Burgers | The Old Hen Bed & Breakfast and Blog

Forty (Maybe) and Fabulous (For Sure)

You know those life-long friends you couldn’t get rid of even if you tried? Yeah, I love those ones. Here are a few of ours…

Taye is helping momma celebrate her birthday. He really didn’t care at all about the photo. He just wanted the cake. Who can blame him? Cake is good.

I decided upon Flo and Francis the flamingos to help us celebrate and created a little “lawn” for them to stand in with some wheat grass from the store.

Everything at the table must match the theme when I host a party. I’m kind of fickle that way. Thank you for your cooperation, green dish. These Lil’ Smokies heated up in a slow cooker with barbecue sauce are an easy party trick and are always devoured very quickly.

Cucumber cups with a little smoked salmon mixed together with minced onions and some mayonnaise and salt & pepper are a perfect party food. For this party, we topped them with olives but, oh, the possibilities.

I’m pretty much not allowed to have a party without bringing out my Saucy Balsamic Burgers anymore. This time I was a bit of a rebel and added the zest & juice of one orange to the sauce. And it was okay because it was a girl party. At least that’s what I told myself.

What party is complete without M&Ms that are screaming out to be individuals? Welcome to the party pink, green and white. Welcome.

My favorite of this party was the pink lemonade floats. Just don’t tell Flo & Frances.

PINK LEMONADE FLOATS INGREDIENTS:

2 cans frozen pink lemonade
2 – 2 liter bottles Fresca
1 gallon lime sherbert

Combine pink lemonade with Fresca. For a super-fun party, add a little vodka to the lemonade. Or, you know, more than a little. Place a scoop of lime sherbert and pour lemonade over sherbert. Place glorious pink and green striped paper straws into floats and smile. I mean, how can you not smile when you’re using a paper straw? Is there anything cuter?

Okay, maybe this.

NORTHWEST SUMMER SALAD

For this gorgeous salad, simply toss some fresh spring lettuce onto your prettiest platter. Top with fresh blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and sliced strawberries. Cover with lemon dressing and then sugared pecans. Feta cheese also goes well with this salad but is ever so optional.

SALAD DRESSING INGREDIENTS:

Juice from 1/2 fresh lemon (about 1/4 cup)
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons sugar
Salt & pepper to taste

Simply shake the salad dressing ingredients together in a container with a lid & drizzle on your gorgeous salad. This recipe makes about a cup of dressing so you will have leftovers for another day. Just save in the fridge.

SUGARED PECANS INGREDIENTS:

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup white sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Dash of freshly ground nutmeg
3 cups pecans

Beat 2 egg whites with hand mixer until frothy. After egg whites are frothy add vanilla, sugar, salt, cinnamon & nutmeg. Mix well.

Stir in pecans.

Line baking sheet with parchment paper and spread pecans onto baking sheet.

Bake pecans for 45 minutes to an hour, stirring every 10-15 minutes. Sugar coating will harden as they cool.

Polka dots, oh how I love you.

Flo looking fabulous.

Cami was delighted that her mud pie ice cream birthday cake was handmade by Joey Fatone while he was here. She’ll definitely be even cooler at the water cooler this week.

Cami Dearest, Happy forty (maybe)…

… and fabulous (for sure)! We love you.

Santa Fe Chipotle Burger Recipe

If you could use a little zip and zing in your life, I have a gift for you.

She is spicy and zesty. She is saucey and sweet. She doesn’t care about long walks on the beach or sunsets. She wants to party and sit by the grill with an electric ice tea. She is the Sante Fe burger. You will love her.

HAMBURGER INGREDIENTS:

1 pound hamburger
2 chipotle peppers (AKA smoked chili peppers) in adobo sauce, minced
Salt & pepper (don’t skimp)

Remove excess sauce from peppers and mince well. Then combine with the burger very well. Mix in salt & pepper as well. A large bowl and a latex glove is very handy for messy jobs like this one.

Shape into burgers and cook until middle of each burger reaches at least 160 degrees.

While waiting for burgers to cook, spread a little butter on both sides of each of the hamburger buns and toast under the broiler. It’s smart to keep oven door a little bit open so that these are not forgotten and burned – not that I have ever done that or anything.

When burgers are fully cooked, place a piece of pepper jack cheese on each one and cook until melted. Drain excess grease.

For a cool, refreshing sauce to balance out the heat of the chipotle peppers, stir one 4 ounce can of mild green chiles into 1 cup of sour cream. Add salt and pepper to taste.

