Turkey Sliders with Pesto, Fresh Mozzarella & Caramelized Onions

Good things come in small packages as they say...these mini turkey burgers are no exception!  These are very easy to whip up for dinner and serve with either homemade potato wedges or salad.  I topped mine with fresh mozzarella, pesto and caramelized onions.  If I had the time, I would have made some home made pesto but settled for store bought this week. If you want to make the onions but aren't sure how - check out this post for French Onion Soup and follow the instructions there but reduce the quantities unless you plan on making the soup too!

Ingredients & Preparation: Makes approx. 8 mini burgers

• 1lb ground turkey
• 1 egg
• 2 slices of bread, made into crumbs
• 1 tbsp Dijon
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 2 tbsp green onion, diced
• salt and pepper to taste
• olive oil
• dinner rolls or mini burger buns

Toppings

• fresh mozzarella
• pesto
• 1 onion, sliced and caramelized

Whisk the egg and mix through the ground turkey.  Add all the other ingredients and form into small balls so you have approximately 8.  Heat a large frying pan and add some olive oil. Add the turkey burgers and cook on medium heat turning half way to brown both sides. Cook them low & slow until cook all the way through.  Lightly toast the buns.  Put your burgers on the buns, add your toppings and enjoy!

You could do the burgers on the grill just take care they don't fall though the cracks!

Classic Comfort Food - Grilled Cheese

It's a snowy day and some comfort food was in order. I was still in my pajamas by the time lunch rolled around so it only seemed fitting. For the record, I don't typically sit around in my jammies all day but I am home with the baby all day today. We are relaxing.

This took about 7 minutes to make. That's about the time it takes the baby to eat one of her Mum Mum crackers - a good distraction tool.

Ingredients and Prep:

• 1 plum tomato (these have the least water in them so I find they are a good option as your sandwich won't get soggy)
  
• some brie (I remove the rind because I want nothing coming between me and smooth melty brie)
• a sprinkling of fresh thyme leaves
  
• 2 slices of bread
• some butter

Prepare as you would a typical grilled cheese (do I have to tell you how?). You know, butter each slice of bread on one side. Place 1st piece in frying pan, add brie, tomato, fresh thyme leaves, top with 2nd slice of bread. Turn on the heat to medium and grill until golden brown.

Perfection.

Mozzarella & Pepper Cooler-Pressed Sandwiches

I made these for our picnic yesterday and they were a big hit. Easy to transport with the added bonus of not getting soggy. I made these the night before so the juices had time to settle and they were perfectly flavoured for the next day's lunch. Cut into individual sized pieces when ready to serve.

Ingredients & Preparation: (Original recipe from epicurious, Cookie July 2007)

Serves 4

• 1 (5-ounce) jar roasted red bell peppers, drained and roughly chopped
• 1 pinch hot-pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon roughly chopped Italian parsley, or 1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
• 1 (6-ounce) container bocconcini in oil (or 3/4 cup fresh mozzarella in oil, torn into pieces), undrained
• 1/2 thin 18-inch baguette, sliced lengthwise
• optional: 2-3 tbsp olive oil (if your bocconcini is in brine like mine was, add extra olive oil for flavour and not a lot of the brine)

In a medium bowl, combine the first four ingredients (including some of the bocconcini or mozzarella marinade). Fill the baguette with the mixture. Close the baguette and wrap it tightly in waxed paper, then in aluminum foil or saran wrap. Place the sandwich at the bottom of the cooler so the weight of the other contents compresses the sandwich and allows the juices to soak into the bread.