Zucchini-Wrapped Cheesy Pea Burgers #FoodieExtravaganza

Fresh peas, goat cheese and Parmesan seasoned with garlic, lemon zest and loads of fresh basil make a flavorful patty, even before wrapping in zucchini and grilling!

This month I am hosting the Foodie Extravaganza party and so I have the privilege of choosing the food holiday we are going to celebrate. I had a look at the calendar and couldn’t even consider any of the other options when I saw that May is National Hamburger Month! Perfect for writing about a great recipe that I made last summer and have just been itching to share. Finally, it’s getting to be grilling weather again in the rest of the northern hemisphere!

Now burgers don’t have to be beef! Or even meat. There are a lot of wonderful tasty vegetables and legumes that can be made into patties, grilled and popped on a bun. I make a mean lentil burger, for instance, with cooked Puy lentils, mozzarella and smoked paprika. But this recipe is pretty much straight out of the Waitrose supermarket magazine which they were giving out free at the checkout when we were in the Channel Islands. The original ingredient list called for specific store products, like Waitrose British Blacktail eggs. Well, I don’t know my laying hen varieties but I figure, when it comes to eggs, any fresh one, preferably free range, will do.

Make sure to scroll on down to the bottom of my recipe to see all the great hamburger recipes we have for you today! And happy National Hamburger Month!

Ingredients - makes four patties
5 1/3 oz or 150g fresh hulled peas, blanched
2 1/2 oz or 70g soft goat's cheese
1 egg
1 clove garlic
Good bunch fresh basil, leaves picked from the stems
3 1/2 oz or 100g fresh breadcrumbs
1 oz or 30g Parmigiano Reggiano, grated
Grated zest 1 lemon
8 oz or 2 medium zucchini or courgettes
Olive oil, for brushing on before grilling

To serve: four buns, tomato, mayonnaise, sliced purple onion or any of your other favorite burger toppings

Method
Put your peas, goat cheese, egg and garlic and in a big bowl and blend it all together until smooth with a hand blender. Or use a food processor.

Add in the fresh breadcrumbs and blend (or process) again.

Next the basil leaves go in.

Then the Parmesan and lemon zest.

Thinly slice the zucchini with a potato peeler.

Arrange them into crosses on a large piece of parchment paper on your work surface. My zucchini must have been shorter than the ones they used in the magazine because I had to overlap them in the middle to wrap all the way around.

Form your cheesy pea mixture into four patties and lay one on each of zucchini crosses. Lay a final slice of zucchini on each one and fold the ends under the patty.

Fold the rest of the slices up and over the patty. They may not be pretty but they will be tasty.

Put these, covered in cling film, into the refrigerator until you are ready to grill.

When you are ready to grill, light the charcoal and leave it until the coals are white and heat is uniform.

Brush one side of the patties with olive oil and lay each patty, oil side down, on a small square of aluminum foil. Brush the tops with oil.

Place these on the grill and cook for about four or five minutes.

Check that the underside of the patties are browning nicely.

Turn the patties over and carefully peel off the foil.

Cook on that side until the patties are nicely browned.

Turn the patties a couple of more times to make sure they are browned evenly and are cooked through.

Serve on toasted buns with mayonnaise, sliced tomato and onion.

Enjoy!

And my husband is so good on the Weber that I asked him to grill baby gem lettuces and I made this salad to go along side the burger. Isn't it pretty?

Check out all the delicious burgers we have for you today!

• Cheeseburger in Paradise by The Freshman Cook
• French Onion Burgers by Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Frita Cubana (Cuban Hamburger) by Tara's Multicultural Table
• Guacamole Bacon Burger by Fearlessly Creative Mammas
• Maw-Maw's Hamburger Surprise by Cooking With Carlee
• Mushroom Veggie Burgers with Roasted Tomato Mayo by The Joyful Foodie
• Pineapple and Bacon Burgers with Candied Jalapeños by Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Spiced Lamb Burgers with Pomegranate Chutney and Mint-Pistachio Pesto by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Sweet and Smoky Bacon Cheddar Burger by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Thai Turkey Burgers with Siracha Mayo by Our Good Life
• Western Bacon Burgers with BBQ Mayo and Crispy Onion Straws by Making Miracles
• Zucchini-wrapped Cheesy Pea Burgers by Food Lust People Love

Foodie Extravaganza is where we celebrate obscure food holidays or cook and bake together with the same ingredient or theme each month. This month we celebrate National Hamburger Month by serving up burgers of all kinds.

Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to participate in the next Foodie Extravaganza, just go to our Facebook page to join. We would love to have you!

Follow our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest board for past events and more deliciousness!

Cheese in Ham Muffins #MuffinMonday

These guys are savory muffins, replete with cheese, baked in a ham cup. Nuff said. They might not cure what ails you, but they help.

