Barefoot Bloggers - Mango and Banana Daiquiris; CEiMB - Stuffed Turkey Burgers; and an announcement!

That's a busy title. Usually the double Ellie and Barefoot weeks present some scheduling challenges, but this week was pretty easy. Barefoot Blogger, Veronica, at Supermarket Serenade chose Mango and Banana Daiquiris so all I had to do was pull the blender out and make a cocktail. We all know how good I am at that!

I love mangos. I used to hate using them because of that cumbersome pit that I just couldn't seem to master, but back when we had to make Dorie's mango bread, someone suggested peeling the mango first (I used a vegetable peeler) and then using the handy-dandy pitting device (I got mine at Williams-Sonoma) I'd found mango nirvana! Easy-peasy.

This cocktail screams for an umbrella but I didn't have any....very tropical and perfect for sipping while your toes are buried in the sand. Or in your living room. Whatever.

I found these suggestions for picking the perfect mango on Veronica's site and they're good ones, so I'm stealing them. Thanks, Veronica!

"Look for mangoes with multiple colors-reds, yellows and a touch of green on

them.

Mangoes should give slightly when you press on them...not too much

though as you don't want them to be mushy.

Avoid mangoes with blemished skin, try to find smooth, undented fruit."

Here's the recipe

Mango and Banana Daiquiris

Back to Basics, p 47

Serves 4

2 cups chopped ripe mango (1 to 2 mangos, peeled and seeded)

1 ripe banana, chopped

1/2 cup fresh squeezed lime juice (4 limes) (I used two and it was plenty)

1/4 cup sugar syrup* (I used a Tbsp agave nectar)

1 1/4 cups dark rum, such as Mount Gay (important to use dark rum here)

Mango slices, for serving

Place the mango, banana, lime juice, sugar syrup and rum in a blender and process until smooth. Add 2 cups of ice and process again until smooth and thick. Serve ice cold in highball glasses with mango slices

*To make simple syrup, heat 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water in a small saucepan until the sugar dissolves. Chill. (I've been using the agave nectar in mixed drinks lately with great success. Just my little attempt to save a few calories, plus it's a more natural choice)

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This weeks Craving Ellie in My Belly choice was Stuffed Turkey Burgers chosen by Peggy at Pantry Revisited.

I have to admit that I don't really like turkey burgers. They're always lacking in flavor and much to dry for my taste, so I initially was not excited about making these, but I'm a participator and can't handle the self-loathing when I slack off, so....

Dude, these were good. Really good. And I didn't add or alter a THING.

Really simple, too. I told Mr. B, he could easily make these on his own and he likes turkey burgers, so there you go. All you do is take some ground turkey, make four patties (I halved the recipe), put some chopped roasted red peppers (from a jar, no less) and some shredded mozzarella cheese on top of one patty, slap another patty on top and smoosh them together into one patty and you have yourself a stuffed burger! (Repeat with the other two patties.)

I do think cooking time on these is important. I only had mine on for four minutes per side (they were good size burgers) and they were cooked through with melted cheese in the middle and not dry at all. Tasty.

As you can see I served these with grilled corn. I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I've never grilled corn before. Bobby Flay does it three times a day, but me, never. I bit the bullet and went for it. Again, E.A.S.Y. and delish and I'm never boiling corn again. Sorry, mama. You were wrong about this one. Brush those suckers with a little canola oil, salt and pepper them and throw them on the grill over a lower heat burner. Turn a couple of times (about 8-10 minutes) and pull them off. Mine didn't even need butter. And no pots to wash. Ding, ding, ding!!

Here's the recipe for the burgers:

Stuffed Turkey Burgers

Ingredients:

1 1/4 pounds lean ground turkey breast
1/2 cup chopped roasted red peppers
1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 teaspoons salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Divide turkey into 4 equal sized rounds. Make 2 equal sized patties out of each round so you have 8 patties total. Sprinkle 4 of the patties with 2 tablespoons red peppers and cheese, and top with remaining patties, working the turkey around the edges to seal burgers closed. Season with salt and a few grinds of pepper. (I brushed mine with a hint of canola oil just to assure they wouldn't stick) Grill or broil until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.

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Oh....almost forgot my announcement. I've joined another group! Sucka. I know. But I'm really excited about it. It's called "Cooking Italy" and we'll be cooking recipes from Marcella Hazan's "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking". This is a small but enthusiastic group and they're going to make me do things like make gnocchi and pasta by HAND. Eeks. But these are things I've always wanted to try, so why not. I plan on jumping in head first with next week's choice...Arrosticini Abruzzesi - skewered marinated lamb tidbits. Exciting, huh!!

Off to Dallas for the weekend to hang with some great friends. Supposed to be 102 degrees. Ugh. Pray I don't melt....or if I do, that it comes off my ass first!