I got a cookbook, hey hey hey hey

In case it wasn’t immediately clear, that was meant to be sung to the tune of The Little Rascals’ “I gotta pickle/dollar” song. There are few things in life that make me as happy as getting a new cookbook. I can sit there pouring over the pages for hours, brownie points for porntastic pictures and a gold star for some good story-telling along with the recipes.

So this week I acquired The Splendid Table’s How to Eat Supper, based on Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s NPR food radio show. It has all of the above requisites for a great cookbook. Lots of pictures, interesting recipes, informative stories and some overall great advice. I’ve skimmed through the book a few times now, and the first recipe that caught my eye was for Tomato-Cheddar-Packed Turkey Burgers. The recipe has you first saute tomatoes and onion with some garlic until the flavors are melded and the veggies have soften and browned nicely. Then you combine that mixture with the ground turkey and add some seasonings. Finally, you create a small pocket where you tuck some nuggets of cheddar cheese that melt into the center of the burger when they’re cooked, yummm. 


Making them is a little tricky as the meat mixture is extremely moist and it’s hard to keep the burgers together. It seems like a sure thing that once you try to flip them in the pan that they will undoubtedly crumble. But, lo and behold, they stay together perfectly and cook exactly as they should. Topped with a little dijon mustard and a side of Melting Dandelion Greens they were a true success, even if the greens weren’t quite ideal. So focused was I on not crumbling my burgers that I failed to give the greens proper attention. So, I forgot to trim the leaves from the ribs, or even to trim or cut the greens at all. So, as a result they were quite the tangle of rather bitter vines. Not inedible, though they did taste mildly poisonous.

As a side note, I stuck two of the unmade burgers in the fridge and cooked them about 12 hours later. These were much firmer and easier to maneuver in the pan. Also, topped with some avocado this time, they might have even been better than the first round. Either way, expect to be seeing more recipes from this book in the upcoming days. I can’t seem to get my nose out of it. Though who knows, I’ve been known to wander... (p.s. my apologies, as this was not the most photogenic food I've ever made)

Tomato-Cheddar-Packed Burgers
adapted from, The Splendid Table’s How to Eat Supper
4 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 C grape tomatoes, halved
2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 lb ground turkey
1/4 C dry red or white wine
3 oz extra-sharp cheddar cheese, cut in 1/4” cubes
Salt and Pepper

1) Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a 12” nonstick skillet over high heat. Add the onions and tomatoes with generous sprinkles of salt and pepper. Saute over high heat, stirring frequently, until the onions begin to brown, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for 1 more minute. Remove skillet from head. Scoop half of onion mixture into a large bowl and the rest into a small one. Rinse skillet and dry.
2) Add to the large bowl the ground turkey, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper and the wine. Blend well, and shape the mixture into 4 balls. Makes a deep hole in each ball with your finger and insert one-fourth of the cheese into each hole. Pinch holes closed, and flatten the balls into 1”-thick patties with no sign of cheese on the outside. These will be quite stick.
3) Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in the same skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the burgers for about one minute on each side, until they are browned. Turm them carefully with a pancake spatula, as they are fragile
4) Lower the heat to medium low and cook the burgers for about 5 minutes per side, or until there is no pink in the center. Serve with your favorite condiments, topping each with some of the reserved onion mixture.
serves 4

Melting Dandelion Greens
adapted from, The Splendid Table’s How to Eat Supper
4 garlic cloves
1 whole dried red chile
1 bunch dandelion greens, washed, stripped from rib and torn to pieces
1/3 C chicken stock
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and Pepper

1) Generously film the olive oil over the bottom of a large saucepan and heat it over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and the chile. Saute them for 30 seconds.
2) Add the greens and the broth. The pan will look like it’s overflowing, but it will all shrink down.
3) Reduce the heat to medium low, cover and cook the greens for 10 minutes or until tender. Check occasionally to see if they need more liquid.
4) Before serving remove the chile and season generously with salt and pepper, as well as more olive oil is desired.
serves 2