Spicy Tomato Burger

Earlier this month, Red Gold launched another Summer Grilling Season with loads of great recipes. One of my favorites from last year made an appearance again this year--the Spicy Tomato Burger! This burger is seriously good and so, so easy to make. I have to tell you that my burger making skills have historically been lackluster at best. That was before I discovered the "secret" ingredient.....wait for it....canned diced tomatoes! In this case, it's the flavorful Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies...

It's always a good day when tomato products show up at my door....

Simply drain a 10 or 14 ounce can of Red Gold Petite Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies and mix it into a pound of lean ground beef. Add a little salt and pepper, form into patties, and you are good to go. I like to add a nice slice of pepper-jack cheese to make it complete. Now wasn't that easy?

Of course, you don't have to stop at just this flavor combo. Some of you may remember the Caribbean Chicken Burger I made last year. Simply mix a pound of ground chicken or turkey with a can of Petite Diced Tomatoes with Cilantro and Lime (well drained), a slightly beaten egg, 1/2 cup bread crumbs, salt and pepper, and voila! another delicious burger is made!

Caribbean Chicken Burger

Let's not forget our toppings. Guess what new product Red Gold has just come out with? Yes! Sriracha Ketchup! I have a preview bottle that is almost gone. Luckily, this ketchup rolls out nationwide by the end of July.

You can find both of these recipes and more grilling ideas (using diced tomatoes!) on Red Gold's website. 

Happy Grilling!

Caribbean Chicken Burgers

One reason this is my favorite time of year is the fact that I can grill my food nearly every weekend. I love it all on the grill---brats, hot dogs, chicken, steak---but, I think my all time favorite grill food is the burger. Usually, I just slap some burger into a patty and throw it on the grill, hoping that I don't leave it on so long that it dries out. This is especially hard to do with my husband's burgers. He wants well done, even if it means the consistency of shoe leather. ewww.

Recently, my friends at Red Gold Tomatoes sent me a little something to remedy that dried out burger. It was a six-pack of various cans of diced tomatoes and an awesome bottle of Mama Selita's Jalapeno Ketchup!

There was a time when I thought canned tomatoes should only be opened in the dead of winter but, while I do love a beautiful, ripe fresh tomato, I have come to find some great uses for the canned variety. Along with the six pack of tomato product, there were some fabulous recipes that I just had to try.

The recipes all sound great. There is a Red Gold burger, topped with a delicious sounding tomato mixture-- green onions, garlic, jalapenos, ginger, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar....oh my...this is next on my list. There is a Spicy Burger consisting of ground beef mixed with Red Gold Petite Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies, and an Italian Burger that has ground beef mixed with Red Gold Diced Tomatoes with Basil, Garlic, & Oregano. Both of those sounded really good, but I decided a something a little different. Take a look at this:

Caribbean Chicken Burger (courtesy of Red Gold Tomatoes)

1 pound ground chicken

1 (14.5 ounce) can Red Gold Petite Diced Tomatoes with Lime Juice & Cilantro, drained well

1 egg beaten

1/4 cup bread crumbs

Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine ground chicken, Red Gold Diced Tomatoes with Lime Juice & Cilantro, egg, and bread crumbs in a bowl. Form into patties and season with salt and black pepper. Place on grill and cook to desired temperature, 160 degrees F. for completely cooked burgers.

Serving Suggestions: Serve on toasted bun, with sliced avocado or a grilled pineapple slice.

Be sure to drain the tomatoes really well or the burger will fall apart...

I went easy and used canned pineapple...they turned out yummy!

Some panko bread crumbs and an egg help bind everything together.

You may want to oil the grill first...they do stick a little.

Oh my gosh...these were good! The tomatoes really keep the meat from drying out.

