Chocolate Chip Cookies

Who wants a cookie?   You will… after reading this recipe.  These are my mom’s “famous” chocolate chip cookies – the recipe is adapted from the Toll House Cookie recipe.  She uses jumbo eggs, and a mixture of light and dark brown sugar.  These two changes do something magical to the recipe – they are the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever eaten.  Chewy and buttery - with a great balance of flavors.  Not too much chocolate – just enough in every bite. 

This recipe makes 24, 4 inch cookies.  Yep, that’s why we say Chocolate Chip Cookies – Big Style!  That’s one big cookie.

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Turkey Burgers

My mother is known for making some of the best meatballs around.  The flavor, of course, is great – but it’s the texture of the meatballs that makes them special.  She says it all has to do with how you mix the ground meat.  Whether it is beef, pork, veal or turkey – it’s all in how you mix it.  

So what is this special ground meat mixing technique?  It starts with the utencil you use, a large pronged fork is best.   Lightly lifting and separating the meat as you gently combine all of the ingredients.  This gentle fluffing of the ground meat  creates little air pockets and keeps  the ground meat airy.  Never, never mash it together and don’t use your hands – you will tend to mush it all together like you would a dough.  This only creates a dense product.  

So now that you know how to mix ground meat properly…what can you do with it?  Well, here are three variations using ground turkey.  Ground Turkey Three Ways…

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Golden Brown Potato Rolls

I honestly think one of the most hearty, comforting foods you can eat is bread, especially my mother’s homemade Potato Rolls.  So, you can imagine how pleasantly surprised I was when her Potato Roll recipe ended up in my inbox yesterday.  Thanks Mom!

These freshly baked rolls not only taste great, they smell incredible.  There really is nothing like the smell of freshly baked bread, right?  The potato in these rolls not only adds moistness, but also gives the roll a really fine texture – not so much squishy, but rather “pillowy”. 

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Beet & Goat's Cheese Napoleon

This recipe is not only gorgeous, it is delicious.  It has all the elements I like - salty, sweet, tangy, creamy and crunchy.  It works well as a starter or in lieu of a salad.

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Super Salad

Eating healthy is hard – I know this, you know this – we know this.  But there is something pretty simple and tasty that I try to serve it with every home cooked dinner, my Super Salad.  It’s got lots of healthy stuff in it, and honestly, I feel good eating it. 

You’ve heard all the Super Foods terms – antioxidants, fiber, isoflavones, monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) etc, etc…  Well, this salad contains them all. I make it for two, but you can adjust accordingly. 

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Chicken Pot Pie

A recent Food Network program prompted this sudden exploration in Pot Pie. Growing up pot pie was something that strictly came from the freezer. Thick pie style crust concealing a whole lot of gravy peas and not much more. I can’t say I would ever consider pot pie to be a comfort food…times have changed!

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Asian Dressing / Asian Dip

Yes, this is our first post – and no, it is not about cake.  But yes, it is indeed really tasty – so why can’t the first post be about Asian dressing?

I made this Asian dip/dressing the other night, and served it on both salad and as a dip to go along with edamame .   The flavors were great, especially if you like garlic.  It is super easy to make and goes great on salads – would work as a marinade as well.

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