Redneck Bacon Turtle Burgers

This is for you Dennis.......

I saw this somewhere (probably Pinterest) and thought of you.  So here is supper:

Start by making a hamburger patty.  (Mine of course has chopped onion, Alpine Touch, and sea salt mixed into the hamburger)   Top with a slice of cheese (this will hold the shell on)

Cut 2 hot dogs in half.  Shove into the 4 corners of the patty.  (Yeah yeah, I know the patty is round.... there are no corners.... Punt.)   Cut another hotdog into 3rds.  This will make 2 heads and 2 tails.  Shove head into place, Cut center section of this hotdog on a 45 degree angle to make the tail and shove it... yeah.  there.

Make a shell of woven bacon... wrap tightly around the turtle with the ends under his belly.  OK.  Now here I must say that I laid the bacon out basketweave style on my cutting board and put the turtle cheese side down onto it, then wrapped the bacon tightly around.  When I turned him over, I had to shape him a little because his back was flat, but that is not hard.  It was easier than trying to do it right side up.

Cut slits in his feet.  You can get all artistic and carve him a face with eyes and a mouth slit, but I think the end of the hotdog looks good enough for me....

 The instructions say to now place them gently onto the grill and cover with an aluminum foil dome.  Only turn them once while grilling.  However, if it is winter out like it is here today, and you are not interested in cooking outside, you can place them on a pan, covered loosely with a foil dome  (The instructions say to put them directly on the oven rack, but I DON'T THINK SO!  Not in my oven.  Bake them for 20-30 minutes at 400 degrees.


OK here they are all cooked up. (sorry about the graphic gutted turtle picture)  Their feet split really cute.  A carved face might have turned out cool.   I  do think if you like crispy bacon, you should take the foil off the last 10 minutes.  I hate bacon, so I took the BACON off mine.   It was really too much for me to eat a whole one even without the bacon, but you men might be fine with it.

Well, it was an experiment......  I think hamburger patties and (ick) hot dogs on the barbecue would be fine without all the work to make it look like a turtle, but this would be fun if you have kids. (or adults who act like kids like we have)

It has no name, but it was good....

So, I needed dinner. Looked in the cupboard (because I am broke and am not allowed to buy new food until I use up what I have). Started with this:

Sautéed about a half cup of onion and a clove of minced garlic in butter (the real kind). Cooked a cup of orzo per box. Drained the orzo and added it to the onion and garlic with a can of stewed tomatoes (no judging - I was out of fresh tomatoes). Heated that up.

Then added about this much fresh mozzarella cheese (this is a 10-inch skillet):

Stirred that in until it was nice and melty. Then, added about this much fresh chopped basil:

Stirred that in and added a handful of fresh spinach:

 After I stirred it in and let it cook down a bit, it didn't look like enough, so I added another handful:

Cooked it down for a little bit (only took about 3 minutes) and viola!! Look at that perfect sheen - Italian moms would be proud of me. And it was delicious. (one bad thing - it is dinner for 3-4 nights....it may not be as great the 4th time I eat it in a row. I don't think it will freeze well.)

Mini Fritattas

Mornings in our house are EARLY.  And Bob takes FOREVER getting ready to leave.  This is my experiment to have something (other than PopTarts... ick) that is fast and easy so she will eat breakfast.  These can be frozen and popped into the microwave to heat up quickly in the morning.

 

 

Ingredients:

• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup half-and-half
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• pepper to taste  (you can add some Alpine Touch or other seasoning if you like)
• Assorted mix-ins (such as shredded cheese, diced vegetables, and cooked and chopped bacon, ham, or sausage)
• Grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

 

Instructions:

 

          Heat oven to 350 degrees and coat a 6 cup muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Whisk together the eggs, half and half, and seasonings in a medium bowl, then evely distribute mixture among the muffin cups.  Don't fill each cup more than 1/2 full.

         Add about 2 tablespoons of mix-ins to each cup, then sprinkle on a bit of Parmesan cheese, if  you like.

Bake the frittatas until they are puffy and the edges are golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes.  These puff up pretty high in the oven, then sink back down as they cool. Mine looked a bit like popovers while they were in the oven......

