This week’s menu will be a perfect choice for this coming Mother’s Day! The soup is light, healthy, and refreshing. The Garden Burger is made with turkey, has much less fat and is sure to please the most discriminating mom. To finish it off, who doesn’t like blackberry cobbler? Give it a try and enjoy!

In This Menu:

• Garden Burger
• Creamy Strawberry Soup
• Blackberry Cobbler

My dear wife loves ground turkey. She eats it instead of ground beef and I have learned to really like it as well! If you never have had a “turkey burger” now would be a good time to try one. They have less fat than beef burgers and really do have a clean, light flavor. Enjoy!

Pictured above with the garden burger is our Six Bean Salad which is available in the Deli.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb. 90/10 ground turkey or
  ground chuck

• 1 tablespoon basil pesto or 2
  tablespoons finely chopped,
  fresh basil leaf

• ¼ cup small diced Campari
  tomato

• ¼ cup chopped, frozen
  spinach

• 3 tablespoons No Fat Feta
  Cheese

• ¼ teaspoons salt
• ¼ teaspoons black pepper
• Wonder hamburger bun
• Guilden’s mustard

PREPARATION

Place all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix with a spoon until all ingredients are incorporated into the meat. Do not over mix. Form into patties and cook as you usually would a burger.

It is difficult to describe how delicious this soup is. Cold soups are a perfect starter in warm weather. This particular soup is not only delicious, it also has no fat and just a little sugar. You can also substitute honey or an artificial sweetener for the sugar if you wish. I used to make a strawberry soup that had chardonnay in the recipe, but I couldn’t find it. I decided to just play around a bit, fully intending to add the wine to the strawberry mixture at some point. After adding the ingredients above, I pulsed in my food processor expecting the soup to be way too thick and needing the wine or some other liquid to thin it down a bit. To my surprise, the viscosity (thickness) was perfect! I remembered that the old recipe used sour cream instead of the yogurt I had just used. Sour cream tends to be thicker than yogurt explaining the difference. When I tried the soup I was very pleased. The only thing I added after the first taste was the clove. The soup actually didn’t need it, but I do think the hint of spice does enhance the dish. If I do find the old recipe, it is taking a back seat to this one!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 pints fresh strawberries, stemmed and hulled
• 1 cup non-fat, plain yogurt
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves

PREPARATION

Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse for about a minute until very smooth. There should be no large pieces. Pour soup through a wire mesh sieve or sifter to remove seeds. Serve cold garnished with fresh mint.

I have only one word for this cobbler: WOW! You can see how few ingredients there are. As well, there are only three steps in making this dish. Can anything this simple be any good? Yes, it can. As a matter of fact, it seems to me that very often “simple” means good. The adage that “less is more” certainly holds true in this case!

INGREDIENTS

• ½ cup butter
• 2 cups self-rising flour
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 cups milk
• 3½ cups blackberries

PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Once oven temperature is reached melt butter in a 9×13 inch baking pan.
2. In a medium bowl stir together the flour, sugar and milk; batter will be slightly lumpy. Pour mixture on top of melted butter in baking pan. Do not mix butter and mixture together.
3. Drop blackberries into batter; if more crust is desired add less blackberries. Bake in preheated oven for one hour or until golden brown.

The search for the “World’s Best Burger” has been a difficult one. There are so many different variations of this classic, how can one ever determine what is the “best?” Sometimes I think the fried-on-a-flat-top burgers are best but when I BBQ burgers at home I think those are the best. Who knows? What I do know is that there are certain things that one needs to do when cooking burgers that will ensure that yours are in the running for the “World’s Best Burger!”

Select the Best Meat

The best, juiciest burgers are made from ground chuck (beef), which is about 20 percent fat. Less fat makes a drier burger. Meat labeled “ground beef” or “hamburger” can be up to 30 percent fat and authorities agree that it is also best to know what part of the animal your burger is coming from.

Don’t Handle the Meat Too Much

The heat from your hands begins to melt the fat and makes the patty too dense. Move it lightly from hand to hand and loosely make a patty ¾ to one inch thick (no thicker, or you will have to cook it too long).

Don’t Squash the Burgers When Cooking

I know how tempting this is. Resist temptation! Squashing with a spatula compresses the meat, making it denser, and also squeezes the juices out of the meat leaving you a dry burger.

Make an Indentation in the Top

To keep a burger from getting that “dome” shaped top, make a ¼ inch depression in the center of the meat. The burger will then come out flat keeping your condiments in place.

Try Different Types of Meats or a Combo

Almost any kind of ground meat can be used to make burgers, or mix together different ones. You can mix pork with beef, chicken with lamb, or even buffalo with beef. For flavor, try mixing some fresh sausage or ground bacon in with another type of meat.

Adding Flavors to the Meat

Many people just want great beef, straight up with salt and pepper. You can try adding spices and other flavors to make an interesting burger. A lot of people will add soy sauce or Worcestershire to the meat. Some name brand spice mixes, like Montreal Seasoning or Cavenders, work very well. I, however, am a purist. I use Kosher salt and a little coarse ground pepper when seasoning my burger. I want to taste the meat, not a bunch of spices!

Tip: When adding other ingredients to ground meat, use a spoon or spatula to avoid heating the meat with your hands – see above.

Cooking the Burgers

A BBQ grill or specialty grill like a Big Green Egg or Webers works very well for hamburgers. You want your grill to be at least º400. Spray the grill with vegetable spray like Pam and place the burgers on. Close the lid or you will have flare ups. If your burgers are an inch or less, cook for about 5 minutes (a little less if you want it less done) on the first side. Do not turn until you have cooked on the first side for at least 3 minutes! Turn and cook on the other side for another 3 to 4 minutes until the desired temperature is reached.
It is generally recommended to cook until º160 to be safe.

The Bun

Nothing ruins a good burger faster than a lousy or stale bun. Buy good quality buns. I like to wrap them in damp paper towels and then microwave for 30 seconds. This “steams” them and makes them incredibly soft. Lastly, add your favorite condiments but remember, YOU WANT TO TASTE THE MEAT! Have fun!