looking for spice...in red cabbage & apple slaw chicken burgers

When it comes to chicken, I don't know what else to say other than "shit's delicious." I love me some chicken, and probably eat it once a day. With the use of spices and herbs (and creativity and proper equipment) chicken dishes can be prepared a thousand different ways.

To close out this long, hot summer I decided to try out these chicken burgers because, well, who doesn't love a good burger? The hint of sweetness from the green apple and the crunchiness of the creamy red cabbage slaw gives this dish a really refreshing, crisp summer feel.The marriage of sweet and savory isn't something that I'm used to, as I don't really like sweetness in my main courses, however like I said earlier..shit's delicious. 

For the chicken burgers: (serves 4)

1lb. ground chicken

1/2 cup small diced granny smith apple

1/2 cup small diced red onion

1/4 cup small diced celery

3 Tbs. mayo

1 Tsp. Dijon mustard

2 Tsp. minced garlic

1/2 Tsp. salt

1/4 Tsp. pepper

4 sesame hamburger buns

In a mixing bowl, add all aforementioned ingredients and gently mix with your hands. Yes, your hands..cooking means getting a little dirty. Well, cooking with ME means getting really dirty. Luckily, I've got an enthusiastic 55 pound pitbull named Lucy, who has better vacuuming skills than my (new) hot pink vacuum. 

Once you've mixed your ingredients, and your hands (and shirt) are covered in raw chicken, form 4 1/2-inch-thick patties

Grab a nonstick skillet, and allow 2 Tbs. of vegetable oil to heat up under medium heat. Once your skillet is nice and hot, carefully cook your chicken patties until golden brown and thoroughly cooked on both sides. To make sure your burgers are thoroughly cooked, you can either use an instantread thermometer making sure your burgers are at about 165F or you can use an instantread fork and knife, like me. The burgers should cook for about 9-12 minutes on each side, but shouldn't cook for too long, as the chicken is incredibly easy to dry out. 

In the mean time, pop the hamburger buns in the toaster and start on your red cabbage & apple slaw. 

For the creamy red cabbage & apple slaw

4 Tbs. mayo 

2 Tsp. Dijon mustard

2 Tsp. fresh lime juice

1/2 cup small-diced granny smith apple

1-1/2 cup thinly sliced red cabbage 

1/8 Tsp. salt 

1/8 Tsp. pepper

Toss to combine these aaaamazing ingredients and you've got your slaw! Feel free to add more salt, pepper and lime juice to taste. Initially, the recipe ordered for 3 Tbs. of mayo and 1 Tsp. of Dijon mustard, but upon tasting it; we decided to add in order to achieve perfect creaminess. Once you've removed the buns from the oven (ha ha), you're ready to plate your chicken burgers. Place your burgers on the bun, and then add a very generous portion of slaw on top. Take a bite and then repeat after me: "mmmm."

The first time I tried this recipe, I had a side dish of chickpea & spinach salad. That, however, was a bit of an unfortunate mess... which I'll blog about soon. Oh, I forgot to mention...what does one do with leftover lime wedges? That's right, tequila. Cheers!

Until my next adventure...

xx,

ronit

looking for spice... in buttermilk-herb marinated salmon & cucumber salad

Like I said in my intro, I grew up in a non-chef family. My mom (the non-chef) absolutely hated cooking. She could travel, entertain, shop like the best of them. Cook? Not so much. With that being said, my food options were limited. And I mean REALLY limited. She had about 6-10 dishes she learned from her grandmother and that was what I grew up with. It wasn't until I started having dinner at friends' houses as a kid that I quickly realized spaghetti with ketchup wasn't considered gourmet. In my new cooking adventure, I've attempted to include herbs and spices that I'm not used to in order to expand my fairly bland palette (thanks, mom).

I've been craving salmon for weeks now, and came upon a recipe that made me drool. I've never cooked with some of these herbs, as well as buttermilk, so I was a bit nervous about some of the ingredients. Turns out the buttermilk-herb marinade doubled as salad dressing, which I thought was amazing; especially if you want to prepare a quick meal using a limited number of ingredients.

For the salmon

2 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves (chopped)

1/2 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves (chopped)

1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions (about 6 scallions)

1/4 cup white vinegar

2 Tbs. honey

1 Tbs. ground ginger 

1 Tsp. salt

1/8 Tsp. pepper

4 sides of salmon, boneless and skin removed

In a food processor, combine the buttermilk, basil, cilantro, scallions, vinegar, honey, ginger, salt and pepper. Process until smooth, and set aside 3/4 cup for the salad.

In a large-rimmed dish, drown the salmon with the remaining marinade. Let the salmon swim in the marinade for about thirty minutes while preheating the oven to 400F. Once you've reached your thirty minute deadline, remove the salmon from the marinade and set in a foil-lined baking dish. Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until just firm to the touch and opaque in the center. Bet you thought that last line was mine...

For the cucumber salad

3 large English cucumbers, cut in half lengthwise, seeded, and sliced crosswise (9 1/2 cups)

1 large red onion, cut in half and thinly sliced (about 2 cups)

1 cup pitted Kalamata olives, cut in half

1 cup crumbled feta cheese

1-1/2 Tsp. salt & pepper

I'm not quite sure what English cucumbers are. Are they different from other cucumbers? Do they have a British accent? I used good old fashioned regular (American?) cucumbers and they tasted...like cucumbers. Anyway, mix the cucumber, onion, olives, cheese, salt & pepper with the left over dressing and voila...yummy cucumber salad!

Once the salmon is out of the oven, allow it to sit for about 10 minutes and then you're ready to plate! In my opinion (and the opinion of my fellow diners), the meal came out great! The salmon was baked to perfection (I'm picky about that), and the marinade was awesome. Funny enough, the marinade tasted completely different than the salad dressing, which I really liked. The salad was absolutely awesome, except next time I think I'll use less onions and less salt. The olives and feta made it salty enough. The entire meal took about 45 minutes to prepare, and was pretty easy. 

Julia Child would probably laugh at me with this dish, but my mom...she'd be proud. 

Until my next adventure....

xx,

ronit

looking for spice...on the internet.

my introduction to the food world goes as follows: girl is born into a (large) family of non-chefs. girl grows up to find herself completely lost in the big world of good food. girl moves to Philadelphia, and falls in love...with food. girl decides to take up cooking to prove to herself (and everyone else) that she can do more than make an omelette. here is girl's attempt to do so.  

xx,
ronit aka girl