I left them in the pan until they were set and cool enough to handle.
 (If necessary, run a butter knife around the edge of each one to loosen them before removing them from the pan.  My newer pan let them loose much better than the old seasoned pan--- which made no sense to me)

This is supposed to make 6 mini frittatas.     The actual amount you make will depend on the size of your muffin cups. One of my pans is deeper than the other because it is pretty old. Just make sure the cups are only 3/4 full with all the fixin's and everything. I filled a couple too full, and they make a mess.

Be sure they are totally cooled before you put them in the freezer.

Note:  I actually used a dozen eggs and 1 cup heavy cream plus 1/2 cup milk (because I did not have half and half on hand), and made 2 dozen fritattas.

I will let you know if this improves  the "I don't have time to eat anything... I will be late" scene that occurs every morning.

 

 

 

Wait! Don't toss it!

So, I had one ripe banana. One. Started to just toss it and thought, no - let's see what it can become. (I have no pictures because I was in a hurry this morning)

I took the banana, a qtr cup of flour, a tablespoon of sugar, a splash of milk, and an egg and mixed it with the banana. Fried it up in a little oil and butter. Sprinkled it with powdered sugar. Voila` - the banana became a great frittata! Made me happy.

Messing with the Philly Cheesesteak

I got this recipe from a culinary genius.  (I won't take credit for this because Philly Cheesesteak experts will be all over it... How DARE anyone mess with perfection?)

Now ignore the fact that in my pictures, I am making 6 of these.  I needed that many, but the recipe is to make 4.  Oh-- and a tip for you:  When choosing bell peppers, count the bumps on the bottom of the pepper.  Peppers with 3 bumps are sweeter and best used in dishes requiring  a sweet pepper taste.  Peppers with 4 bumps are sturdier and best used in dishes where the pepper is a vessel for the rest of the ingredients (i.e. stuffed peppers). One of the peppers I used had 5 bumps.  It seemed to fit into the 4 bump category.  (I always wondered about that.  No one ever told me about 5 bumps!)

Anyway, the recipe: 

PHILLY CHEESESTEAK STUFFED PEPPERS

Ingredients:
8 oz. thinly sliced roast beef
8 slices Provolone Cheese
2 (4-bump) large green peppers
1 medium sweet onion
6 oz. Crimini or Baby Bella mushrooms
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
Salt and Pepper to taste


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Slice onions and mushrooms.  Mince garlic.  Saute over medium heat with butter, olive oil and a little salt and pepper.  Saute until onions are mushrooms are nice and caramelized, about 5-10 minutes or so.

Slice roast beef into thin strips and add to the onion/mushroom mixture.  Allow to cook an additonal 5 to 10 minutes. 

Cut peppers in half lengthwise.  Remove ribs and seeds.  Line each half with a slice of provolone.

I had rather large slices of cheese, so I only used haf a slice  in each one.  Fill each pepper with the mixture until they are nearly overflowing.  Mine are a little skimpy because I made 6, but you should  pile the stuff in and use it all in the 4 shells.

Put another slice of cheese over the top. (again, I used half a slice.)

Bake for 20 -25 minutes until the cheese on top is golden brown.  The thickness of the peppers' shells will make a difference.  Thicker shells will take longer to cook.  However, I like my stuffed peppers a little on the crunchy side rather than the soft side, so 20 minutes was perfect for me.

Let me know if you forgive me for messing with the Philly Cheesesteak.

7-up Biscuits

I think this recipe has been around for a long time, but I tried it for the first time today.  I was impressed.  The biscuits are soft, fluffy, and tasty.  And.... bonus.... it's easy.  Here we go...........

7 up Biscuits  (makes 9)

2 cups Bisquick

1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup 7-up
1/4 cup butter

Hey---  did you know that you are supposed to keep Bisquick in the fridge?  I never knew that.  I bought a box to do this recipe, and on the top of the box, it says to keep it in the fridge after opening.  Huh.

Oh, sorry.  Here is all you do:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Put the butter in a 9" square pan and stick it in the oven to melt the butter.

