My husband and I have been sitting together in our living room for the last week and a half cheering on our Canadians in the Olympics. Each medal we get we beam from ear to ear, proud to be a part of this beautiful country....especially HOCKEY. Hockey is the real deal for Canadians, even ones who don't normally watch the sport come out of the wood works for the Olympics (ummm, that would be me). A sport that brings our country together is one I like to cheer for.

The operative word being "cheer". Neither my husband or I are any type of athlete. We're both more of the emotional artistic type. But when it comes to food we could definitely compete with the best of them. Cooking Iron-Chef style would be my event but both Steve and I could win a medal in a throwdown for "who gets the last bite of food". Just last weekend we roasted up a lamb leg with friends and Steve scarfed down 7...maybe 8 pieces of meat polishing off the platter. And that was before he found out there was more lamb in the kitchen so he snuck three more pieces. And then ate two slices of chocolate tart.

Okay so yes, he may be able to beat me (hands down) in that category but I would put up a good fight for the last toasted coconut cupcake, the last buffalo chicken wing, the last cheese encrusted nacho, the last gyoza dumpling, or the last piece of Spicy Shrimp Tempura Maki from our favorite sushi place. Heck, Steve and I would even battle it out for the last piece of pickled ginger that comes with the sushi. I may not be able to devour a half a leg of lamb but I could definitely throwdown for some sweet pink pickled ginger, our chopsticks clicking together in a miniature version of plate hockey. And after (I WIN) we would revel in the uniting factor of good food.

These sweet meaty burgers are topped with the mildly pungent pink morsels of pickled ginger that we love so much and would fight for the last piece over, as well as cool crisp cucumber making these burgers totally irresistible.

I would definitely fight for the last one of these babies.

Recipe adapted from Rachael Ray
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Serves 4


1 lb ground pork
4 green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, grated
1 tbsp grill seasoning, or salt and pepper
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
1 tbsp oil
1/4 cup pickled ginger
1 english cucumber, sliced
Lettuce
4 buns

In a mixing bowl mix together ground pork, green onions, garlic, grill seasoning and teriyaki sauce. Divide mixture into 4 portions and shape into burger patties.

In a frying pan or on the grill, turn heat to medium and drizzle in your oil. When hot add the burger patties. Let them cook for about 6 minutes, turn and then cook another 4-5 minutes. Make sure your heat isn't too high since the sugar in the teriyaki sauce will want to caramelize and burn. You can put a lid on your pan to speed up the cooking process without raising your heat.

Split open your buns, add the lettuce, teriyaki pork burger and top with cucumber slices and pickled ginger.


Click here for printable version of Teriyaki Pork Burgers.

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THE RESULTS?
The ease of preparation and the interesting flavor profile keep us coming back for more of these bad boys. It seems every time I have some ground pork kicking about either my husband requests these or I automatically gravitate towards cooking up these Asian-inspired gold mines. We love 'em and can't get enough of 'em.

These would be excellent prepared with ground chicken if you prefer. I choose pork because we love the flavor and ground pork is about a quarter of the price of ground chicken, making this quite a frugal meal for us.



For more recipes, visit Gayle's Grocery Cart Challenge and $5 Dinner Challenge.
And for more fabulous Rachael Ray recipes visit Taste and Tell's Saturdays with Rachael Ray.

Last night if I hadn't already met my daily quota of pillowy carbs and bundles of meat I definitely tripled it from all the dumplings I ingested. We celebrated Valentine's Day by getting together with two other couples and creating a Dim Sum feast for Chinese New Year. I made Chinese Steamed Spareribs in Black Bean Sauce and a Beef and Chinese Chive version of these potstickers that I could've eaten until my stomach exploded.

Because my stomach is still in the Chinese food spirit I thought it was time to post this recipe. And while this Orange Chicken may not be authentically Chinese, it is authentically satisfying and authentically mouth watering. It's amazing how easy this popular North American Chinese take-out favorite is to make at home; and without all the MSG and subsequent gut-bloating/hungriness half an hour later.

Recommended by Thoughts from a Wanderer and adapted from Allrecipes.
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Serves 4


Sauce:
1 1/2 cups water
2 tbsp orange juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp grated orange zest
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1/2 tsp garlic, minced
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
3 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp water

2 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Canola oil

1 head of broccoli, cut into florets
2 green onions, chopped


In a saucepan over medium-high heat combine all ingredients for the sauce except for the cornstarch and 2 tbsp of water. Bring to a boil and stir to combine. Turn heat to low and let simmer, stirring occasionally while you make the chicken and broccoli.

