Just Cheese'n

I am in the midst of an exciting, thrilling, captivatingly ecstatic love affair- with blue cheese. I can't seem to get enough of it! I don't remember much about the first time I tried it, but what I do remember is that blue cheese dressing was a quick and satisfying bribe to convince me to order a salad at a young age. Fox Hill, my family's country club, was always a favorite dinner spot amongst the Burke cousins from a very young age. Our parents would drag us for dinner at least once a week, and sometimes more often if during the summer months. The cousin clan ordered pretty much the same thing every time we went.
"Can I have . . . "
"--May I have."
"May I have a grilled cheese with bacon ( which Fox Hill actually put on their menu due to popular demand), and a hearts of lettuce salad with blue cheese dressing and NOTHING else." I liked the dressing, but what I loved was finding the big chunks of blue cheese amidst the creamy base.

Once I discovered how much I enjoyed oil and vinegar, I seemed to drift from the blue cheese dressing. It wasn't until recently, when I became infatuated with the Waldorf Chicken Salad at California Pizza Kitchen, (apples, grapes, pecans, and dried blue cheese) that I rekindled every ounce of my past blue cheese delight.

Flash forward to assignment number two for my Food Writing Class: Pick an ingredient. Research it, cook it, serve it, write about it. I chose to work with the sun dried tomato, which led me to find a recipe for sun-dried tomato feta turkey burger sliders. They definitely caused a thrilling stir in the Burke household as well as during our class's Monday taste testing session.

Then I got to thinking (nod to Carrie Bradshaw for the contemplation phrase) . . . what if I substituted blue cheese for feta cheese. For any of you who have visited or spent a lengthy period of time on any of the Greek islands like I have, you'll understand when I say that "I AM SO SICK OF FETA CHEESE."

This past Saturday, my brother Michael cut his night out early when he found out that I would be creating these sliders for an encore presentation. I bought two pounds of 99% fat free Ground Turkey from my local Wegmans, I mashed the ground turkey in a huge bowl and combined it with four tablespoons of EVOO, a cup of crumbled blue cheese, a cup of Julienne cut sun dried tomatoes packed in italian herbs, a cup of chopped baby spinach leaves, and some ground pepper.

Next, I heated a large skillet on the stove on high heat because I am annoyingly impatient and did not want to wait for it to heat on medium. Take a tablespoon and make cupped sliders. Once on the skillet, be sure sure to keep watch because each side of the slider takes about three to four minutes to prepare, which is really not long at all.


The recipe called for a Sun-Dried Tomato Mayonnaise, but I was dying to throw some pesto sauce into the mix so I created my own Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Mayo to smooth over the top of the bun. While the burgers finished cooking on the burner I created the spread by improvising and hoped for the best. For this I used:

Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Mayonnaise

1 Cup of Fat Free Hellemens Mayonnaise
3/4 cup of chopped sun-dried tomatoes
½ cup of any pesto sauce
a few pinches of minced garlic and basil
a pinch of ground pepper, minced onion, and sea salt

I found some great whole wheat slider buns and coated the top with the special pesto sauce before sliding the burgers into the center.

I think blue cheese itself has a slight whisky taste too it. So, initially, I tasted that whisky whiff that made you step back for a second like "woah thats strong." But, immediately following that you think, "wait, no, thats good!" It's almost as if you think you're overwhelmed with flavor, but instead, you're just captivated.

I loved the sauce, but I really wanted to see what my best taste tester- my brother Mike, thought about it.

Me: Now Mike, be honest. Tell me about the sauce.

Michael: oh! The mayo- it was so good! It tasted like that special sauce that you want on everything and you can’t put your finger on just what is in it. I think the sliders would be too plain without it! At football camp they had this awesome combination, and then we learned it was ketchup and mayo. But, this is so much better!

Then I asked my Mom and Dad for their reaction to these little burger gems.
My dad said, "“Slimy yet satisfying” – quoting the lion king. No, really. I thought they were very tasty. They were a touch tangy and a touch sweet. A nice texture and had a little bite but definitely not too much. They were a little chewy- but good chewy. They smelled incredibly savory while on that skillet."
My mom said, "They're like a healthy burger. I feel light, not stuffed. Don't be too afraid to throw some extra sauce on the burger. The blue cheese should have been in the original recipe, not feta."

WIth May 1st just days away, I am becoming more and more excited about trying these on the grill. I suggest throwing together any side salad that you're in the mood for, and pairing the meal with a light beer.



Blue Cheese Sun-Dried Tomato Turkey Burger Sliders

4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 lb ground turkey
1 Cup crumbled blue cheese
1 Cup sun-dried tomatoes, jarred in olive oil
1/2 Cup fresh baby spinach leaves, chopped
makes about 12!