Put the Bisquick in a bowl, cut the sour cream into it, then add the 7-up.  Mix well.  It makes a very soft sticky dough, so how you handle the next step is your choice.  You can put more of the Bisquick on your table, and rub some on your hands and pat it out, or roll it with a silicone roller.  At any rate, get it about 3/4 inch thick.  Cut with your biscuit cutter (OK.  I have one of those..  You can use a glass or a round cookie cutter or whatever you want... or use a knife and cut it into squares.)  Put them into the pan with the melted butter and bake about 20 minutes or until golden brown.  Try not to eat the whole pan.

Snickers fudge

OK.  Save this recipe for a day that you spent 4 hours cleaning up the tree that blew down in the windstorm nearly a month ago and has been ignored by the strong member of the household (but when pressed about it, he did actually cut it into pieces that I could handle).  Do the tree project while he is gone.  When he comes home and complains the laundry is not done, but does not even notice the beautiful tree-free lawn that Bob and I spent HOURS of backbreaking work cleaning up, you have my permission to eat the WHOLE PAN.  But I digress.............

Snickers Fudge:

     There are a lot of steps to this, but don't panic.  It does not take long for each layer to set up in the fridge.  Here is what you are going to need:

1st layer:
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup butterscotch chips
1/4 cup peanut butter

2nd layer:
4 Tablespoons butter (That is 1/2 stick) or margarine
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup evaporated milk (OK.  I did not want to open a whole can of evap milk for 1/4 cup of it,
                so I used heavy cream instead)
1 1/2 cups marshmallow cream.  (I guessed--- have you ever tried to measure this stuff??)
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup chopped (not too fine) salted peanuts

3rd layer:
14 oz. package caramel candies, unwrapped
1/4 cup heavy cream

4th Layer:
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup butterscotch chips
1/4 cup peanut butter

OK.  How to do it:

Butter a 9" x 13" pan

1st layer:
In a heavy saucepan over low heat, melt all 3 ingredients together until smooth. Spread over the bottom of the pan. (the INSIDE, Dennis)  Put in fridge until hard.

2nd layer:
In a  heavy pan  (We just used the same pan without washing it but we had cleaned it out pretty good....  OK.  yes, we licked the pan--- for every layer we made.....and we are not ashamed!!), melt butter over med. heat.  Mix in sugar and milk.  Bring to a boil and let boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly. (keep stirring.... it WILL burn if you do not... if your arm gets tired, switch hands) It will start to caramalize when it is ready.  Remove from heat and quickly stir in the marshmallow cream, peanut butter and vanilla.  When that is smooth and fully mixed, add the peanuts.  Pour it over the set chocolate layer and spread evenly.  Return to the fridge.  Visit with the kids and grandson for a while while it sets up.  (Watch Loony Tunes with the grandson)

3rd layer:
Mix the caramels and cream in a heavy saucepan (sorry, you want a clean pan this time).  Cook over low heat, stirring until caramels are melted and smooth.  Pour into pan and spread on top of 2nd layer.  It helps to use an ofset spatula to do these layers.  (and if you are working together, with one person pouring, and the other spreading, be careful not to overlap and pour boiling hot sugary stuff all over your sister's hand.  I will never forget that even though it happened 40 some years ago.  Everytime I work with someone pouring and spreading, the memory comes screaming back.  Sorry Carol... I STILL feel bad about that one)

4th layer:

Now, if you have a glasstop electric stove like I do, as soom as you have licked the last of the caramel goodness from your pan, you can wash it, dry it out and put the ingredients in for the 4th layer.  Put it back on the stove (turned OFF) and go chill while the 3rd layer sets up.  By that time, It will be all melty, and all you have to do is stir it and spread it over the 3rd layer.  If you use a gas stove, you will need to put all 3 ingredients into a pan and stir them over low heat until they are melted.

The instructions said to refrigerate at least 1 hour before cutting into squares.  BAH.  When it looks set, just go ahead and cut yourself a big piece.  Remember, this morning you worked off all those calories and whatever calories will show up in your dinner tonight doing SOMEONE ELSE's work.  Did I mention my back hurts?  I think I will have another square................