What the Forks for Dinner? - Page 170 of 202 - Recipes and ideas so you never have to ask what the forks for dinner!

Caramel Apple Burritos

Caramel Apple Burritos

Ahhhh fall………We love this time of year. The air has that edge of coolness, the leaves are starting to show their colors, sweatshirt and sweatpants are ready to be worn, and sweet crunchy apples are ready to picked and enjoyed!

Apples are a fruit that almost everyone loves…….including Tim and I. My assistant at work has a husband who loves to bake pies. He made a pie for Tim and I from ground cherries …….more on those in another post. But, Tim had mentioned an apple pie while we were marveling over the ground cherry pie.

Well, I had no pie crust……it is one of the things I buy instead of make………I am just not good at it, but I did have flour tortillas, and apples, and caramel bits……..Caramel Apple Burritos!

These were really easy to make, and if you use…… cough,cough…………canned pie filling they are even easier. But, with the variety of apples available this time of year you really should make your own filling. Besides, it’s really quite easy and homemade is always better. Maybe I will practice making crust……..

I recently purchased an apple slicer. The thing you put on top the apple and press down……..cores and cuts at the same time…….I love my new toy. For this recipe I did peel the apples first……used my handy dandy new toy, and diced the apples. A little brown sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice, and butter, made for a most excellent filling.

I must proclaim my love for the person whose idea it was to sell caramel bits! No unwrapping and trying to cut caramels. It would make caramel apples a breeze. But, for this recipe all I had to do was rip open the package and sprinkle them over that beautiful, luscious, apple filling.

Warm up the tortillas first to make them easier to roll. In the recipe I say to divide the apple mixture among the tortillas. Reason being that size is relative…….to some a large apple is really big…..like a softball, but to someone else it may be a bit smaller, so just divide it ……you don’t want some saying they were jipped.

Now, the cinnamon sugar ………..if you want a crispy sugary crust on anything….. turbinado sugar is your very best friend. It makes a pretty to look at, crispy sweet to eat crust, on these Caramel Apple Burritos.

Last weekend we had a wonderful stay at home, cook, cook, cook, weekend. The Italian Spaghetti and Meatball Burger was out of this world and our dessert of Caramel Apple Burritos……well all I can say is make a trip to your favorite apple orchard and get yourself a bushel of apples, cause you will want to make these again, and again!!!!!

Don’t forget to buy some ice cream…….:)

Italian Spaghetti-Meatball Burger

Italian Spaghetti-Meatball Burger

There are no words or pictures that can describe how truly awesome this Italian Spaghetti and Meatball Burger is………but of course we will try!

I was home one day and I was watching “The Chew”. The show that day was about burgers. They did all different kinds of recipes for burgers , but the one that caught my eye was for a spaghetti burger. They went to a place called PYT’s in Philadelphia, where the burger originated. It looked really good and not to hard to make.

Like all things that catch your eye sometimes it’s just a flash in the pan and you don’t think about it again. I just could not get this burger out of my mind. I kept telling Tim that I really wanted to make it. After some repeated discussion, and after Tim’s suggestion that we make the burger out of Italian sausage we began the Italian Spaghetti and Meatball Burger.

The burger part is fairly straight forward. Italian sausage, seasonings, egg, panko crumbs, mix, shape into eight patties then a little surprise in the center…….mini mozzarella balls, smush them down a little bit, otherwise it looks a little funny……lol. Top with another patty and seal the edges. and grill or pan fry.

The bun is a different story. PTY’s will not give the secret for how they shape the burgers. So, I improvised. If you have seen the Ramen Noodle Burger…..the one that the bun is made from ramen noodles, they use ramekins and place a can on top for weight. That was originally my plan for these burgers. But, at the grocery store there was a clearance rack……..by the way, I am a sucker for clearance or sale items……Tim is nodding ……….It was grill stuff, and I spied a burger press… if you can press a burger why not the bun…..made of spaghetti. Seemed easier than 8 ramekins. All I can say is, if you have one or can get one, the burger press is perfect for this recipe. If not the ramekins will work too.

At PTY’s they bake their buns but, I used a flat skillet sprayed with coconut oil. Worked like a charm. They are crispy on the outside and chewy inside. I must say using the spaghetti as a bun was a a stroke of genius that I would not have thought of, but I am glad PTY’s did!

To say this burgers exceeded expectations is an understatement! They were like a big plate of spaghetti and meatballs….only better….way better!

There is a line in the movie Pulp Fiction when Samuel L. Jackson takes a bite from a burger of a guy he is about to shoot, and he says ” thats a tasty “forking” (our word) burger……..

In the case of the Italian Spaghetti and Meatball Burger we think that is true!

Chicken Kenny

Chicken Kenny

Com’n listen to a story ’bout a man named……Kenny…….oh wait, wrong show!

Chicken Kenny is a story linked to the Cosby Show……so, lets start the story…..

Tim, as I have mentioned before is an identical twin, and when he and Tom were small ,they had an Uncle who could not tell them apart so, he called them both “Bud”……… a nickname that has stuck for both of them to this day.

Tim worked at Moonlight Bay Marina when Cosby Show was very popular. Now, if you have seen the Cosby Show, you know that the character of Rudy had a little friend who she called “Bud”.

When you first meet “Bud”, Rudy brings him home to meet the family. Bud, has a heart to heart with Mr. Huxtable, who discovers that Bud’s name is really Kenny. Rudy continued to call him Bud to which he would reply……my names not Bud its Kenny!

In a way, this is one of those you had to be there stories, but one of our friends Carol started calling Tim Kenny instead of Bud. The phrase……my names not Bud its Kenny was heard frequently.

During this time Tim made a mustard dipping sauce at the Marina, and it became………wait for it…………Kenny Mustard.

I have hear this story many times, but until the other day Tim had never made me Kenny Mustard. My recipe, for what is now going to know as Chicken Kenny starts with the Kenny Mustard. I used it as the binder for the crust for my Chicken Kenny.

I wanted to try and cut the calories in a chicken strip recipe by baking and not frying. I wanted it to have a crunchy crust……..pretzels…….they go with mustard………Kenny Mustard………Chicken Kenny!!!

It was super easy too……..just coat the chicken strips with the mustard and roll in crushed pretzels and bake. Easy peasy and they turned out AWESOME…………

Add them to your next Sunday football snack list, or make them for dinner. Kids will love them too!

Just be sure to save half the sauce for dipping!!