Buffalo Chicken Sliders

What's better than a buffalo chicken wing?  A buffalo chicken burger.  This burger has all the flavor of wings with less mess and the fun of a slider.

Makes: 7 sliders

Ingredients:

1 lb ground chicken
1/4 cup hot sauce, such as Frank's
1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles
slider buns

Here's how:

Combine all the ingredients in a medium sized bowl and incorporate fully.

Separate the meat into 7 equal sized patties.

Grill the burgers until completely cooked, about 8-10 minutes.

Place them on the slider buns, top with blue cheese or ranch dressing.

Optional, top burgers with thinly sliced celery for the full buffalo wing experience.

August 18, 2012 Garden

The tomatoes continue to flourish.  Also, I picked my first green bell pepper of the season.

Asian Pork Sliders with Wasabi Mayo Slaw

I have wanted to make these burgers after a recent dinner at my favorite Chinese restaurant.  I love steamed dumplings and wanted to get those flavors at home.  These burgers remind me of those dumplings but as a burger.  And even better. 

Ingredients:

For the burgers:

2 lbs ground pork
2 scallions, diced, green parts only
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced finely
2 tsp finely minced fresh ginger
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 TBS sesame oil
slider rolls

For the slaw:

2 tsp wasabi powder (found in the Asian food section of the supermarket)
1/4 cup mayo
2 cups col slaw mix

Here's how:

Combine all of the ingredients into a bowl.  Mix until everything is fully incorporated.

Use a large cookie scoop to scoop out the meat.  Form into a patty.

Make all the patties - should make about 15 burgers.

Set the burgers into the freezer to keep their shape while you make the slaw.  The burgers can also be made ahead and frozen for later.

Make the slaw by combining wasabi powder and mayo in a small bowl. Let sit 5 minutes.

Toss the coleslaw mix with the mayo.  Set aside.

Grill the burgers on the grill until the pink inside is gone.

Place the burger on the roll and top with slaw.

You can make extra mayo if you want mayo on the burger too.

Green Beans Galore

I finally got out to the area of my garden when the green beans are growing.  I am using a trellis this year and it really makes a difference.  They no longer flop over the top of my sad supports.  Also, they get a lot more light and have plenty of room to grow.  Picking has also become easier because the plants are growing over 6 feet high. Many of the beans are at eye level.  I also picked 14 San Marzano Tomatoes, 2 Purple Cherokee Tomatoes and 2 Early Girls. 

I also placed all of the beans into a small metal bucket I bought at a store on Shelter Island.  The bucket is galvanized metal and very cute.  This is my new bucket for picking in the garden.

Get Fresh With Me

I found this t-shirt in Peconic Bay Winery and thought it was great.  Support local farms, buy local.

August 12, 2012 Garden

I came home from my week long vacation and immediately ran out to check on the garden.  The tomatoes are continuing to come in.  I still have green beans to pick.   Maybe tomorrow...  You can see there are many unripe tomatoes in there.  The heavy winds during the storm on Friday knocked them off the vines so I took them from the ground.  I placed them in the kitchen window to ripen.
Below are 2 Big Boys, 2 Early Girls and lots of plum tomatoes.

A Garden Gives

I scheduled my summer vacation during the week my vegetable garden started to give fruit.  As our summer vacation is on Shelter Island (an island in the middle of Long Island's Twin Forks), I was able to stop at home to check on the garden for a few minutes.  The green beans were really growing but my zucchini and squash plants have not grown one fruit.  But my tomatoes are doing really well.  This year is the first year I can say that I have a healthy yield.  My cucumbers are starting to come in as well. Here is a picture of my picks from August 9, 2012.

So the question remains:  What do I make with these garden gifts?

The cucumbers will become pickles.

Can the plum tomatoes.

15 Minute Tomato Basil Sauce or Rigatoni with Sausage with the other tomatoes.

Container Store has come to Long Island

Today I was lucky enough to be invited to the Container Store's Blogger Preview for their new Long Island store. This is an event where bloggers are invited into the store to see it, learn about the company and get an inside look at what is to come.  I was not paid to attend the event but I did walk away with a bag full of goodies.  Best of all 10% of the first weekend's sales will go to the Women's Fund of Long Island. 

