Cilantro Turkey Burger

One of the best things I have done for myself is begin taking photography classes through Flying Photo School. I found a Groupon for them and originally decided to try it on a whim. I have officially completed their Digital 101 and 102 courses.

A few years ago, my husband bought me a decent camera. Before, I was using disposable snap and shoots. Horrific, right? So, once I had a nice camera, I realized that the nice camera doesn’t just take wonderful shots all by itself. I actually had to learn all of the settings. For example, I would play around and mess up a bar that went from, -2 to +2 and have no idea what I did. Then, all the pictures turned out horrible. I became scared of the camera.

When trying to fix it, I pushed buttons like manual focus or changed the settings to “P” or “TV” and didn’t see a difference. I thought TV actually meant it was a video setting. Crazy. 
The long story made short, was that Flying Photo School was an easy way for me to learn the basics of my camera. With the recipe pictures below, hopefully you can see the difference.

If you are interested in checking them out, visit their website at: 

http://www.flyingphotoschool.com/

Now, on to the burger. I made a turkey burger. This was not just any old turkey burger. It was a touch of deliciousness, a glorified tribute to making something healthy and turning it back to being not too healthy again.

Once again, my style for this is flexible. You can add toppings on your own, or subtract others. We used this recipe for three servings, one manly half pound burger, and two smaller quarter pounders for me at different meals. The servings below are proportioned for four quarter pound hamburgers.

Cilantro Turkey Burger Recipe
Serves 4 half pound burgers

Ingredients
12 slices bacon
1 lb ground turkey
1 ½ cup cilantro, chopped
8 slices pepper jack cheese
1/4 cup mayonnaise
Sriracha, to taste (we used 2 Tbsp.)
Juice of ½ lime
4 hamburger buns
1 large tomato, sliced
1 large avocado, sliced

Suggested Equipment:
Large Skillet
Broiler Pan or Flat Sheet Pan

Directions
1. Heat a skillet to high and cook bacon to desired crispness. When finished, place the bacon on a plate with paper towels but do not discard the bacon grease from the skillet. Set it aside.

2. Mix the turkey and cilantro in a large bowl. Pat out four equal sized burger patties. We roll it into a ball, then press down with hand cupped to keep edges together in a circle. Cook the burgers in the skillet with bacon grease on high heat until cooked through.

3. Heat broiler at standard heat, at 500 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the burgers on the broiler pan and place two slices of pepper jack cheese on top of each. When heat has been reached, put the burgers on top rack and broil until the cheese has melted.

4. Mix the mayonnaise, Sriracha, and lime juice together to form a spicy sauce. 

5. Place the burgers with melted cheese on the bottom hamburger bun. Add three slices of bacon on top of the cheese of each burger. Then divide the tomato and avocado equally to each, placing the tomato and avocado on top of bacon. Drizzle the mayonnaise sauce on top of the stack and finish it with the top bun. Enjoy the masterpiece!

Tomato and Sausage Breakfast Strata

 Breakfast Strata with Sausage and Tomato is something I grew up with. My Mom used to make this when I was a child at Christmas. Every Christmas morning she would make this mysterious egg casserole where the eggs had an odd, but delightful, fluffiness to them. I had no idea how she made it, but I loved every bite of it. Now that I have my own grown up self and can make my own food, I can eat this any time!

I did not realize what this mysterious egg casserole was until I watched the movie, The Family Stone, with Sarah Jessica Parker. In one scene, she is making a similar dish for Christmas morning breakfast. She is having a "tiff" with another character, and the unbaked casserole splashes up onto her and she is wearing chunky raw milk and eggs. Yum! It was then that I realized what a classic this dish was. 

Ingredients
4 cups cubed, day-old firm white or french bread (must be crunchy)
2 cups (8 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
10 eggs, lightly beaten
4 cups milk
1 package of maple sausage links, cooked and quartered
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1 can of Hunts Petite Diced Tomatos
a dash of pepper to taste

Directions
1. Generously spray a 9 x 13 inch glass baking dish with cooking spray

2. Arrange bread cubes and sausage in the dish and sprinkle with the cheese 

3. Beat together the eggs, milk, mustard, salt, pepper, and onion powder

4. Pour mixture evenly over the cheese, sausage, and bread 

5. Sprinkle with the tomato

6. Cover and chill overnight
7. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F
8. Bake the casserole uncovered until set about 1 hour - 1 hour and 15 minutes. Tent with foil if it begins to over brown. 
9. Let cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.