Here is the deal behind all of this goodness: Red Gold Tomatoes is hosting a Summer Grillin' Party on Facebook! As part of the promotion, they will be giving away 1,000 Red Gold "Summertime Tomatoes All Year Long" Aprons every week via a random drawing. There will also be one grand prize winner who will win a large Big Green Egg Grill--a $1000 value! Anyone who registers will automatically be entered into the weekly drawing and into the grand prize drawing, plus anyone can earn additional entries by referring others to participate.  Just visit Red Gold's Facebook Page for all of the details. The giveaway is going to run from July 24th until August 30th...so get going!

As a bonus, Red Gold is allowing me to give away the same tomato kit I received to one of my readers...how cool is that?! Simply leave a comment letting me know which Red Gold Recipe strikes your fancy, then be sure to leave your contact info. via the Rafflecopter widget....it's easy....just login using your Facebook account or your email. :) You can get extra entries by liking The Dutch Baker's Daughter on Facebook and Red Gold Tomatoes on Facebook. I'll let Rafflecopter select the winner on August 7th. For more tips and recipes, visit Red Gold Tomatoes on Pinterest, You Tube, and Instagram.

Disclosure: I was given free product in order to try Red Gold Tomato's recipes. All opinions are my own.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Grilled Chicken Salad for a Crowd.....#thesaladbar

Welcome to the second installment of The Salad Bar--a monthly blogging event hosted by Wendy of The Weekend Gourmet . This month the theme is Potluck Salads. Oh my...salad for a crowd! I just haven't been making large batches of food recently, so I searched around for a recipe that I remembered from my past that I could reduce down for just my husband and me. Yes--I found it!

The original recipe that I was thinking of comes from a benefit cookbook put out by the Mount Sinai Auxiliary of Minneapolis called Food for Show Food on the Go! It is a huge batch of salad called Fantastic Chicken Salad. To make it more manageable (and to utilize what I had on hand) I changed it considerably. I will call my new version Grilled Chicken Salad for a Crowd. Go ahead and double this if you are really making it for a crowd--I made it just for us and had enough for several additional meals.

Grilled Chicken Salad for a Crowd

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

salt and pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons orange juice

1/2 (8 oz) bag baby spinach leaves

1/2 (8 oz) bag Spring Mix lettuce

2 hard boiled eggs, sliced

4 plum tomatoes, quartered

1 avocado, sliced

1 cup roasted corn kernels

1 cup shredded Swiss cheese 

Dressing:

1 cup mayonnaise (light is ok)

1/4 cup chili sauce

2 tablespoons grated onion

2 tablespoons pickle relish

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

Butterfly the chicken breasts, place them between two sheets of parchment paper, and pound them thin. They will grill up fast and won't dry out.

Start by grilling or baking the chicken breasts. I was able to do this ahead of time by just adding the chicken (pounded thin) to the grill when I was cooking dinner the night before. Season the chicken with a little salt and pepper before cooking.

In a medium bowl, blend the oil, vinegar, and orange juice. Cut the grilled chicken into large chunks and stir them into the citrus mixture. Cover, refrigerate, and marinate for several hours.

I love the orange-y taste the marinade gives the chicken... 

The addition of the chicken makes this truly meal worthy.

Anyone have one of these? I use my egg slicer way more often than I ever thought I would.

I always throw a few ears of corn on the grill to give them a little char. Then, I cut the kernels off and use them for salads. 

While the chicken is marinating, go ahead and make the salad dressing. It's so easy to make it yourself, no? Just blend the mayonnaise, chili sauce, onion, and chili powder together and refrigerate until you need it.

Just like Thousand Island Dressing--I use this as a "secret sauce" for my burgers, too!

When you are ready to assemble the salad, have all of your ingredients at the ready. Then, simply layer the ingredients in a large, glass or clear bowl. Start with half of the lettuce and spinach, then add the chicken chunks, eggs, tomatoes, avocados, corn, and more lettuce. Top with the shredded cheese and refrigerate. When you are ready to serve, toss all of the ingredients together and pass the dressing. Alternately, toss the salad with the dressing and let the guests serve themselves.

Feel free to add additional ingredients. The original recipe had water chestnuts, bean sprouts, and black olives. A little red onion sounds good, too!

