add German butter (246g/8.6oz) - mix
Add milk mixture and more flour if needed.
Refridgerate overnight up to 4 days.

After finishing this recipe, it didn't work. The dough was aweful. Next, I cheated using puffed pastry and 3 different kinds of chocolate, a mix of dark and milk: Girardelli Sea Soiree (disgusting!), Hersheys Milk Chocolate(melted the best) and Cadbury's Milk Chocolate (not a good melter).

It's not over, I will conquer this recipe.

Chocolate Cake with Carte Noir Frosting

 I used Beatty's chocolate cake from Ina Garten:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/beattys-chocolate-cake-recipe/index.html

But I used regular milk, beaten instead of buttermilk, shaken
2 large eggs and 1 large egg white,



and Starbucks Africa Kitamu Coffee





I made 2 icings, one on the back of the Hershey's cocoa box
(adding 1 tablespoon instant French Carte Noir coffee, disolved in 1/4 cup hot water)





and an excellent buttercream from Carol/AllRecipes.com: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/mocha-icing/Detail.aspx

I layered the cake so that the buttercream was the filing. But the cake was too hot, so the filling just melted into the cake :(

Then I frosted it with the carte noir icing.

Then I piped the butter cream around the edges and on top in a heart shape. :)

We ate this cake in a few days, it was soooo good. The coffee really brings out the chocolate flavor.

Pumpkin Pie from a Fresh Pumpkin

Using Paula Dean's Cream Cheese Pumpkin Pie recipe, but I only had 3oz of cheese, not 8oz. I found the recipe too be to sweet. Probably much better with more cheese. I don't think lo-fat would taste different, so I would use that I guess. Not a big pumpkin pie fan, need to keep searching for a recipe. Shell is frozen, generic.

To cook the fresh pumpkin, cut in half, cut out goop

Place into a pan of water, shell side up (reuse water for making baby food, etc.)
The skin blisters away from the pumpkin. Easy.

This didn't taste good at all. I need to try this one again next year, I need to do more research.

Potato and Pea Samosas, Chicken Coconut Curry, Coconut Basmati Rice and Apple Turnovers

Served with Basmati Rice (washed 3 times, soaked for 30 min in cold water and some coconut milk). Then the rice is cooked in rice cooker with 1 1/4 cup water and 1/2 cup of coconut milk. Plus a big pinch of dried coconut, a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar.

The curry sauce is from the Farmer's Market in San Francisco http://www.sukhis.com/, so it is easy, just add meat (floured with a pinch of corn starch and pepper), water and coconut milk, simmer. I added a few fresh cut up green beans.

I have never made the Samosas. I have puff pastry and peas in the freezer, and I have potatoes (yay!). I have corriander seeds but only cumin powder! I am modifiying Aarti Party's recipe from the Food Network http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/aarti-sequeira/baked-samosas-with-mint-chutney-recipe/index.html.

I used Wolf Gang Puck's recipe as a guide for my changes: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/wolfgang-puck/potato-and-pea-samosa-recipe/index.html

My Version (based on what I have on hand):

2.5 medium sized russet potatoes, boiled, peeled and mashed

1/2 cup of frozen peas, thawed

A handfull of green beans from garden

1/3 cup of chopped white onion

2 tps minced garlic

1 package of puff pastry, thawed

1 egg + water for wash

Spices: 1 dash of chili powder, cayenne pepper, garam masala, and of cumin powder

1 dash of hot sauce and 1 dash of chili sauce

1/2 of a chicken fillet not used in chicken curry, poached in a seasoned water (bay leaf, 1/2 tsp red chili flakes (1 packet of crushed red pepper flakes from Round Table), salt, 1 tsp corriander seeds, 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning, and some fresh ground pepper)

Preparation:

Boil 3 cups of water for chicken. Season and poach.

Boil salted water for potatoes. Cut potatoes in half in decrease cooking time. After take potatoes out, put in frozen peas, then add green beans. Mash most of the potatoes but add some potato chunks to the curry.

Drain veggies, then saute onions and garlic in same pot, add spices. Then add in veggies, then chicken, then potatoes.

Roll out pastry. Using 8"plates, cut out 4 circles. Add 1 tbps filling. Use water to seal and egg wash on outside.

Bake at 425F for 15 min, flip over, then 375 for 10min.

Roll out left over puffed pastry for an apple turnover.

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/apple-turnovers/Detail.aspx
Changed for 2 servings

Brushed with egg wash from samosas and then sprinkled with Sugar in the Raw packets from Starbucks

Korma is also very nice as well as Tikka Masala.