Manic Working Weekday Din

When I'm mommin' it, workin' it and domestic goddessin' it, I cook a little something like this: Turkey Burgers and Mac and Cheese. Not exactly stylin' and profilin' but it gets the job done.

I mean, yeah, my 6-year-old has yet to taste a burger in his life, but whatever. He can eat two bowls of elbows slathered in cheese and we'll just call it a day.

Both recipes are vintage Rachael Ray. I did amend the burgers because hers involve bacon and red pepper relish and in my humble opinion both are totally unnecessary. Sometimes her recipes have like 100 flavors going on. Annnnd, that's not my style. The burger mix itself has 10 - yes 10 - ingredients. That's enough, Rachael. Seriously.

Also, with the mac and cheese I did not use nutmeg. I used ground mustard to season the sauce. And I used cheddar jack cheese because that's what I had up in the fridge. Also, a little black pepper never hurt anyone.

On the day I made this, I whipped up the mac and cheese first thing in the morning because of work obligations and four loads of laundry. I mixed the burger meat in the morning as well. And then after my son's t-ball game, I dusted off my pants and cooked the burgers, popped the mac and cheese under the broiler, got the boy washed up and poured a glass of wine. It's all about the timing and the juggle, no?

I literally had no extra time to get a salad or veg together so carrot and pepper sticks it is!

Here ya go with the recipes:

Cheddar Cheese and Macaroni
From "30 Minute Meals 2"
By Rachael Ray

Makes 4 entree servings or 8 side servings

1 pound elbow macaroni, cooked 8 minutes to al dente or to package directions

1 Tbsp. vegetable or olive oil (once around the pan)
2 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. flour
1 1/2 cups whole or 2% milk
3 cups shredded sharp white cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp. nutmeg, ground or freshly grated
1/4 tsp. ground cayenne pepper (a couple of pinches)
Salt, to taste

Heat a medium-size deep skillet over medium heat. Add oil and butter. When butter melts into the oil, stir in  flour.  Gently cook, whisking flour and butter, together until smooth and flour has had a chance to cook, about 3 minutes.

Slowly add milk while continuing to whisk. Gently bring milk to a bubble while stirring frequently. Allow the milk to thicken a bit, then stir in 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese, a handful at a time. Season sauce with nutmeg and cayenne. Taste and add a little salt, if you like. Add cooked pasta to the sauce and coat completely by turning over and over in the cheese sauce. Transfer to a baking dish, top with the remaining cheese, and place under a hot broiler for a minute or two to brown the top.

Please note: The Jersey Girl uses dry mustard in place of nutmeg. She also uses fresh  black ground pepper to season the sauce and cheddar jack shredded cheese instead of white cheddar cheese. This dish may be made ahead and popped under the broiler when ready to serve.

Urban Cowboy Turkey Burgers
From "Cooking 'Round the Clock"
By Rachael Ray

Makes 4 burgers

1 package (1 and 1/3 pounds) ground turkey breast
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 large shallot or 1/4 red onion, finely chopped
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme or 1 tsp. dried thyme
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
1/2 small green, red or yellow bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 serrano or jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
2 tsp. ground cumin
1-2 tsp. hot sauce, such as Tabasco
2 tsp. Montreal Steak Seasoning by McCormick
Olive oil for drizzling
4 slices of pepper jack cheese
4 crusty Kaiser rolls, split

8 slices of turkey bacon (optional)
1 cup sweet red pepper relish or jelly (optional)
Red lettuce (optional)

Chop garlic and veggies.

If using bacon, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; cook bacon until crisp. Remove bacon, wipe excess grease from skillet, and return skillet to heat.

While bacon is cooking, combine turkey, garlic, shallot or onion, thyme, cilantro or parsley, bell pepper, serrano or jalapeno pepper, cumin, hot sauce and grill seasoning. Divide mixture into 4 equal mounds then form into patties. Drizzle patties with olive oil to coat. Cook in skillet over medium-high heat until done, 5 to 6 minutes on each side, placing the cheese over the patties in the last 2 minutes of cooking.

Serve on rolls with your toppings such as the bacon, red pepper relish and red lettuce. The Jersey Girl however likes romaine lettuce and tomatoes. Classic! These burgers are great open face as well or even without the roll if you are a carb-free kinda person.

Please note: The Jersey Girl uses the cilantro, jalapeno pepper and red pepper options when making these burgers. She cooks the burgers in a fab grill pan, not just a regular old skillet, also. See below:

A Simple Kind of Life

I must admit, I was worried that my days and nights would be a bit empty while on my summer break from teaching, but The Jersey Girl was SO wrong, dear readers. SOOOOOOOOOOOO wrong.

If you must know, my break has been action-packed – in a stay-at-home chillin’ out mommy kinda way. I quite love spending all of my moments with my superfly Evan. We’ve been rolling to the playground and the library and his Aunt Michele’s pool to hang with cousins. Then there’s the beach. And last night, he kicked it at Citizens Bank Park to watch the Phillies ACTUALLY pull in a win. (Yeah, right. We were on the Walt Whitman Bridge by the sixth inning, but the Fightin’ Phils did for reals eek out a victory.)

Below is one of my summer experiments: Rosemary and Thyme Chicken Burgers. These babies are simplicity in their purest form, so The Jersey Girl highly recommends that you use really fresh rosemary and thyme. While processed cheese and ketchup (GASP!) can be used to mask a lowly burger’s flaws, this burger needs nothing more than the best and freshest ingredients you can find.

