Ground Venison Burgers

Yes, we still have plenty of venison left in the freezer and are thinking of new ways use it!  I have to say, I LOVE this recipe.  These burgers taste better than traditional hamburgers.  They aren't as fatty and have great flavor from the extra ingredients.  We've made these twice and really love them.  I'm sure we'll be grilling out with this recipe through the summer!

Ground Venison Burgers
Ingredients:

1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon lime juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon grated lime peel
1/3 cup chopped green onions
3 tablespoons plain yogurt
2 tablespoons finely chopped jalapeno pepper*
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 pounds ground venison
8 hamburger buns, split
8 slices Pepper Jack cheese
 
Directions:
In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, lime juice, mustard and lime peel; cover and refrigerate until serving.

In a bowl, combine the onions, yogurt, jalapeno, salt and pepper. Crumble meat over mixture and mix well. Shape into eight patties. Pan-fry, grill, or broil until meat is no longer pink. Serve on buns; top with cheese and mayonnaise mixture.

(from allrecipes.com)

New Blog!

I started a new blog to help me clean out my closet!  Visit Clothes from a Newlywed's Closet to see if any of these items should have a new home with you!!

Irish Beef Stew with Dumplings - from Emma

Emma of 30by30 invited Kate of Bookworm to Bombshell and me over for lunch today.  Emma and Kate are fun friends from grad school.  We celebrated St. Patrick's Day a day early with Emma's amazing Irish Stew.  It's a very hearty stew - definitely a meal all on its own.  She just sent me the recipe, and I couldn't wait to share!  Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Irish Beef Stew with Dumplings
Ingredients:
4 cups of vegetable broth

7 small russet potatoes peeled and chopped
5 carrots peeled and chopped
1/2 stalk of celery chopped
1.5 pounds of beef for stew
Salt and pepper
7 large cloves of garlic, chopped coarsely
LOTS of rosemary

Directions:
Put the broth, potatoes, carrots, and garlic in the pot and let them begin to soften.  (If the top of the veggies is not covered add water to cover.)  Brown the meat in a sauce pan and pour into pot with veggies.  Add celery, salt, pepper and rosemary.

Dumplings
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons butter
3/4 cup milk
Chopped rosemary
Directions:
Combine all ingredients and spoon into boiling stew, cover to steam. 
Emma says, "the recipe for the dumplings said 12 minutes for steaming but I left them in for more like 30 while boiling."

Book Review - Julia Child's My Life in France

Last summer I bought Julia Child's My Life in France when Kent and I were visiting Oxford.  I've finally had the chance to read it in the last few weeks.  The book, obviously, details her years spent in France.  It was really interesting to learn about how she first became interested in cooking - she hadn't always been an expert!   Most of the book is spent focusing on how she came to write her first cookbook.  Honestly, I found some of these sections a little too detailed.  She talked about specific ingredients for pages, and I sometime got bored.  I also found her to be a little self-centered and sometimes egotistical.  But, I did enjoy reading about her family life, the house she built in Provence, and her travels with her husband around Europe.  Because her husband was a diplomat and she became a celebrity, they met tons of interesting people, like James Beard!  Reading the book definitely made me miss France - and it made me hungry! 

Mardi Gras King Cake

I started this post several days ago!  But, it's been a long week, and I haven't had much extra time.  It's good to be back to blogging!

Since the Academy Awards were last weekend, my friend, BLC, tagged me in her blog in her "Film Festival" post about her five favorite movies.  (BLC has the greatest blog with tons of fun posts!!)  So, since I've been tagged, I now get to post my five favorite movies!
1. Childhood Must:  Home Alone
2. Chick Flick:  Pride and Prejudice
3. Husband Approved:  Sherlock Holmes
4. True Story:  The Blind Side
5. Holiday:  The Family Stone

Now I'm tagging The Baggetts, Bookworm to Bombshell, Katie Bird Calling, and The Richardsons to share their five favorites!! 

The King's Speech seemed to come out on top at the Academy Awards this year.  Kent and I are going to see it tonight, and I can't wait!  So, in honor of The King's Speech, I decided to post the king cake recipe that I used recently.  We had our Supper Club over for dessert after dinner at La Paz the other night.  I'd seen a lot of Mardi Gras decorations lately and decided it was time for a king cake.  I couldn't find a baby to put in it, but it still tasted good!

Mardi Gras King Cake - makes 2 cakes
(Preparation time: 5 1/2 hours)
Ingredients:
1 stick butter plus 1 tablespoon butter
1/3 cup warm water (103-110 degrees)
4 eggs
2/3 cup 99% fat-free skim evaporated milk
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons grated orange rind
2 teaspoon salt
2 pkg. dry yeast
6 cups flour

Directions:
In a saucepan, melt 1 stick butter, milk, 1/3 cup sugar, and salt.  Cool to lukewarm.  In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 tablespoon sugar, yeast, and water.  Let stand until foaming, about 5 - 10 minutes.  Beat eggs into yeast; then milk mixture and rinds.   Stir in flour, 1/2 cup at a time, reserving 1 cup of flour for kneading surface.  Knead dough until smooth, about 5 -10 minutes.  Place in large mixing bowl greased with 1 tablespoon butter, turning dough once to grease top.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 1/2 - 2 hours.

Filling:
Mix sugars and cinnamon and set aside:
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

1/2 stick butter, melted
2 plastic babies

When dough has doubled, punch down and divide in half.  On a floured surface, roll half of the dough into a thin log and bring the ends together to make an oval.  Push down the dough to make it flat (about 3 inches wide).  Brush with melted butter, leaving the edges dry.  Sprinkle the buttered part of the batter with the sugar mixture.  Then bring the edges of the cake together so that the sugar mixture is enclosed in the center.  Repeat with the other half of the dough for form the second cake.

Place each cake on a 10x15 baking sheet, cover with a damp cloth, and let rise until doubled - about one hour.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove from pan.  While warm, place one plastic baby in each from underneath.

Topping:
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon of milk
1 cup sugar, colored (1/3 cup each of yellow, purple, and green)

Tint sugar by mixing a few drops food coloring into the sugar until desired color is reached.  Mix the powdered sugar and the milk together - you may need to add more powdered sugar or more milk to reach the right consistency.  You're going to drizzle this on the cake, so you want the mixture to be thin enough to drip down the sides a little, but thick enough to stay mostly on the cake.  Then sprinkle with the sugars alternating between colors.