I prefer to add my salad dressing to individual servings...this made a nice meal for Pete and me.

Bon Appetit!

Take a look at all the Potluck Salads!

Saucy Apricot Chicken

Sometimes you need easy....and fast....and comforting. Here's a quick chicken dish that I learned how to make when I was still in high school for just those times. The original recipe calls for a whole cut-up chicken but, since it's just my husband and me at home and we really only like white meat, I've adjusted. Feel free to use whatever chicken parts float your boat. You could even sub pork chops--I won't tell. I'll bet you could even throw this in a crock pot.....

Saucy Apricot Chicken

1 (10 oz) jar apricot jam

1 small bottle Russian dressing

1 envelope dry onion soup mix

1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix together the apricot jam, Russian dressing, and soup mix in a medium bowl.

Season the chicken with pepper and brown in a skillet with a little olive oil. Place the chicken in a casserole dish. Pour the apricot sauce over the chicken. Bake, covered, for one hour.

Can you tell this recipe dates back to the '70's?

Browning the chicken first is totally optional...I just don't care for anemic looking food. I don't season it with salt...there's enough in the onion soup mix.

Truthfully, I haven't made this dish in years, but it is a family favorite. Since it was too cold to barbecue, I made a pretend barbecue meal and served Mashed Potato Salad with it. Big brownie points with the hubby.

White Chicken Chili

My second chili day in a row….this time with some meat! With the weather at a minus 20 degree wind chill factor, it doesn’t hurt to turn up the heat with a little more of this warm comfort food. The nice thing about this recipe is that it doesn’t skimp on being good for you. I will have to admit that I took the recipe right off of the back of the Great Northern bean bag, but if it works, it works!

White Chicken Chili

1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ pound Great Northern Beans, soaked, drained and rinsed
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup chopped onions
2 (4 oz) cans diced green chiles, undrained
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro (oops, I was out….I used parsley)

Just throw it all in a slow cooker--what could be easier?

In medium bowl, combine chicken, garlic, cumin, salt, chili powder and cayenne pepper; toss to coat chicken. Add seasoned chicken, beans, chicken broth, onions and chiles to a slow cooker. Cook on HIGH for 4-6 hours or LOW for 8-10 hours. Serve with cilantro, sour cream and shredded cheese, if desired.

Easy comfort food, but next time I may have to double the recipe....I had no leftovers for lunch!

Update: September 23, 2012--I made this again, partly because I wanted to write a new post, updating this recipe. The only changes I ended up making, however, were to cut up the chicken into smaller pieces and to increase the chicken broth to 4 cups. No real improvements necessary. :)

Chicken (or Turkey) and Mashed Potato Pie

Ever wonder what to do with the poultry leftovers? I like to get a nice rotisserie chicken every once in awhile (the local grocery store has 5 buck cluck every Friday night), but I don’t always finish the bird. Chicken salad is always good, and so are chicken quesadillas. I like sandwiches, too. But one of the best things to do with leftover chicken is to make a pot pie. Good old comfort food. I even like the cheap frozen variety. A few years ago, I found a really good pot pie topped with mashed potatoes. Now it’s nowhere to be seen. Why would they discontinue something that good? Well, as they say, necessity is the mother of invention. I was feeling the necessity of mashed potato topped chicken pie, so I invented.

The pie crust part is pretty easy---Pillsbury makes a really easy and yummy one, but any homemade pie crust will do, as well. It was the filling that needed a little trial and error. I, of course, turned to my favorite web site, BakeSpace.com and did a simple search. It was there that I found a recipe submitted by my friend Karen. She posted a pot pie recipe that she had tried at Paula Deen’s restaurant. Now, Paula used a puff pastry crust and I was looking for one topped with mashed potatoes. So, I duplicated the filling, adding my own touches, and put it in a prepared pie crust. Then, for la pièce de résistance, I topped it with mashed potatoes. Yum.