This has been a shite week, as my British friends would say. No kidding. Bad news on several fronts. And while some people eat chocolate or turn to liquid consolation, I tend to bake and pray. And I try to understand why some things happen the way they do. To nice people. And why some nice people DO the things they do. When the decision is so obviously detrimental. So, as I said, I pray about it. For health, for understanding, for acceptance, for direction. And I bake stuff that I want to eat. Which means that this week, it’s a savory muffin. Can’t say I’m feeling a whole lot better, but at least I’m not hungry on top of that. How do you console yourself? All suggestions welcome.

Ingredients
1/8-1/4 cup or 30-60ml olive oil
12 slices thin cut ham, plus 1 more for garnish (I used the Oscar Mayer Delifresh stuff.)
2 cups or 250g flour
7oz or 200g strong and bitey cheese, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup or 240ml milk
1/4 cup or 60ml canola or other light oil

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 12-cup muffin pan by greasing it liberally with the olive oil using a pastry brush.

Line each muffin cup with a circle of ham.

Cut the cheese into small chunks and set aside a good handful for putting on top of the muffins before baking. (Cut the rind off and discard, if there's a rind.) Cut the extra slice of ham into pieces.

In a large bowl, mix together your flour, the bigger pile of cheese, baking powder and salt, making sure that the cheese is well coated in flour and is not sticking together in clumps.

In a smaller bowl, whisk together your eggs, milk and oil.

Pour your wet ingredients into your dry ingredients stir until just mixed.

Divide the batter between the muffin cups, holding the ham up on one side with a finger while you spoon the batter in, if necessary.

Top each with the reserved smaller pile of cheese and a piece or two of ham.

Bake in your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until the muffins are golden and a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for a few minutes and then run a knife around the muffin pan to set the muffins free. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

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Cheese-Stuffed Soft Pretzels #FoodieExtravaganza

These pretzels are a bit fiddly to stuff, but the chewy texture created by the melted cheese inside is well worth the extra effort. And, honestly, it took very little time. 

Bread Making 101
My husband is a good sport. Last year I signed us up for a bread making class, so that we could accompany a couple of good friends who are interested in culinary pursuits. We ate breakfast, drank coffee and took notes while German master baker, Chef Rainer Scharold mixed flour and yeast and butter into a wonderful soft brioche dough, all the while explaining those steps but expounding on the virtues of real German pretzels. He asserted that the lye bath before baking was absolutely essential to achieve their proper golden brown color, then he dashed our hopes by saying it was not available in the UAE. So, when it was our turn to get our hands on the dough, we made little braided brioche loaves instead. I must admit that part of the fun for me was watching my husband roll out his three strands and then braid them, not his usual métier. He’s more of a hammer and nails get-things-done type.

Such concentration! That's him in the middle.

Much to my delight, I found a short video of our very class while searching for information on the chef so I'll put a link at the bottom of this post for anyone who wants to watch.

Foodie Extravaganza celebrates the pretzel
The point of this story is that when the “pretzel” theme for this month’s Foodie Extravaganza Party was announced, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to make traditional German ones here without lye, but I had learned from the bread class that an egg wash helped with the browning. That would have to do. And instead of boiling them in water before baking, as some folks on the internet suggested, it occurred to me that I could probably add chewiness to my pretzels from the inside by stuffing the dough with cheese.

I was right. These were fantabulous straight out of the oven but they also made wonderful sandwiches in the next couple of days, sliced in half and filled with roast chicken or salami and mustard with even more cheese.

Ingredients
For the dough:
1 1/2 cups or 360ml warm water
1/4oz or 7g active instant yeast
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 cup or 120g whole wheat
1 teaspoon salt
2 3/4 cups or 345g strong white bread flour plus extra for rolling and kneading

For the filling:
7 oz or 200g Tomme de Brebis (a semi-hard cheese made from sheep's milk) or other strong cheese - A good sharp cheddar would work well too. I used a little bit of this for sprinkling on before baking as well.

To finish:
1 large egg, beaten
Sprinkling of cheese, optional

Method
In a large bowl, mix the sugar and the yeast and add the warm water. Stir or swish the bowl around to mix the yeast in. Leave for a few minutes to make sure your yeast starts foaming up, which means it’s still active.

Add in the cup of whole wheat flour and the salt. Mix well.

Add in the bread flour a cup or so at a time, mixing well in between. You should end up with a sturdy but pliant dough.

Knead thoroughly for at least five to seven minutes.

Set aside to rest, covered in cling film, for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, grate your cheese and prepare your baking pan by lining it with parchment paper or a silicone mat.

Now use a sharp knife to divide the ball into eight equal pieces.

Roll them out into sausages about 22 in or 56cm long and then flatten the sausages.

Add healthy pinches of grated cheese all along the middle.

Start at one side and pinch the dough together the whole length of the roll, enclosing the cheese, and trying not to leave any air inside.  Fold the seam over just a little to make sure it won’t split right back open.

Shaping the pretzel
Make an upside down U shape with the dough roll and cross the ends over.

Now cross them under again to make a little twist.

Bring the crossed ends up and lay them on the circle of dough and move the pretzel to your prepared baking sheet. Continue until all the the pretzels are done.

