Meats and Main Course

Stuffed Hamburgers

I don't make these burgers very often.  Simply because they are HUGE!  and we don't often make burgers for ourselves.  If we have burgers usually it's for a group, and these burgers are just so big that you only need one to be filled up.  They are also too good to make too often.  Normally I stuff these burger with whatever I have on hand so they are very adaptable to individual tastes.  They can be stuffed with your choice of cheese, bacon, mushrooms, peppers, onions, BBQ sauce, whatever strikes your fancy as being good cooked into a burger.


 Basically, each burger is comprised of two thin patties molded around the ingredients on the interior.  In order to make these three burgers, I diced 1-2 green onions, 1-2 button mushrooms, sprinkled some shredded cheddar cheese and 1 tsp BBQ sauce.  Then grilled, using our favorite BBQ sauce.


 I have also made these burgers by sauteing the stuffing ingredients; using feta cheese for a sharper flavor of cheese, and using different sauces.  Really, these burgers are ideal for adjusting  to your tastes and ingredients.  But warning!  While these are good, they are VERY filling, and one will be all you need!

 _____________________________________________________________________________

 Fennel Garlic Tilapia

Some of the harvested fennel. 

 This recipe came about as a result of the bumper crop of fennel I've been drying.  I'm not quite sure what to do with it all...  But we had a package of frozen pollock in the freezer and while I'm not a big seafood fan, I love fish of all kinds.  I must say though that this pollock was not the best choice of fish as I think it must have been injected with extra water for volume.  By the time it came out of the oven it had shrunk by nearly half, and was nearly drowning in extra juice.  The second attempt was with tilapia loins which went much better.  This recipe is fairly mild on flavoring and should work well with any type of fish.  I imagine, if fennel is not high on your list of preferred ingredients, it too could be replaced with some other type of herb or seasoning!

Fennel garlic pollock with a green onion topping

Preheat oven to 375F.
-Thaw filets, and place in baking dish, sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper
-I used my flavored oil to lightly coat the top of the fish, about -2 TBS olive oil, although this is not necessary.
-2 medium to large cloves of garlic, thinly sliced or finely diced
- ~1TBS dried fennel leaves
 
Evenly sprinkle first the garlic and then fennel over the filets and baked 25-30 minutes at 375F