What's cooking at Jerk Castle . . .

Salad Nicoise

I was super lucky this year to receive the entire collection dvd set of Julia Child's, The French Chef, for my birthday . . . watching the show has been an absolute delight. Last weekend, we watched the Salad Nicoise episode and I was inspired to attempt it for lunch- (however, we we were hungry, and too lazy to go outside, so a couple of ingredients got tweeked- like we had to use baby spinach instead of lettuce and we added cucumber b/c we had some that needed to be eaten. . . and we left out the anchovies)- ok, so i guess it was loosely based on Child's salad nicoise, yet still hearty, fresh and delicious. . . .and a great weekend lunch option.

here is a link to Child's recipe:

http://www.ochef.com/r189.htm

and a peek at our version:

And btw- if you need a gift for someone obsessed with cooking, the dvds were a fantastic present (shout out to my husband Steven).

Turkey Burgers

We've been experimenting with turkey burgers on and off now for a while trying to find a good combination of ingredients that add flavor and stay moist- this combination is flavorful and tasty and one of our best- i think the key is the fresh herbs so do not skip that step. . .here is our recipe:

To 1 lb of ground turkey meat add:

Spicy brown mustard (app 2 tlbs)

bread crumbs (app 1 cup)

1 egg

1 large shallot finely chooped

handful each of (chopped) parsley, cilantro or basil (parsley is a must and whatever herb you may also have around will work)

a good 2 pinches of salt and pepper

Form into patties and grill on an oiled grill pan

 
 

tips-

1-form into flattish patties to assist with even grilling

2-avoid overcooking to keep the moisture.  we use either a meat thermometer or make a incision to make sure the meat is cooked through; we use around 160-170 degrees, but have seen recommendations that are higher.

3- load them up with ketchup, carmelized onions, pickles, and advocado. . . .pickles always work. . . (you can also swap hummus for ketchup)

On to salad nicoise!