Here is the recipe I used:

1 Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crust (from 15-oz box), softened as directed on box or make your own, which I did this time

1 jar (12 oz) chicken gravy

½ cup sour cream

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/3 teaspoon dried tarragon

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 cup frozen mixed vegetables

2 cups chopped, leftover rotisserie chicken or use leftover turkey (think Thanksgiving leftovers)

3-3 1/2 cups mashed potatoes (again with the leftovers)


Preheat oven to 400 ° F. Unroll pie crust in 9-inch glass pie plate as directed on box for One-Crust Filled Pie.

In large bowl, combine gravy, sour cream, cornstarch, tarragon and pepper. Stir until smooth. Fold in peas and chicken; pour into prepared pie crust.

Stir mashed potatoes until smooth. Spoon potatoes over the chicken mixture and spread with spatula, making sure the entire top is covered. Sprinkle on a little paprika for color.

Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the potatoes just start to brown at the edges and the filling is bubbling. Let it sit for a few minutes (if you can) so that the gravy isn't too runny.

Here's a hint: Don't wait until the next day to take the picture--it's not as pretty--the gravy isn't runny enough!

Coast to Coast Cooking--Chicken Saltimbocca with Creamy Mushroom Cavatappi

“No matter what happens in the kitchen, never apologize.”—Julia Child.

I went into this endeavor with that quote in mind, certain of disaster.

My wonderful friends at BakeSpace.com came up with a really cool cooking project called Coast to Coast Cooking. In their first attempt, using Food Network’s Melissa D'Arabian’s 4-step chicken recipe, they all created their version and linked up to each others’ blogs. It was so much fun that they did it again, but with Paella. That time, they invited the blogless (including me) to join in and I was lucky enough to have Danielle (Cooking for My Piece of Mind) invite me to be a guest blogger. What a blast that was! It totally resulted in my own blog creation.

This month our mission was to create our own version of saltimbocca. This was just a little scary for me, since I had no idea what it was. Luckily, it is another recipe that has many different interpretations. Just skimming through a few recipes, I noticed that, for the most part, the only things that were constant were the use of sage and prosciutto. Much like every homework project I ever attempted in college, I was going to wing it!

Literally translated, saltimbocca means “jump in the mouth”. Most recipes I found used either chicken or veal. I know for certain that my friend Shane (Culinary Alchemist) will surprise us with another meat, but I, on the other hand, had to keep in mind that whatever I made had to be eaten by my family and prosciutto would have to be as exotic as it got. It was going to be chicken for me. I also decided that I would stuff the chicken with the prosciutto, some cheese and a little seasoned spinach. Then I would accompany the bird with some cavatappi topped with a creamy mushroom sauce.

I started out by flattening a chicken breast half with a rubber mallet. It helps not to get too aggressive here, as it rips the flesh of the chicken. I found this out, but I won’t apologize for it, hee hee. Then I placed a very thin piece of prosciutto, some thinly sliced pepper/jack cheese and the spinach. For the spinach, I just cooked a package of the frozen stuff, drained it really well (squeezed out the water), and mixed it with a little olive oil, a few dashes of lemon/pepper and some ground sage (shoot—why hadn’t I thought to buy the fresh sage?). I left out the salt because of the saltiness of the prosciutto. Then I rolled it up, tucking in the sides, much like an eggroll. I only did two, since it was Labor Day and I was making a traditional BBQ for the family. I didn’t want too many leftovers.

Next I dredged the chicken in flour, then in a beaten egg and finally in some Panko bread crumbs seasoned with a little parmesan cheese and lemon/pepper. I then heated some vegetable oil in a heavy skillet and quickly browned the chicken pieces on all sides. I put them in a pan and baked them at 350 ° for 45 minutes.

