My favorite pizza is a great slice of Chicken Caesar Salad Pizza at Pizza Classica which is located nearby in Glendale, NY. I’ve never attempted to make it at home as the “roommate” (aka Nana) doesn’t like Caesar Dressing! I know nearing blasphemy being married to a Chef and not liking Caesar Salad! So today I was contemplating the flatbreads and started grabbing the cherry tomatoes, bacon, gorgonzola cheese and iceberg lettuce and before too long I realized a few dollops of Buttermilk Gorgonzola Dressing would be just the thing to push this BLT Pizza over the top!
Using the Thin Pizza Crust version of my favorite Brooklyn Bred flatbreads, I made a tasty lunch for us. We ate well and enjoyed Watermelon cubes and Ginger Cookies for dessert.
Here’s what I did: Spread a little mayo on the top of the flatbreads and grated Gorgonzola on top. Then I slid these onto the preheated pizza stone and turned on the broiler to brown the top and melt the cheese. Three minutes was perfect as the stone was on the middle shelf of the oven. Pulled them out, spread cherry tomato halves, crumbled bacon, a little crumbled gorgonzola cheese, lettuce and a few small dollops of Buttermilk Gorgonzola Dressing on top for a great tasting BLT Pizza!
Seasoned my slices with freshly ground black pepper and a few chili flakes for a touch of heat.
There was no hesitation, as deliciousness abounded and they were quickly devoured. This will be a repeated treat!
Yesterday I was craving a Burger and mucking around the internet I saw several thousand variations, some I’ve used in the past with mixed results. A few ingredients inspired me but none of the recipes sent me running to the kitchen. So I realized that I should just put forth a little effort and create my own recipe. Also I was thinking that I would have picked any of the recipes, printed it and taken it to the kitchen and tweaked it a few times anyway. I closed the browser with 8 to 10 tabs still open and decided to make up my own new version of a Turkey Burger.
This is how THE ULTIMATE POSSIBLE TURKEY BURGER was born. The recipe was created on “paper” then put into action and tweaked a few times while mixing it all together.
The proper title is now: Chef Jim’s Mushroom Bacon Turkey Burger with Buttermilk Gorgonzola Sauce in Lettuce Cups.
I did use one ingredient that is unusual for me and that is Dehydrated Onion Flakes! I own them as they play an important roll in the copycat White Castle Slider recipe that I’ve used in the past. What I like about them in this recipe is they provide a bit of onion flavor without chunks of onion in the mix, thus highlighting the chunks of mushrooms. Certainly finely uniform diced onion would work if you prefer, but grated onion provides an added liquidy texture in my opinion that doesn’t always bode well in finished product.
For the same reason, I used Penzeys Roasted Garlic Powder in the seasoning. If you haven’t tried the Roasted Garlic Powder, get some quick. It truly is a flavor booster! I also used a Penzeys dried herb blend in the Buttermilk Gorgonzola Dressing. It blends chives, dill, basil, tarragon, chervil and white pepper and imparts a mild herby flavor to the dressing. Eliminate if you like or add your favorite greenish herb blend or fresh herb. Fresh chives would be sufficient on their own.
This dressing is very useful for any salad but my first use for it was on Chilled Grilled Chicken Strips over Crisp Romaine with Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes. This Chicken recipe is a delicious buffet entree and makes a beautiful platter! The dressing is also great on grilled Romaine Halves!!!
Back to the ULTIMATE POSSIBLE BURGER, of course, here in my Queens, NY apartment it’s not possible to grill Burgers on a Charcoal or Gas Grill, but delicious results were created by utilizing my stovetop cast iron grill pan and a hot oven for finishing.
Chef Jim’s Mushroom Bacon Turkey Burgers with Buttermilk Gorgonzola Dressing in Lettuce Cups Recipe
Author: Chef Jim
Serving Size : 4
Amount
Ingredient
Preparation
1 Tbsp
Olive Oil
1 Cup
Fresh mushrooms
Finely chopped
3 Tbsp
Minced onion flakes
1/2 tsp
Roasted garlic powder
1/4 tsp
Kosher salt
1/4 tsp
Ground Black Pepper
3 Tbsp
Barbecue sauce
3 strips
Cooked bacon
crumbled
1 Tbsp
Olive Oil
4 Tbsp
Gorgonzola cheese
crumpled
4
Iceberg Lettuce Cups
1 Pint
Cherry Tomatoes
quartered
2 strips
Cooked Bacon
crumbled
Buttermilk Gorgonzola Dressing
See recipe
Salt and Pepper to taste
Sauté mushrooms in olive oil once they begin giving off
natural juices add onion flakes and garlic powder, cook until liquid has mostly
evaporated, remove from heat and stir in bread crumbs. Cool.
Season ground turkey with salt and pepper add crumbled
bacon, mushroom mixture and barbecue sauce.
Form into 4 patties and let sit in fridge for 20 minutes.
Remove burgers from fridge and brush lightly with olive oil. Toss tomatoes with salt and pepper to taste set tomatoes aside.
Grill burgers until 160º on instant read thermometer, add one tablespoon of crumbled blue cheese on top of each burger for last minute or two of cooking. Remove from grill add to lettuce cups and garnish with tomatoes and the collected juices from salting, the optional extra crumbled bacon then dress with Buttermilk Gorgonzola Dressing.
**I grilled mine on cast iron grill pan until 130º then finished in hot oven.
Dressing–Buttermilk Gorgonzola Dressing
Author: Chef Jim
Serving Size: 6
Amount
Ingredient
preparation
2/3 cup
Buttermilk
1/2 cup
Plain Greek Yogurt
1/4 tsp
Roasted Garlic Powder
5 ounces
Gorgonzola Cheese
Crumbled
1/8 tsp
Kosher Salt
1/8 tsp
Ground Black Pepper
1 tsp
Parisien Bonnes Herbs
(Penzeys)
In medium size bowl combine buttermilk, yogurt, and garlic powder; mix in cheese, season with salt and pepper, and dried herbs to taste. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to blend flavors.
Hope you enjoy this slightly decadent, somewhat healthyish flavorful recipe!
