​Okay, it might not be the burger of all burgers but it is one of top burgers that I make. The utmost burger I have ever bitten into comes from a little place in Burlington, Vermont called The Farmhouse Tap & Grill.  This is a must stop if you are ever in the area!  But back to my Burger of all Burgers, I think it is the sweet tomato basil jam combined with the flavor of the rich, creamy ricotta that sets this burger apart from the others.  It has a few steps to get to the finished product but with one bite it will all be worth it!!

​Ingredients
Tomato Jam (get recipe here)
1 cup Ricotta, drained
1 cup shredded mozzarella
¼ cup grated Pecorino Romano
Extra virgin olive oil
2 pounds 80/20 hamburger
Red leaf lettuce or lettuce of your choice
4 buns of your choice
 
Directions
Baked Ricotta Cheese Tuile
Turn on broiler
 
Drain the ricotta. I put mine in some cheese cloth and gently squeezed out as much liquid as I could. Then place the ricotta in a bowl.  Add the mozzarella and Pecorino Romano and mix well.
 
Coat a cookie sheet or baking pan with extra virgin olive oil. Roll cheese into a ball and then flatten to the size of the bun you will be using. Place them on to the cookie sheet and place under the broiler until they are bubbly and slightly brown. It may be easier for you to place the cheese on the cookie sheet and then flatten.  Flatten to 1/4" thin. I like mine well done so I left them in there until there were burnt edges. Remove pan from oven and set aside, leaving tuiles on the pan.
 
Let's make Burgers:
Preheat a cast iron skillet on the power burner of your stovetop over medium high heat. If you do not have a cast iron skillet then you can do them on the grill, under the broiler, or in a heavy bottom fry pan.
 
Form four burgers. Make them at least 1” thick. They shrink when you cook them. Place them in the heated skillet and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Do not move them once they are in the pan. Cook for 5 minutes then flip them and cook another 5 minutes without moving them. This will give you the most perfect, juicy medium burger. If you like medium rare, then do 4 minutes on each side.
 
How to assemble the Burgers:
To put the burgers together, cut your bun in half, place the cheese tuile on the bottom half of your bun.  This keeps all the juices in your mouth and  not soaking into the bun :)  Put your burger on top of the cheese, add the lettuce and then slather on the jam.  Put the top of the bun on and sink your teeth into that luscious, yumption of delicious flavors.  

​As I mentioned, it is a few steps but none of them take too long and the results are pure happiness.  Let me know if you enjoy the burgers.  I think they are simply Mangialicious!

​This sandwich is not your typical trio of meat, cheese and condiments, but rather an Italian party of flavors in between two nice crusty chunks of bread.  I was inspired to transform a ham sandwich into something wonderful using the Italian flavors I grew up with after reading a post I saw on a Sicilian Facebook group that I belong to.  

You don’t want to skimp on quality when making your Sicilian sandwich, you want to make sure you have the best bread you can find, along with fresh meats sliced while you wait from the deli.  For my sandwich I went with a good aged prosciutto de parma sliced thin as paper, and a specialty Italian ham, shaved. 
 
The radicchio gives this sandwich a nice peppery bite and . . . adds an abundance of vitamins and antioxidants.  The combination of ricotta and figs is classic Italian, when combined with the salty prosciutto, it gives you the perfect sandwich.
​ 
It is hard to say how many sandwiches you will be able to make because it all depends on how big or small you cut your slices of bread.  I made 4 sandwiches.

​Ingredients:
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 lemon – zest only
1 tbsp Olive oil
½ lb shaved good quality ham
8 slice of prosciutto de parma sliced extra thin
Radicchio
Flat leaf Italian parsley
Fig marmalade or spread
Crusty Italian bread – split in half length wise
Salt and pepper
 
Cut the radicchio in half and place it on a sheet of tinfoil.  Drizzle it with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place in the oven under the broiler, turning frequently, until it is slightly charred on all sides.  Remove from the oven and cut into thin slices.  Set aside.
 
Mix the ricotta, lemon zest and 1 tbsp of olive oil in a bowl.  Set aside.
 
With a serrated knife, cut the bread length wise then into sandwich size portions.  You can go big or small depending on if it is going to be an appetizer plate of sandwiches or if you are serving a sandwich for lunch.  Brush the bread with olive oil and place under the broiler until desired toastyness. 
 
