VIP's? Not in my kitchen...

My interest for cooking increased quite a bit after Allison and I went to live tapings of cooking shows in New York. We saw Rachael Ray and Martha Stewart. When we went to see Rachael’s show, audience members who didn’t have tickets had to get there an hour before to wait on line to get in. And there was no guarantee that you were going to get in either. After waiting, we were lucky enough to get the last two tickets for that taping. There’s this whole process where you have to check in, go through metal detectors, and then sit in the waiting room until you are called row by row to go into the studio. Since we were last in line, we were last to go into the studio, but to our surprise the assistant told us that were going to be sitting in the VIP bridge since there were no more seats left. She informed us that it’s a cool view because you get to see everything taking place and it’s where the camera, sound, and technical people sit as well. It is also where Rachael’s family and friends sit when they come to a taping. So once Rachael came out, she waved to everyone and looked up at us, and as she was waving she gave us the DIRTIEST look ever! I don’t know if she was thinking, “who are these bitches sitting in my VIP spot?!” or “do I know those girls?” or “they are too pretty get them out of here!” Either way, it was really uncomfortable and made us think of her in a different light. The show itself was entertaining though, Bruno from "Dancing with the stars" was there, Dr.Phil was there, and she demonstrated how to make a “zin zen chicken,” which we didn’t get to taste but it was available to buy at the Marriott after the show (Martha gave us food at her show!).

Anyway, one night when Allison and I “cooked through the phone,” we made a Rachael Ray barbeque chicken burger recipe using ground turkey breast instead of chicken because it's leaner and has less fat. It came out pretty good, and when I attempted to make it again a month or so later, I didn’t use the worcestire sauce that the recipe called for because it didn’t sit well in my stomach the first time (yes, our whole family has sensitive stomachs). I’ve made this recipe quite often for my dad and I, and the last time Allison came down I made it for her and she thought I was hiding a secret recipe from her when in reality she’s the one that showed me the recipe in the first place! (We won’t go into her selective memory right now).

I don’t remember Rachael Ray’s original recipe, but this is my version of it:

1 pound Jenni-O ground turkey breast (don’t even get me started with the difference between ground turkey and ground turkey breast!)
1 egg
1 small can of tomato paste
3/4- 1/2 cup of ketchup (eyeball it!)

Preheat oven to 450. Whisk the egg first into a bowl, and then take about 3/4 of the turkey breast at a time and break it up into the bowl. Start adding ketchup, making sure that the turkey breast is getting mixed in with the egg and ketchup. It’s best to use your hands to mix it all up, but it’s SO cold so I usually use a spatula. Then add about half of the tomato paste and mix it in as well. If all the turkey is covered with the mixture and it looks more “red” instead of “pink,” you don’t need to add anymore tomato paste or ketchup. Then take the turkey and roll into patties, big or small depending on preference. Allison says (and she’s right) that if you make them small-medium it cooks faster. Cook them for about 20 minutes and check them, turn them over and put them back in accordingly. The cooking time probably takes 30-35 minutes depending.

This recipe is a lot juicer than just plain turkey burgers and tastier too! I guess I have to give Rachael Ray credit for a good recipe, but until she apologizes to us, I prefer Martha! Just wait until the post about Martha’s show; I don’t know if you can handle it….