Rosemary and Thyme Chicken Burgers

3 servings

1 pound ground chicken

1 tsp. fresh rosemary, finely chopped

1 tsp. fresh thyme, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Shredded mozzarella

In a medium bowl, combine ground chicken, rosemary, thyme, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. Lightly mix with hands until well combined.

Cover bowl and refrigerate for at least an hour.

When ready to cook, preheat a grill pan over medium-high heat.

Form the mixture into three patties.

Grill one side for seven minutes. Flip burgers. Grill other side for five minutes. Top with mozzarella cheese. Cover with a large lid or a piece of aluminum foil. Grill for 2 more minutes.

Serve on your favorite roll or bun! We topped ours with fresh arugula.

Singing the Blues

One of the many male vs. female myths that has been debunked during my almost-eight-years of marriage is that the lady of the house isn’t the only one who gets a craving for certain food-type indulgences.

Take, The Husband. I suppose if we were cooking up his Last Meal on Earth, it would most certainly involve: Caesar salad (Boring, I know, but don’t give up on my hubs yet. It gets more interesting.); foie gras, escargot, scallions, shark, roasted pork, margarita pizza, key lime pie, crème brulee, pineapple, chocolate chip cookies, non pareils, a really top-notch bottle of wine and limoncello. He also grooves on blue cheese. Every summer he declares that he wants a big, bad blue cheese burger. So the summer of 2011, the Jersey Girl decided to make his dreams come true.

A blue cheese burger is quite simple to make. Yes, you so can get one at home rather than solely at a dark and smoky pub. Well, I guess they’re not really smoky anymore. The Husband wanted blue cheese stuffed in the middle of it all. So I did that, and then topped the burgers with some blue cheese sauciness. Because I’m from Jersey, and our motto here is, “More is More.”

I cooked the burgers on a grill pan due to the fact that our for-reals grill is swimming with the fishes.

If you do cook these on your outdoorsy grill, I would totally cut down the time to 6-7 minutes per side.

Blue Cheese Stuffed and Topped Burgers
Makes four

1 pound ground sirloin
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ small onion, minced
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
Blue cheese crumbles, about 1 Tbsp per burger
Olive oil

In a medium-large bowl, combine sirloin with garlic, onion, Worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper. Gently mix with your hands. Once combined, form four patties with the sirloin mixture. Set aside on a platter. Place about 1 Tbsp blue cheese crumbles in the center of each patty. Gently rework patty to cover the cheese.

When ready to cook, brush each side of each burger with a drizzle of olive oil.

Cook on a grill pan over medium-high heat for 7 to 8 minutes per side.

Serve on a roll with Blue Cheese Sauce (see below) and your favorite toppings such as lettuce, tomato and red onion.

Blue Cheese Sauce
1/4 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp. mayonnaise
1 tsp. fresh chives
½ tsp. Worcestershire sauce
½ cup blue cheese crumbles
Salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix with a hand-mixer until well combined.

Burger Bonanza

You don't need a grill for a fabulous burger.

Disclaimer: The Jersey Girl is in no way, shape or form, a grilling guru.

But she sure knows how to make an awesome burger on your basic grill pan in the confines of an air-conditioned house.

Yes, we are totally in the throes of summer, when all mighty Americans beat their chests and fire up the grill. But The Husband’s extension of manlihood in terms of cookery is resting in peace in the graveyard of grills also known as the county dump.

Our grill had some issues during its six-year run. For one thing, it blew over about 97 times despite our valiant efforts of bunkering it down. You see, we received the grill from Santa Claus during our first year of marriage when we had been living in our very new home for about two months. And, you could say our home was built on the outskirts of town, where the farmland stretches for miles upon miles.

Get to the point, Susan.

So, right. Because our house is surrounded by nothingness and farms, it gets kinda windy back here.

No, like really windy. Like so windy, the wind will keep you awake at night battering against your new windows and beating down your new grill despite bungee cords and weights. We did what any respectable homeowner would do: We landscaped in the hopes that trees would block the powerful gusts. And it has been working. Our three-year-old Leyland cypresses are really getting up there in size protecting us from Mother Nature’s fury.

But, alas, the time had come to bid adieu to The Husband’s grill.

He has big intentions of purchasing a new, bigger and better and shinier grill, no doubt. He even scouted some out in the spring. But first, The Husband will be forking over his hard-earned cash for lots of cute and cuddly, yet boyish furniture for his baby in waiting.

Baby trumps grill.

Even so, we all get a hankering for a burger now and again. And that’s where a handy grill pan comes into play.

I used ground sirloin for my burgers. They were served with pepper jack cheese, lettuce, onion and tomato. They turned out really juicy. The key is to not overmix the meat mixture. That makes for a tough burger.

Apologies for providing this recipe post-July Fourth, the holiday celebrating our great-American freedom and the all-powerful grill.

Suzie’s Sirloin Burgers
(Makes four really big servings)

1 ½ lbs. ground sirloin
1 heaping Tbsp. Montreal steak seasoning
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. olive oil.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Be sure to not overmix. Use a light hand when mixing. Place in refrigerator for at least two hours.

When it’s time to cook, shape meat into four patties.

Preheat grill pan or grill over medium heat.

Place burgers on pan and cook for 5-6 minutes on each side. During the last minute or two, top with cheese.

Serve with favorite cheese, burger toppings and condiments on crusty rolls.