In a bag or on a large plate, combine the flour, salt and pepper. Add the chicken and toss until coated with the flour mixture. In a medium pot over medium heat add enough oil to come up the side of the pot about 1-2 inches. Divide the chicken and add in small batches so the temperature of the oil doesn't drop. Cook for about 3-5 minutes, or until the chicken turns golden and crispy and is no longer pink on the inside. Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate. Continue cooking chicken in batches until all chicken is golden.

In a separate pot or in the microwave, steam broccoli florets for about 5-6 minutes until tender crisp.

Turn the heat on the sauce back up to about medium. Stir together the cornstarch and remaining 2 tbsp of water and add to the sauce. Stir for a minute or two until thickened then remove from heat.

In a large bowl toss together broccoli, chicken and sauce. Top with chopped green onions. Serve over rice or along side fried rice.


Click here for printable version of Chinese Orange Chicken.

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THE RESULTS?
I'm not gonna lie, when I originally read the recipe I was tempted to mess with it and cut the brown sugar and up the orange juice and cut the lemon juice and up the ginger and and and....BUT I held back and made the sauce according to the original. The orange taste is subtle yet bright. The combination of sour acids is balanced with rich brown sugar giving the sauce a smooth tang. It really is delicious and tastes just like Orange Chicken from a North American Chinese restaurant.

My addition of the broccoli ups the nutritional value and adds a great texture and crunch. This is a great recipe for pleasing everyone in the family, including the kids.


For more excellent Chinese recipes made at home, check out:

• Beef and Broccoli
• Cashew Chicken
• Fried Rice
• Lemon Chicken
• Won Ton Soup

For inexpensive meal ideas, visit $5 Dinner Challenge and Gayle's Grocery Cart Challenge.

This dish is recreated from the dish of the same name at East Side Mario's. I order it every time I go there, and one day started to realize how ridiculously easy it would be to make at home. It's so easy, my husband offered to make it the other night when I was too tired to cook. I was able to give him simple directions while my butt made a nice little indent on the couch and he whipped up this totally delicious gourmet pasta.

Recipe inspired by East Side Mario's
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Serves 4

1 lb frozen raw shrimp
1 pkg snap peas (or snow peas)
1-2 tomatoes, deseeded and chopped.
4 tbsp jarred pesto
A good drizzle of olive oil
1 lb bowtie pasta (also called farfalle)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4-1/2 tsp dried red chili flakes
Salt and pepper

Get your shrimp running under cold water in a colander for 5 minutes to defrost them. Also put on a big pot of water and salt it for your pasta.

While you are waiting for your shrimp to defrost and water to boil, you can start de-stringing your pea pods. This is the only tedious part. Grab the tip of one end and pull the string until it comes out the other end. Do this to all your pea pods and then cut them in half. To deseed your tomato, you cut it in half (with the tomato sitting face up on your cutting board), and then stick your fingers inside and pull out all the juicy seedy parts. Leave all the tomato flesh inside. This will make your sauce taste much better.

Put your pasta in the boiling water. De-shell the shrimp once they are defrosted as well as remove the tail. Put a frying pan on medium-high heat with a tablespoon or so of olive oil. Once the pan is nice and hot, throw in your shrimp and season with salt, pepper, chili flakes and garlic powder. They should really only take 1 to 2 minutes to cook. You just want them to have barely turned pink. Remove them from the pan onto a plate and add your pea pods to the frying pan. Sauté for 2 to 3 minutes and then add the tomatoes and sauté for another 1 or 2 minutes. You can then turn off the heat, add the pesto and a good healthy dose of olive oil. It’s an olive oil based sauce so be pretty liberal with it. You can also add your shrimp back to the sauce.

Once the pasta has cooked to al dente, drain and add the veggie/shrimp/olive oil sauce. Dish up and serve with French bread slices and sprinkle with a bit of parmesan.

Click here for printable version of Firecracker Shrimp Bowties
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THE RESULTS?

Our family LOVES this pasta. I find it hard not to gorge myself and fall into a carb-induced coma. The bread is great for sopping up the olive oil/pesto sauce.


For more recipes, visit the Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap