Sandwiches & Burgers: Grilled Chicken Burgers

Chicken burgers are incredibly popular with many, many people, but they're also a little boring. Sure, you can grab a chicken burger, throw it on the grill, and call it a burger, but why not spend a few minutes earlier in the day to make it truly something delicious?


This recipe can use full chicken breasts or you can purchase premade chicken breast patties. Either will work well enough. Just don't try to use breaded patties. They don't take the marinade well and will crumble well before grilling.


Ingredients


2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts or 4 chicken breast patties
⅓ cup honey
¼ cup lemon juice
2 tsp garlic powder
4 tbsp honey
4 tbsp Dijon mustard
4 tbsp mayonnaise
4 Hamburger Buns
topping of your choice


Preparation


If using chicken breasts, split each in half, making 4 portions. Pound gently until you have a uniform thickness, about ¼-inch. too thick and they won't cook. If you are using patties, you can obviously skip this step. Mix the ⅓ cup of honey, lemon juice, and garlic powder in a shallow dish that will hold all four burgers comfortably. Remove about ⅓ of the marinade and place it in a small bowl or cup. Set aside.


Add the chicken to the baking dish. Turn it several times to coat, then place in the refrigerator for 4-6 hours, turning every hour or so. When you're ready to make the burgers, preheat the grill. Remove the chicken from the fridge and discard the marinade in the dish. Place chicken on the hot grill and cook, basting with the marinade a few times, for about 5 minutes on each side. You may need to cook them a little longer depending on the heat of your grill. Make sure they are thoroughly cooked.


While you're grilling the burgers, combine the 4 tbsp of honey with the Dijon mustard and the mayonnaise. Mix well in a small bowl. This is the honey sauce for your completed burgers. Also take a moment to split the buns if you haven't already done so. You may toast the buns, if desired.


Remove the chicken from the grill and place on the buns. Drizzle the honey sauce on top of the chicken. Add any toppings you like. Try lettuce or tomato, even pickles are delicious on this burger.


Serve immediately. This recipe makes 4 burgers.

Easy Side Dishes: Dijon Potato Wedges

Everyone loves potatoes. Everyone loves Dijon mustard. So it makes sense that we can combine the two into a delicious side dish. Dijon Potato Wedges don't take a lot of prep time, but they will take 45 to 60 minutes to cook, so plan accordingly.


Ingredients


1 pound potatoes (about 8 medium-sized potatoes)
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp oil
1½ tsp paprika
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp salt


Preparation


Peel potatoes and slice into wedges. If you're not partial to wedges, you can cut them into cubes instead.  You can even use small new potatoes and cut them in half. It doesn't matter that much. But if you're not using new potatoes, you should definitely peel the potatoes. Place cut potatoes into a large bowl.


Heat oven to 425°F. Spray a shallow baking dish with cooking spray to prevent sticking. While the oven is heating, add all other ingredients to the bowl of potatoes and toss to coat well. Make sure all potatoes are coated, then place in baking dish. Potatoes that are in a single or very thin layer will cook faster and more evenly than a thicker layer.


Bake for 25 minutes, then turn and bake for 20 minutes more. At this point, check your potatoes. A fork should slide into the largest part of the biggest potato wedge with ease. If it doesn't, return your potatoes to the oven for another 10 minutes. Keep checking until the potatoes are cooked throughout. the longer they bake, the crispier they get.


Serve immediately.


As an alternative to baking, you can pan fry your potatoes. Do this only for smaller portions, as larger portions will take forever in a skillet.

Yeast Breads: Hamburger Buns

Even people who make their own bread have a tendency to buy hamburger or hot dog buns. Some have this idea that they're difficult to make, but they're really not. You can form hamburger or hot dog buns from any basic bread dough. This one is made with white bread, but you can make buns from rye dough, whole wheat dough, or even sourdough.


Ingredients


1 recipe for Basic White Bread
2 tbsp water
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 tbsp water


Preparation


Unlike recipes such as Garlic Parmesan Breadsticks or Slashed Dinner Rolls, you'll notice this one has an extra 2 tbsp of water. This is added to the recipe for Basic White Bread to make the dough just a little bit stickier. The extra water helps the hamburger buns spread out instead of directly up, giving you a bun that is a little wider but not as high.


Make the Basic White Bread according to the recipe directions up until after the first rise. Make sure you added the extra water to recipe. Punch down the dough and divide into 8 portions for larger buns, 12 portions for smaller buns. If you're making sliders, you'll want to make the buns even smaller still. Shape each portion into smooth balls and flatten. You'll want to flatten them until they're about ½-inch thick. Not thinner than that, but not too much thicker either. If you're making hot dog buns, you would shape them into longer ovals, but they'd still be the same thickness.


Let the buns rise in a warm location until they're doubled in size, about 45 minutes. Once risen, combine the beaten egg and 1 tbsp of water to make an egg wash. Brush this wash over each bun.


Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes, or until the buns are golden and sound hollow when tapped. Cool completely before using for hamburgers or hot dogs.