When the hamburger buns are finished toasting, spread green chile sauce on each one. Add lettuce and some slices of sweet bell peppers for even more deliciousness.

You don’t meet a girl like this every day.

Saucy Balsamic Burgers Recipe AKA Saucy Balls

Meet the burger that knocked Joey Fatone off his feet…

Once upon a time a foodie blogger ordered a burger at a restaurant. She fell in love. She had to go home and recreate the burger. But then she was too busy. And then the restaurant closed. And she was sad. So sad that she forgot how to write a correct sentence. But then while playing in the kitchen she figured out the secret recipe. And it was good. But not good enough. So she recreated it about eight more times. And then it was worthy of sharing. And she was so happy she could cry. The end.

These tasty burgers are soaked in a sweet, balsamic sauce and tucked inside a light & fluffy puff pastry with perfectly melted & herbed goat cheese (or cream cheese).

BURGER INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup olive oil
20 ounces ground turkey
1 pound country sausage
1/2 large yellow onion, minced
Salt
Pepper
4 sheets puff pastry (or 2 boxes)
1/2 cup flour (for rolling out puff pastry)
16 ounces cream cheese, softened (or goat cheese if you prefer)
2 sprigs chopped fresh basil leaves
4 sprigs chopped fresh oregano leaves
6 sprigs bunch chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 sprig fresh rosemary leaves

SAUCE INGREDIENTS:

2 cups brown sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2/3 cup balsamic vinegar
2 cups chicken broth

Defrost frozen puff pastry by leaving on the counter for 40 minutes or overnight in the fridge. Be prompt about using it after the defrost time because it comes folded and can stick together if left out of the freezer too long.

Combine ground turkey & country sausage together. Add minced onions, salt & pepper and mix well.

Form meat into 36 firm, one-ounce meatballs. A cookie scoop works great for measuring, then just press meat together until a firm meatball.

Heat olive oil in frying pan on medium-high heat.

Add a little more salt & pepper to tops & brown burgers in frying pan. It usually takes about three turns each to brown the entire meatball. You never want to ever under cook pork or chicken but in this case, there will be more cooking time in the oven so to prevent the meat from becoming too dry, just brown them for now.

Place burgers on a tray. Set aside.

Whisk together brown sugar and cornstarch in a medium-large saucepan but do not turn burner on. Add chicken broth & balsamic vinegar & whisk all ingredients together. Add salt & pepper. Finally, turn burner on and cook over medium-high heat, stirring once & awhile so that it doesn’t burn. Cook until sauce boils and you can see that it has begun to thicken. Sauce will continue to thicken. Remove from heat and set aside..

Preheat oven to 400F. This is very, very important. If you do not preheat, things will not cook properly – especially puff pastry. It will come out soggy and limp instead of puffed and flaky so be sure to wait until the oven actually reaches 400F before placing burgers in oven.

Using a little flour & a rolling pin, roll out 4 puff pastry sheets and then cut into 9 squares each.

Finely chop herbs. Mix cream cheese together with the fresh herbs.

Place 1 tablespoon of cream cheese mixture in the middle of each puff pastry square.

Place one burger on each puff pastry square on top of the cream cheese.

Fold four corners of puff pastry up around the burgers until they meet in the middle. Press together. Close up additional openings so that the puff pastry “hugs” each burger.

Turn Saucy Balsamic Burgers over and place on parchment paper-lined baking sheet. You can fit 18 on each baking sheet (3 rows of 6).

After all burgers are wrapped, use beaten egg to brush top of each puff pastry so that they will become golden brown and shiny while baking.
Bake burgers for 25 minutes or until pastry is puffed, flaky and light golden brown.

Serve with warmed sauce and garnish with parsley if you like. These make a perfect tray of 36 appetizers.

Perfect served with a salad or fresh fruit. Saucy balsamic burgers can also be made larger for a main course.

One more look, shall we? Oooooo. She is saucy indeed.

Saucy balsamic burgers can be made in advance. Follow all steps except baking. Save burgers on the sheet pan, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Refrigerate sauce as well. Brush with egg wash and bake just 25 minutes before you need them ready and reheat sauce.

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Breaded Turkey Onion Burgers Recipe

There are just a few sniffs you can sniff that call you to dinner faster than fried onions. One time when I was making these simple, delicious burgers a neighbor showed up at my door step asking what I was making that smelled so darn good. It was nothing fancy. Just a humble dinner with amazing sniffs. It was the breaded turkey onion burgers.

Chop none medium yellow onion. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan on medium-high heat.