101 in 1001 - #58 - Cook 101 things ... (1/101)

I don't like Rachel Ray. Not personally, more a jealousy thing. I wish I had a talent (and personality) that I could make millions with. My opinion: her recipes are simple, she's too bubbly, and why make up an acronym and EVERY SINGLE TIME you use it, you say what it means (even in her books). "EVOO, that extra-virgin olive oil."

That being said, I've only seen her show about 5 times and 2 of them were repeats of the episode with Turkey Cacciatore Burgers. Basically, it's ground turkey, mushrooms, Parmesan, red bell, garlic, onion, worcheshire sauce, tomato paste, red pepper flakes, parsley all mixed together, made into burgers, then served on baked portobello mushrooms with mozzarella cheese. Here's the link to the official recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/turkey-cacciatore-burgers-on-portobello-buns-recipe/index.html

Changes I made: Based on other reviews I added an egg to hold everything together but it came out too wet so I added breadcrumbs. There was a strange shortage of poultry going on at the local grocery stores so I used ground chicken instead of turkey. I used smoked mozzarella for extra flavor. And I forgot to buy parsley so I used dried Italian seasoning.

Overall, it was darn tasty. I used a food processor to chop everything so there was no huge chunks of veggies. I think that would have been off-putting. It didn't look all that appetizing while cooking because of the egg factor. Next time I'll only use the egg white. I'll also shred the mozzarella (smoked was a great choice) and mix it in with the meat. Yep, I said it, next time.

In honor of #58 of 101 in 1001 I've established the Fat Running Chef Scale:
1=Never Ever Again
2=Try One More Time
3=Good But Needs Tweeking
4=OMG This Is So Good Calories Don't Count

And the Turkey Cacciatore Burgers get: