Spike Mendelsohn's White House Turkey Burgers

This is a dish the president likes, can't wait to try it.

Ingredients:
2 lbs ground Turkey
1 Cup diced celery
1 Cup diced apples
1 Cup diced red onions
1 Tblsp mango salsa
Handful of chopped Parsley
Juice of 2 lemons, and fine zest from the lemons
1 Tblsp Olive Oil
Neutral Cooking Oil
A dash of Cayenne
Salt & pepper to taste
Slices of Munster cheese

Method:
1. Heat olive oil over medium heat, and toss in the red onions, turning them so they don't burn; "sweat" this for about 45 seconds, turning with wooden spoon so it doesn't burn
2. Add apples and celery and mango salsa, sprinkle in cayenne then salt & pepper, and season to taste. Keep stirring while everything binds; scrape the pan, and toss in chopped parsley at the last minute, then set aside to cool.
3. When ingredients are cool, combine with turkey meat. Squeeze in the lemon juice while combining, and add the lemon zest. Mash it all together well, so fruit and onions are well distributed throughout the meat. Spike suggests re-seasoning a little at this point, to taste. Make eight balls with the mixture, and refrigerate until ready to cook.
4. To cook burgers: In a deep skillet, heat a small amount of neutral cooking oil on medium heat, almost to the smoking point. Put in four burger balls to cook at a time, and flatten down with a spatula. Cook for 3 minutes and flip, and cook an additional 3 minutes on the other side. In the last 30 seconds of cooking, pop Munster cheese slices on burgers, and cover pan so it melts.
5. Serve on toasted Multi-grain buns, with lettuce and tomato slices, and top with Spike's Gucamole (recipe below).

Spike's Guacamole

Ingredients:
3 Avocados
1 Cup ripped cilantro
2 Tblsp chopped red onions
Juice of 2 lemons
Salt

Method:
1. Peel and pit avocados and crush with a whisk
2. Stir in lemon juice, onions, and cilantro
3. Add a couple of finely chopped chilis for heat, if you prefer
4. Salt to taste (lightly)

Serve on Turkey Burgers.

Anna's Lemon Cupcakes

I think that I might have done 3 eggs, instead of 4. And the frosting was: cream 3/4 c. of softened butter, add 3 1/2 c. confect. sugar. Add 2 tbsp. heavy cream, 2 tsp. lemon juice, 1/4 tsp. vanilla, and tsp. zest. Beat until light and fluffy.

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided
• 4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup grated lemon zest lightly packed (6 to 8 large lemons - Use only fresh lemon juice and zest)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the glaze:

• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 3 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 2 (8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch) loaf pans.

Directions

Cream the butter and 2 cups granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, the key to great cakes is beating the butter and sugar until the mixture's until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on medium speed add the eggs, (break the eggs into a dish before adding to the batter to avoid a bad egg or shells in the batter) 1 at a time, and the lemon zest. Sift together the flour, to make sure there are no lumps, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Separately, combine 1/4 cup lemon juice, the buttermilk, and vanilla. Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately, beginning and ending with the flour. Divide evenly between the pans, smooth the tops, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Cook 1/2 cup granulated sugar with 1/2 cup lemon juice in a small saucepan and cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves. When the cakes are done, cool for 10 minutes, invert them onto a rack set over a tray and spoon the lemon syrup over the cakes. Allow the cakes to cool completely.

For the glaze, combine the confectioners' sugar and the lemon juice in a bowl, mixing with a wire whisk until smooth. Pour over the tops of the cakes and allow the glaze to drizzle down the sides.

To freeze these cakes, prepare them except the glaze. Wrap them well in plastic wrap and freeze. When you're ready to use, defrost and glaze.

Baked Ziti

This recipe from Cook's Illustrated is terrific. I don't even like this dish usually and now it is in my regular repertoire.

The test kitchen prefers baked ziti made with heavy cream, but whole milk can be substituted by increasing the amount of cornstarch to 2 teaspoons and increasing the cooking time in step 3 by 1 to 2 minutes. Our preferred brand of mozzarella is Dragone Whole Milk Mozzarella. Part-skim mozzarella can also be used, but avoid preshredded cheese, as it does not melt well. Also, the recipe swaps ricotta for cottage cheese, which maintains its creamy texture even when hot.

Ingredients
1 pound whole milk cottage cheese or 1 percent cottage cheese (see note)
2 large eggs , lightly beaten
3 ounces grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 1/2 cups)
Table salt
1 pound ziti or other short, tubular pasta
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
5 medium garlic cloves , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 5 teaspoons)
1 (28-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
1 teaspoon sugar
Ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoon cornstarch
1 cup heavy cream
8 ounces low-moisture whole-milk mozzarella cheese , cut into 1/4-inch pieces (about 1 1/2 cups)

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk cottage cheese, eggs, and 1 cup Parmesan together in medium bowl; set aside. Bring 4 quarts of water to boil in large Dutch oven over high heat. Stir in 1 tablespoon salt and pasta; cook, stirring occasionally, until pasta begins to soften but is not yet cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain pasta and leave in colander (do not wash Dutch oven).

Meanwhile, heat oil and garlic in 12-inch skillet over medium heat until garlic is fragrant but not brown, about 2 minutes. Stir in tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and oregano; simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes. Off heat, stir in ½ cup basil and sugar, then season with salt and pepper.

Stir cornstarch into heavy cream in small bowl; transfer mixture to now-empty Dutch oven set over medium heat. Bring to simmer and cook until thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove pot from heat and add cottage cheese mixture, 1 cup tomato sauce, and ¾ cup mozzarella, then stir to combine. Add pasta and stir to coat thoroughly with sauce.

Transfer pasta mixture to 13- by 9-inch baking dish and spread remaining tomato sauce evenly over pasta. Sprinkle remaining ¾ cup mozzarella and remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan over top. Cover baking dish tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove foil and continue to cook until cheese is bubbling and beginning to brown, about 30 minutes longer. Cool for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons basil and serve.



NOTE: The Right Degree of Al Dente
To ensure perfectly al dente pasta in the finished dish, we boil ziti just until it begins to soften but is not yet cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes—half the time most recipes call for. The pasta continues to cook in the oven, where it absorbs the flavorful sauce. To compensate, we add nearly twice the amount of sauce as in most recipes.