Chicken, Chive & Spinach Burgers

Taking a break from all the party dessert recipes, I wanna share what we had for dinner tonight since we really liked it. It was the first time I made it, but it's now in my file to make again. I found it on Fox 13, but the link to the recipe there no longer exists. So lucky us that I had copied and pasted it already. I included it as it was below, even though I didn't do it exactly the same, but close.

I didn't wilt the spinach first, just chopped it pretty small and threw it into the ground chicken fresh. This was the first time I ever used ground chicken and know nothing about it besides that it is a bit slimy-er feeling than ground beef when it's raw. I don't have a seasoning blend so I just used salt, pepper, garlic and thyme. I forgot to put the cheese on them, but I think I would like it better without the cheese anyway. We also just used regular buns and we skipped the mustard. Lots of flavor and a nice, moist burger.

Chicken, Chive & Spinach Burgers

2 c. packed baby spinach leaves
16 oz. ground chicken breast
2 T. honey Dijon mustard
1 small bunch fresh chives, snipped (about 1/3 c. snipped)
1 t. favorite all-purpose seasoning
1/4 c. panko (or regular) bread crumbs

For serving:
3 T. low-fat mayonnaise
2 t. Dijon mustard
2 T. snipped fresh chives
Lettuce, cheese slices, tomato slices
4 thin sandwich buns such as Aunt Millie's 90-calorie Slimwiches


Preheat or prepare the grill. Rinse the spinach leaves. Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add the spinach leaves with water still clinging to the leaves. Saute the spinach until wilted.

In a bowl, combine the ground chicken, honey Dijon, cooked spinach, chives, seasoning blend and bread crumbs. Mix well. Shape into 4 patties about 1/2-inch thick.

Oil the grill grates and grill the burgers about 6-8 minutes per side or until thoroughly cooked. An instant-read thermometer should register 165°.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, mustard and chives.

To assemble burgers, toast the buns, if desired. Spread a dollop of the mayonnaise mixture on the inside of each bun. Place lettuce on the bottom. Top with the burger, cheese slice and tomato. Place the other bun half on top and serve.

Mint-Truffle Ice Cream Terrine with Mint and Chocolate Sauces

This was my favorite polka dot dessert and it didn't even make it to the party. I started making it the night before, but I didn't finish assembling it until the morning of the party and it didn't harden enough to be ready. It's chocolate truffles frozen in a loaf of vanilla ice cream. I like it because it's unique and also because of the rich, chocolatey truffles embedded in the ice cream. Those bites with the truffles are really good. R-E-A-L-L-Y good! I'd like to try a different flavor of ice cream next time because vanilla is my least favorite flavor. Maybe a coconut sorbet. Coconut and mint and chocolate? Sounds good to me.  

I found this recipe at Bon Appétit. I have a note about the chocolate sauce below the recipe. The recipe also calls for a mint sauce made from fresh mint, so it's green. I wasn't sure if kids would want to try it so I didn't make any. With fresh mint, I'm sure it would be really good though. For this photo I just used purchased chocolate syrup because the homemade chocolate sauce wasn't drizzling pretty for a photo.

Mint-Truffle Ice Cream Terrine with Mint and Chocolate Sauces

Truffles and chocolate sauce

1 1/2 c. heavy whipping cream

16 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 t. pure peppermint extract
Unsweetened cocoa powder
5 c. (2 1/2 pints) vanilla ice cream, slightly softened

Mint Sauce:

3/4 c. sugar

1/3 c. water
2 c. (lightly packed) fresh mint leaves

Preparation

Truffles and chocolate sauce

Bring cream to simmer in heavy large saucepan; remove from heat. Add chocolate; let stand 1 minute. Whisk until mixture is smooth. Whisk in extract. Freeze until firm, about 4 hours, or chill overnight.

Line baking sheet with foil. Drop scant 1 tablespoon chocolate mixture for each of 16 truffles onto prepared sheet. Dust hands with cocoa; roll chocolate mounds into rounds. Cover and freeze truffles. Cover and chill remaining chocolate mixture for sauce. (Truffles and sauce can be made 2 days ahead.)

Line 8 1/2 x 4 1/2x2 1/2-inch metal loaf pan with plastic wrap, leaving long overhang. Spread 1/3 of ice cream (about 1 2/3 cups) over bottom of prepared pan. Press 8 truffles in random pattern (and spaced apart) into ice cream layer. Spread 1/2 of remaining ice cream over. Press remaining 8 truffles in random pattern (and spaced apart) into second ice cream layer. Spread remaining ice cream over. Cover terrine with plastic wrap overhang. Freeze at least 6 hours and up to 2 days.

Mint sauce

Bring sugar and 1/3 cup water to boil in small saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Pour syrup into blender; cool 10 minutes. Add mint leaves to syrup and puree until smooth. Transfer sauce to bowl; cool. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Whisk to blend before using.)

Stir chocolate sauce over low heat until warm. Transfer to pitcher. Turn ice cream terrine out onto platter; peel off plastic. Cut terrine crosswise into slices; arrange on plates. Drizzle chocolate sauce and mint sauce around terrine.

                                        

The recipe says to use the leftover truffle chocolate as a sauce for the ice cream, but it was very thick so I added some extra whipping cream to make it a bit thinner. It was still thick. But it is sooooo heavenly. I would say I will whip some up and keep it in the fridge for impromptu ice cream nights, but that would be very dangerous. It would not last long at this house!