Store baked buns in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Drop Cookies: Nutty Date Drops

Dates  are sweet and chewy and the perfect addition to a basic cookie. If you're going to make this cookie, chop your dates before you get started. Don't try to use whole dates or you'll end up with cookies that are barely edible. Also, buy dates that have already been pitted. Trying to pit them yourself is far more trouble than it's worth. Trust me on that.


Ingredients


1 cup dates, chopped
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup water
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup butter or margarine, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
2 cups all purpose flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ cup walnuts or other nut, chopped (optional)


Preparation


Heat dates, sugar, and water over medium heat in a small saucepan. Cook until bubbling, stirring occasionally, then cook for 2-3 minutes more, until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and allow to cool, but not completely.


Heat oven to 375°F. Use an electric mixer to cream brown sugar and butter together. Add vanilla and egg and blend until smooth. Put aside the electric mixer and use a wooden spoon to add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix until well combined, then add the date mixture. Fold in gently, then fold in nuts, if desired.


Drop by rounded teaspoons onto prepared cookie sheets, smooth the tops of the cookies but not flattening them. Bake for 9 minutes, or until the edges are just slightly browned. Let stand on the cookie sheet for 1 minute, then cool completely on wire racks.


Store cookies in an airtight container. Or just them as they come out of the oven. That's what happens around here.

Drop Cookies: Raisin Nut Cookies

These cookies can use any nut. I prefer walnut, which is what I've used in these, but you can use cashews, almonds, pecans, or hazelnuts. Whatever you like. You'll still end up with a delicious Raisin Nut Cookie.


Ingredients


¾ cup sugar
¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup butter or margarine, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
¾ cup all purpose flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
1½ cups rolled oats
 ½ cup raisins
½ cup nuts, chopped


Preparation


Heat oven to 375°F. In a large bowl, cream together sugars, butter, vanilla, and egg using an electric mixer. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Use a wooden spoon to combine the dry ingredients with the butter mixture to avoid flour splattering all over your workspace. Gently fold in rolled oats, then add the raisins and nuts.


Drop by rounded teaspoons onto prepared baking sheets. Don't flatten, but do take a moment to make sure each cookie is neat. Sometimes cookies with oats can get a bit out of sorts if they're not neat and even. Bits that stick out will burn. You don't have to be perfect, just make sure the cookies don't have bits of oats or raisins sticking out of the dough.


Bake cookies for 9 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on the pan for 1 minute, then cool completely on wire racks. Store in airtight container for up to 5 days.

Yeast Breads: Slashed Dinner Rolls

Dinner rolls are a fun thing to serve at a dinner. These ones are slashed with a bread lame. You can use a sharp knife to achieve the same effect.


Ingredients


1 recipe for Basic White Bread
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 tbsp water
sesame or poppy seeds (optional)


Preparation


Follow the directions for the Basic White Bread until you have punched down the dough for the first time. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a slightly oblong shape. Don't worry about getting it perfect. They'll taste great even if your shapes are a little off.  Place them on a clean baking sheet and let them rise in a warm place. They need to double in size, which will take around 45 minutes, but be patient as they may take as much as 90 minutes.


Once risen, heat your oven to 350°F. Take your bread lame (or sharp knife) and make a slash down the center of each roll. Don't go too deep. About ¼ inch is more than deep enough. Combine the egg and water to make an egg wash. Brush the wash over the rolls using a pastry brush. Sprinkle the rolls with sesame or poppy seeds, if desired. You can even use caraway seeds if you like. Or you can leave the rolls plain.


Bake for 20 minutes, until the rolls are golden in color and sound hollow when tapped. Cool on wire rack. Store in an airtight container for p to 3 days.

Cutout Cookies: Old World Sugar Cookies

Cookies are delicious. If they weren't, we wouldn't spend so much time making them. Sugar cookies are a staple of the cookie world, so this recipe is very versatile. I like to make fat, large sugar cookies which are more like cakes with lovely icing spread done in fun patterns. These, affectionately called Old World Sugar Cookies, are not hard to accomplish. This recipe makes large cookies, so you'll likely only need a single cookie per person.


Unless they're teenagers. Then they'll need 10 cookies each. Trust me.


Ingredients


1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
3 cups all purpose flour
1½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
cookie icing in desired colors


Preparation


In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the milk, vanilla, and egg and blend well. Put the electric mixer aside and use a wooden spoon to add flour, baking powder, and salt. Combine until you have a consistent dough to work with. While you can immediately use the dough, refrigerating for 30 minutes to firm up the dough is recommended.


Heat oven to 400°F. Roll out the dough, but not thinly. ¼-inch thickness is standard for these larger cookies, but you can go as large as ½-inch thickness if you like. Larger cookies will make fewer cookies, but I like the larger. Use cookie cutters to cut dough into desired shapes. The ones pictured here are 3-inch circles, but any shape will do.


Place cookies 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake these larger cookies for 10 minutes. Allow to cool for 1 minute on the baking sheet, then cool completely on wire racks.


To decorate, use cookie icing (which you can make or buy in squeezable tubes) to draw any pattern you like. I've done basic circles, then used a toothpick to draw the circles into different patterns. You can do any pattern you like.


Allow icing to harden before serving. This recipe makes about 12 larger cookies.