To make this sandwich, begin by placing a schmear of the cheese mixture on the bottom half of each sandwich (you are going to add more on top!). Then layer each sandwich with the ham, prosciutto, radicchio and parsley. Place a heaping tablespoon, or more depending on the size of your bread, of the cheese mixture on each top half.  Spoon a generous helping of the fig marmalade on top of the cheese.  Place the top half of the sandwich on the bottom and push down slightly.  I know, your mouth is watering right now. Believe me it should be!  It is that good.

I love this sandwich cold but if it is a chilly winter day and you want something to warm your belly, you can wrap this sandwich in tinfoil and place it in a 350° oven for 8 minutes to warm the meat and cheese.  Anyway you eat this, your taste buds are going to thank you.  Always Mangialicious!

​I am always looking for new appetizers for Sunday family day so while walking through Wegman's doing our Saturday shopping, I saw egg roll wrappers.  did not want to go Asian, although I like Asian food, I wanted something more Buffalo.  So what is Buffalo known for, chicken wings and beef on weck.  I am more of a chicken than beef person so I went with the Buffalo chicken.  What is a Buffalo wing, well, chicken wings, hot sauce, butter, celery, carrots and blue cheese.  These egg rolls are that simple, I took the staple ingredients in buffalo wings and wrap them into an egg roll.

The simplicity is what makes them so delicious, you can taste every ingredient in them.  I made 15 of them and we ate them all!!!  ​

I love Blue Cheese.  This was a very high quality cheese so just a little gave it that delicious, unmistakable blue cheese taste.  Not everyone likes the blue cheese which is why I put it optional, you could serve with a ranch dip also.

 Ingredients:
2 packets (approximately 3lbs) of thin cut chicken breast cutlets
3 whole carrots
2 scallions thinly sliced
1 egg
1 celery heart with the leaves
3/4 cup Franks Hot Sauce
3/4 cup butter
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp paprika
1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles (optional)
1 package Egg Roll Wrappers, 15 count
Canola Oil
 
Preheat over to 375°
Put the chicken cutlets on a parchment paper covered baking sheet and sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika.  Bake for 20 minutes in 350° oven.  Remove from oven and let cool.
 
Peel the carrots and grate on the big side of the grater.  I cut mine in half and did them on the long side to get strips.  When it gets too small, slice the remaining carrot very finely with a sharp knife.  These bigger pieces add texture to the egg roll.  Put in large bowl.
 
Finely slice the scallion and add to bowl.  Take the cooled chicken and cut into thin strips.  Add chicken to the bowl and combine the ingredients.
 
Take all the leaves from the celery heart and rough chop them, place them in a bowl and set aside. Then cut the celery stalks into sticks to be served with the egg rolls. 
 
In a small bowl beat the egg with 1 tablespoon of water to use as an egg wash to seal the egg rolls.
Lay an egg roll wrapper flat on your working surface.  Place about 2 tablespoons on the mixture on the wrapper.  Following the directions on the egg roll wrapper packaging, fold up the bottom corner, then fold in both sides, and roll up the egg roll.  Brush the egg wash onto the top corner and complete the roll to seal.  Repeat until the chicken filling is all gone.
 
In a small casserole dish or oblong deep bowl add the melted butter and Frank’s Hot Sauce,  I highly recommend Frank's but if it is not available in your area use whatever is your favorite, and mix well. Set aside.

Using a large skillet, put in enough canola oil to 1/4" deep.  When the oil is hot (I put the handle of a wooden spoon in the oil and if it bubbles around the handle it is hot), place the egg rolls in the pan.  Rotate them around until all sides are golden brown, usually about 1 - 2 minutes per side.  Place on a paper towel lined plate to soak up excess grease and put the next batch in.  While the next batch is cooking, roll the already cooked egg rolls in the hot sauce mixture, be sure to coat all sides well.  Set on serving plate.  Continue until all the rolls are cooked and coated.  Top the rolls with the chopped celery leaves and crumbled blue cheese (optional).  Serve  with celery sticks on the side.

​These are crispy and full of flavor, I promise they will not disappoint! They're easy to make and serve as the perfect appetizer.  Your whole family will think they are Mangialicious.