Make sure to leave some room between them on the cookie sheet for when the dough rises. My cookie sheet isn’t very large, so I put the first four on the prepared cookie sheet and then put the next four on another piece of parchment so I could slide that easily to the cookie sheet when the first batch were baked.

Brush the pretzels all over with some of the beaten egg and sprinkle on grated cheese, if desired.

Put the pretzels in a warm place to rise for about 15 minutes, while you preheat your oven to 425°F or 220°C.

Bake in your preheated oven for 10-15 minutes or until desired brown color is reached.

Enjoy!

Dough adapted from this recipe at Sally’s Baking Addiction.

The cheesy inside

We are a group of bloggers who love to blog about food! And each month we all incorporate one main ingredient or theme into a recipe. This month we are celebrating pretzels. We hope you all enjoy our delicious pretzels this month and come see what next month's new ingredient or theme is. If you would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza.  We would love to have you!

If you are a fan of pretzels, this month’s Foodie Extravaganza, hosted by Lauren of From Gate to Plate,  is right up your twisted alley!

• Apple Cinnamon Pretzels with Creamy Caramel Dip  from Rebekah at Making Miracles
• Apple Pie Stuffed Pretzel Bites with Caramel Dipping Sauce from Lauren at From Gate to Plate
• Bacon and Egg Breakfast Pretzels from Cindy at Cindy's Recipes and Writing
• Caramel Apple Pretzels from  Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Cheese Stuffed Soft Pretzels from Stacy at Food Lust People Love
• Chili Cheese Pretzel Bites from Ashley at The Recipe Rebel
• Cinnamon Raisin Soft Pretzels from Heather at girlichef
• Hopped Up Pretzel Bites with Beer-Gouda Dip from Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Marble Chocolate Dipped Pretzels  from Marissa at Rae Gun Ramblings
• Peanut Butter Cup Pretzel Bites from Emily at It Bakes Me Happy
• Pretzel Rolls with Caramel Dipping Sauce from Lauren at Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Soft Pumpkin Pretzels from Alexis at We Like to Learn as We Go
• Soft Pretzel Cinnamon and Sugar Sticks from Ashlee at Ashlee Marie
• Sourdough Pretzels from Kelly at Passion Kneaded
• Spicy Cheddar and Jalapeño Pretzel Bites from Kimberly at Rhubarb and Honey
• Sun Dried Tomatoes and Cheese Soft Pretzels from Rachael from Eazy Peazy Mealz

The video - I'm in the purple t-shirt. 

Chili Cheese Dog Muffins for #MuffinMonday

When you think about it, (or is that just me?) almost anything can be made into a muffin, including a chili cheese hot dog: Spicy chili, sharp cheddar and hot dogs baked in a muffin then topped with more cheese, onions and mustard. Happy Memorial Day! 

This week I am channeling Coney Island and bringing you a chili cheese dog muffin, in honor of Memorial Day, the holiday when we Americans honor and thank the members of the armed forces who  sacrificed their lives in the line of duty to protect our nation. It is also the kickoff to hot dog eating season. Not that we can’t and don’t eat them year round but according to Forbes.com Americans eat an incredible seven billion hot dogs between Memorial Day in May and Labor Day in September. No telling how many of those are chili cheese dogs. But this year at least, a few of them will be muffins.

Ingredients
For the muffins:
2 cups or 250g flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon flakey sea salt or 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 oz or 115g extra sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup or 250g spicy beef chili
1/4 cup or 60ml canola or other light oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup or 120ml water
4 hot dogs (about 7 1/2 oz or 215g total weight) I like all beef Ball Park Franks. (Plus they are on sale this weekend at my Houston grocery store – Score!)

Note: I used homemade beef chili that is very thick, mostly meat, cooked down till there’s not much liquid left. If you are going to use store-bought or juicier chili, cut back on the amount of water.

For garnish:
2-4 tablespoons finely chopped onions
Yellow mustard

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 12-cup muffin tin by spraying with non-stick spray or lining with muffin papers. If you have a kind and generous mother like mine, see if she’ll volunteer for a Dollar Tree run to buy paper liners with little blue and red stars. You can pay her back in chili cheese dog muffins.

Grate your cheddar if it didn’t already come grated and finely chop your onion. Set aside a handful of the cheese for topping.

Slice the hot dogs into small circles and set aside 12 to poke into the tops of the muffins before baking.

Combine your flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cheese in a large mixing bowl.

In another smaller bowl, whisk together your eggs, oil, chili and water.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ones and stop when it’s still quite dry looking.

Toss in the big pile of hot dog circles and stir again.

Divide your batter between the 12 muffin cups.

Sprinkle the tops with the reserved cheese and chopped onions. Add one reserved hot dog circle to each and push it in just a little bit to make it stick.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Allow to cool for a few minutes in the pan and then remove to continue cooling on a wire rack.

Drizzle with a little yellow mustard, if desired. But I say, what’s a chili cheese dog without a generous drizzle of mustard?

Enjoy!

Now go shake a soldier's hand and thank him or her for her service. And pray for peace and that no one need ever make the ultimate sacrifice. And perhaps bake some muffins to share.