The store is located at 902 Old Country Road, Garden City, NY. The Grand Opening Weekend kicks off at 9:30 on Saturday. There will be gift card giveaways, raffles for a new closet organization system and other products each day this weekend. The store is exactly what the name says it is - a Container Store. It has all the things you need to organize your home, office, garage, suitcase and life. I had been to the store on Lexington Avenue in NYC and am excited that there is now one on Long Island where I can go. 

As much as I like local and organic cooking, I also enjoy other things.  One of those things is keeping my home, kitchen and closets organized.  You cannot have all of the kitchen items I have and not be organized.  Maybe you remember my post about organizing my pantry a few months back?  The same jars I used to organize my pantry were there and more. A wall full of them.

I have to get back to the store to get some more products to help organize the cookie sheets and other items that just seem to be a pain to organize.  I also need to get back to buy the kitchen drawer organizer.

Since this blog is about local, organic cooking and baking and green living, I had to find some items that fit for me and way I try to live. Well I found them.  The items they sell for organizing recycling items made me smile.  These products make it easy to organize your recyclables - which can take up room in your space.  These bins help to keep it neat.

Also an Eco-friendly item is the Eco Lunchbox.  No more waste when you put together lunches.

Homemade on Long Island is also about cooking and baking.  Container Store sells items to make your homemade items easy to decorate, give away as gifts, and personalized.

I have been wanting to get a closet organization system since I bought my home 7 years ago and never have.  I think I need to after seeing the systems they have at the store.  If you bring in your dimensions and tell the associates your needs, they will customize the closet for you.  They install as well.  Here are some pictures of the closets they have on display.

There are also hangers in every color to go into that closet.

If plastic hangers are not your thing, they also sell Huggable Hangers by Joy Mangano.  These are my personal favorite and I use the black ones with chrome.  They are thin, durable and the clothes really don't fall off.

They also carry clear containers in every size. The most common one is used for shoe storage, so you can see each pair of shoes easily while keeping them protected.  Every woman's dream.

In addition to the closets, the office supplies are in many styles and materials...including recycled.

 There are also bathroom, kitchen and kids items. Labelling items and gift wrap are also available.   And of course, containers of all shapes and sizes.

Now that I told you all the things that you want, how about the things they sell the hubby will like? How about garage organization?

Overall, my experience at Container Store was great.  The company is paired up with a local non-profit, sells Eco-friendly items, makes recycling easier and sells items that help you to make your own items Homemade on Long Island.  See you there.

Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes, Basil and Mozzarella

I love make easy pasta dishes.  They feed a lot of people and can often be made ahead.  I made this recipe using all local ingredients but you can use whatever your favorite brands are.  The sausage I used is from Dines Farms, the pasta and cheese are from Bambino's Ravioli, garlic is from the Garden of Eve Farm and the tomatoes, basil and oregano are from my garden.  What's more local than that?  This recipe makes a lot but you can freeze the extra sauce for later or just half the recipe for a smaller group.

Makes enough for 8 people. 

Ingredients:

2 TBS olive oil
6 Italian Style Sausages, pork, chicken or turkey will work here
6 large cloves of garlic, minced
8 cups plum tomatoes, cubed, you can use 2 28 oz. cans of diced tomatoes if you want
6 basil leaves, cut or torn into pieces
1 stalk fresh oregano
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 lbs rigatoni pasta, or your favorite type
1/2 lb. fresh mozzarella cheese, cubed

Here's how:

Prepare the pasta according to the directions.

To prepare the sauce, heat the oil in a deep saute pan.

Add the sausages and brown on all sides.

Remove the sausages and cut them into 1/2 inch rounds.  They will not be cooked all the way inside.  This is how you want them.  Set aside.

Add the garlic the the pan and saute for seconds in the fat let off by the sausages. 

This is where the flavor from the sausage is

Add the tomatoes and stir. 

Garlic and one cup tomatoes

                                                                 Half the tomatoes in
Add the basil, oregano, salt, pepper and sausages back into the pan.

                                                                    Everything in the pan
Cook on medium-high heat for 30 - 40 minutes until the sauce thickens and the sausages are cooked through.  The raw flavor of tomatoes will be gone and the sauce will taste like the sausage and herbs.

                                                                       Cooked down and ready to eat
Remove the stem from the oregano and discard.

In a large bowl or pot put in cooked pasta and pour the sauce on top.  Stir to combine. 

Stir in the fresh mozzarella and garnish with some extra basil if you have it.

                                                                   Fresh Mozzarella cut up

                                                                      Pasta is ready
Serve.