Thanksgiving Dinner With a Vietnamese Touch, To-Go from Tiato Cafe

Tiato Cafe is a market and cafe in the afternoons that turn into a private event venue in the evenings, with the catering branch of House of An (Crustacean, AnQi, etc) running from the kitchen in the back. I've never been here before but the venue looked beautiful at night- they have the largest patio in Santa Monica.

Naturally the catering service will have turkey and all the other goods available for to-go orders for the upcoming Thanksgiving (you can order using this form)! To promote it, I was invited to try them at Tiato. You can order the herb-crusted turkey and select which sides you want, but I got to try almost all of them and more in Tiato's lovely private dining room.

The main attraction is of course the organic free range herb crusted turkey with garlic gravy

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Turkey and Onion Grilled Cheese for National Grilled Cheese Month!

In honor of national grilled cheese month, I bring you....

the turkey and onion grilled cheese. 

 























Specifically, maple turkey and sauteed red onions. We used gouda, and it was good-ah!. And then the next day we used pepperjack, and it too was delicious. A bit of spiciness to cut the sweetness from the maple turkey and red onions. Oh my word, it melted in my mouth. I'm wondering what I could add to this already-amazing sandwich to make it even better... maybe some crunch of some sort?? Or some green veggies like spinach or something fancy?? Or I could just leave it as-is and ooh and ahh in amazement over it still.

We used 3 tbsp butter for the bread. You can either melt the butter and dip the bread slices in the butter, or soften the butter and spread on the bread slices. Whichever you prefer.

Turkey and Onion Grilled Cheese

a SteakNPotatoesKindaGurl original 

*Yields 2 sandwiches

• 1/2 of a red onion, sliced
• 2 tbsp butter
• 4 slices of whole wheat bread
  
• 3 tbsp or so of butter, melted or softened*
• 4 slices of maple turkey
• 4 slices of gouda cheese
  

In a medium skillet, add 2 tbsp butter until melted. Then add sliced red onion and saute until softened and golden brown.

Spread the bread slices with 3 tbsp softened butter. In a large skillet on medium-low, add the bread slices. If you have a large enough skillet, you can add all 4 slices of bread all at once. If not, you will need to do this in batches. We did one sandwich at a time, so we only added 2 slices of bread to begin with. Top one slice of bread with 2 slices gouda. Then add 2 slices of maple turkey, then some sauteed red onions. Top with the other slice of bread. Press down with a spatula or heavy object. Flip if needed. Repeat with 2nd sandwich.

*Note: You can either melt the butter and dip the bread slices in the butter, or soften the butter so it is spreadable and spread on the bread slices. Whichever you prefer.

Printable Recipe

Seriously, it was delish. It had me asking PJ why we can't or don't open up a sandwich or panini shop of our own if it's that easy and delicious, and better than what we've got at restaurants in the past! Tom and Chee aint got nothin on us!! We will FOR SURE be making these all of the time. 

And whipping up more grilled cheese ideas along the way, too.

Linking up here.

Peace, and bacon grease!

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Buffalo Turkey Burgers

Ever since I started blogging, I have wanted to try different meats besides my usual chicken with an occasional pork or steak. A couple of months back, I came across this burger recipe at Thyme for Wine (clever name!) and it uses ground turkey rather than the usual ground beef. Perfect way to try a different kind of meat, I thought. Of course, like always, I had to make a few changes to suit our likings as well as cut the recipe down because it originally yields 6 servings but we were making enough just for the two of us. We ended up making four burgers total, but I should have known that there is NO way I could eat two of these! They are plump! So really I only had one burger, and didn't really need to make four total... I don't remember the exact measurements, so I will just supply the original recipe from Rebecca in regards to the ingredient amounts.

Buffalo Turkey Burgers adapted from Thyme for Wine

Printable recipe

*Yields: 6 servings

•  1.2 lbs lean ground turkey
• 1/2 white onion, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup bread crumbs
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/3 cup hot sauce/buffalo sauce
• 6 slices of mozzarella cheese (I used pepper jack cheese)
• 6 hamburger buns
• lettuce for serving
• celery sticks for serving

In a large bowl, combine the ground turkey, chopped onion, bread crumbs, salt and pepper. Once incorporated, form into 6 equally sized patties. 

In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the turkey burger patties to the skillet. Cook on each side for at least 7 minutes (depending on the thickness of the burgers). 

Once the burgers are done, toss them in a bowl of buffalo sauce. Set the burgers on a baking sheet lined with foil, place a piece of cheese on top and put in the oven to broil for two minutes (I put it on 'bake' at 200° just enough to melt the cheese). At this time, you can toast the buns in the oven if you like. 

When serving, place a small piece of lettuce on each bun, then the burger, and then any toppings of your choice like blue cheese crumbles or dressing on top. 

Note: You can serve them with celery sticks too for a real buffalo feel.

Unfortunately, I didn't really enjoy this meal. Dipping them in the hot sauce makes them very spicy, so just brush some on top if you don't want too much heat. And I found I didn't really like the ground turkey texture or flavor. It's probably a personal preference. Ok so maybe I'm not a ground turkey kinda gurl? Not 100% sure, but I don't think I will be making this recipe again. Maybe I will give ground turkey another try in another recipe, like chili or some other kind of burger.

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Turkey Diane... NOT worth your time!

A few weeks back, I tried a new recipe using turkey breast cutlets. I have been on such a chicken kick for quite some time, so I wanted to switch things up. I found the recipe Turkey Diane on some website I have never been to before, so I was already hesitant about it. But decided to try it anyways because I always tend to make the same meals over and over again!

Here is the actual recipe....

Turkey Diane (from CDKitchen)

**Yields 4 Servings**

1 pound turkey breast cutlets
2 teaspoons lemon pepper
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon parsley
lemon for garnish
nonstick cooking spray

1. Coat a large skillet with cooking spray; heat for 30 seconds. Add turkey; sprinkle with lemon pepper and cook for 3 to 5 minutes on each side until browned and no longer pink in the center.
2. Combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl, mixing well. Add to pan and cook until heated through. Garnish with lemon and parsley.

Now granted, I had to make my usual tweaks to the recipe based on my own personal preference and convenience of items. I did not have lemon pepper but used regular pepper instead. I don't think that would make much of a difference considering it is only 2 teaspoons worth, plus I have the flavor from the lemon juice. I used regular mustard instead of Dijon mustard because that is what I had on hand. I did not have any parsley or lemons for garnish, but again these are more optional in my opinion. I am sure they may have enhanced the flavor somewhat, but those missing ingredients COULD NOT have been the reason why this dish tasted so... blah. There was barely any liquid mixture, and it didn't add much flavor. On parts of my turkey cutlet, I tasted mustard, but mainly not much flavor at all. My fiancee thought it had even less flavor than I did, so he had to get some bbq sauce (or maybe it was horseradish sauce?) to dip it in.

Needless to say, I won't be making this again. There was not much to it. Yes, it was an easy fix but I guess I would rather have to spend more time and effort on a delicious dish than spend no time or effort on a "blah" dish.

Don't make it, people! It will be a waste of your time! If you can prove me wrong, or know where I might have went wrong, please let me know! I would be willing to make it again if someone could work miracles on this recipe :)

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