While the chicken was in the oven, I made the sauce. In a large skillet, I melted about 4 tablespoons of butter and a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Notice, I haven’t measured anything so far. I was indeed winging it. I sautéed a half of an onion, chopped, a package of sliced mushrooms and two crushed cloves of garlic. Then I seasoned all of it with about a teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of Italian seasoning and some pepper. Oh, and I added about a ½ cup of dry white wine and some roasted red pepper slices from a jar. I let all of this cook down (it smelled sooo good!) and then I let it simmer while I cooked up the cavatappi. When, the cavatappi was nearly done, I added about a cup of light cream, a cup of parmesan cheese, and another splash of wine to the mushroom mixture and let it heat through. I stirred in the drained cavatappi and slapped my husband’s fingers out of the pan.

Finally, I sliced the chicken placed it on top of the cavatappi. Holy Cow!! This stuff was delicious. Thankfully, there was no need to apologize.

If you would like to see what my beeps (BakeSpace peeps, for the uniformed) created, here is the link:


Coast to Coast Cooking

Chicken and Sliders

Wow--my debut post! I am totally excited about this blogging business!

 I thought my first post should be something that I do best (baking), but my mother-in-law has been craving a batch of Chicken and Sliders and I was only too happy to oblige. This is the ultimate in comfort food and, since it barely reached 70 degrees here today, we could use a little comfort!

Chicken and Sliders is a French Canadian dish that was born during the Great Depression (how fitting that we still love it now). The "sliders" are actually homemade noodles, or dumplings. My mother-in-law's(Alice), grandmother taught her how to make Chicken and Sliders all those years ago and she has been making it for her family ever since. Unfortunately, as Alice has gotten older (she'll be 87 next month!), she has been unable to do any of the cooking that her family has come to expect. So it is up to me to learn how to make her fabulous meals and share them with my husband's siblings. Ha--they better be nice to me!

First I started by coarsly chopping up some celery, carrots and onion. I'm not much for measurements for some of these things. I probably used 3 stalks of celery, 6 or 8 baby carrots and a half of a large Vidalia onion. I put those in a stock pot with a couple of chicken boullion cubes, 3 bay leaves and 2 cloves of crushed garlic.

To this I added my chicken. I used 4 chicken thighs, with the skin, and two skinless, boneless chicken breasts. Ideally, I would have used a whole cut-up chicken, but this is what I had (remember, this is a depression meal....use what you have, sweetie).

Then I filled the pot with enough water to cover the chicken and then some. I added salt (very little, since the boullion cubes are loaded with it), pepper, and Italian seasoning and brought the whole thing to a boil. Next, I turned the heat down to "simmer", covered the pot and let it cook until the chicken was very tender, about 2 hours.

Once the chicken was tender, I removed it from the broth, took the skin and bones off, and broke it into large chunks. Well, some of it broke into small chunks, but you know what I mean. I put this in the refrigerator for later.

Here comes the most important part of making this dish----the sliders. First, I strained the broth into a large bowl through a colander in order to remove the vegetables and the bay leaves. Then, I saved one cup of the broth, putting it aside to cool. The broth went back into the pot to be used when the sliders were ready.

I put 3 cups of flour into a large bowl and made a well in the middle. To this I added the reserved, cooled broth and 2 beaten eggs. With a wooden spoon, I mixed this into a sticky dough.

Then, I turned the dough onto a floured surface, added a bit more flour and lightly kneaded it until it was no longer sticky. Next, I rolled it out fairly thin and sprinkled a little more flour over the top.

Using a pizza cutter, I cut the dough into long strips. These can be uneven, it matters not.

I brought the broth back to a rolling boil and added all of the sliders, then reduced the heat to "simmer", covered the pot and let the sliders cook for about 25 to 30 minutes. Quite honestly, I made them a little too thick, but they turned out OK anyway.

After the sliders are cooked, you can add the chicken back in. You can also make a roux, with a little flour and broth, and add that back into the broth if you want a thicker "gravy" for the sliders to swim in.

And there you have it. Chicken and Sliders. Want to add even more comfort to your meal? Simply serve your Chicken and Sliders over mashed potatoes. And have something chocolaty for dessert. :)