Coffee Chipotle Crusted Turkey Burger

Lame.

That's how I feel turkey burgers have become. Now, don't get me wrong, they have potential. A majority of patties that you get served in a restaurant, or order because you want a lower fat option for your meal however, have lost all hope. In my opinion, processed veggie burgers have more outright flavor. Which, for me to say that...  is a cry for help.

What do we do though? This is still a viable option for tasty foodstuffs. When done right, ground turkey really can be a good option for lightening things up a bit. So, we go to the promised land of flavor; the pantry, to create this: Chipotle and Coffee Turkey Burger. I have seen the delicious light.

 The 5 elements of a naked burger. Cheese wasn't invited. 

Here, we pull out the big guns of

Color: Guajillo and Tequila Aioli

Color.

A recurring and important theme in cooking, the visual is the initial draw to the plate or dish. Let's face it, something like bourbon pulled BBQ pork with fried onion straws might be delicious, but burgundy color with some brown crispies on it just doesn't bring the color game to where it needs to be. Now, take some chives, maybe some chipotle ranch dressing, do some decorating, and take the color up a couple notches.

So in this series of posts, I will be providing a recipe (which of course will be fantastic), but the main concentration will be on the color of the finished product. We are going for vivid, vibrant bright colors, that might not be the main course, but the accent will provide that amazing visual flair you will need to make your food pop that much more.

Just begging to be dipped in.

Pan-Roasted Salmon with Plum, Sage, and Lemon Compote

Well, it's that time of year, summer's in full swing. Stone fruits are a plenty,a plethora of herbs are out, and you can combine them into all sorts of fantastically tasty combinations. It can be a little bit random if you really want, I just saw some plums and lemons at the store, and snapped them up, figuring on making something good.

I decided to completely jump on the random feeling and make something super tasty, very simple, but extremely delicious, as well as a smidge healthy. Now, I'll admit, I'm not the biggest salmon fan. Not even like the mid-way salmon, kinda likes it sometimes guy. However,when it's good quality, done just right, and the flavors are matched delightfully with the texture and nuances of salmon, then I can be bribed into eating some. That usually involves some fat, some sweetness, and a bit of acid for it to be Jake-worthy as far as salmon goes.

Pan-roasting is a simple, yet effective way to get a good sear on something, yet not over cook it, or burn it on the stove. You can pretty much do this with almost any protein, but when you really don't want to overcook something, or make sure that it hits perfect temperature. Ovens are much easier to monitor than regulating direct heat under a pan.

Seasoned and ready to sear.

Chocolate Stout Beer Float w/ Rum Glazed Cherries

Beer.

I love it. Seriously, if it was a person, it would embody all cultures, styles, taste, and personalities. Beer is the most interesting man in the world. That's why beer can transform itself into a dessert. Now, it can't be any old beer, it's gotta be one with character. It has to have hair on it's chest, a utility knife, and some survival skills.

That is why chocolate stout is in order. Specifically, I used Young's Double Chocolate Stout. The texture, flavor, and color of the beer is just outstanding for this recipe. If you don't have it available, that is all good. Just make sure you are using a chocolate, or really smooth and mellow stout. I mean, really, this stuff should be Billy Dee smooth, no bite at all. What you want is a mindblowing combination of all flavor senses. Lemme
'splain.

We have the beer, which is a smooth bitter flavor. Then we have the rum glazed cherries, which give us tart and sweet. Also, we throw in some more of that sweet smoothness with melted milk chocolate with smooth clarified butta. Finally, we take it to the next supreme level of awesomeness with roasted peanuts and smoked salt.

That's right folks. This is not your kid's float. Pure fantastical flavor;

One Awesome Pan: Roasted Mediterranean Chicken

Easy.

I'm not a huge proprietor of easy. My recipes tend to sometimes go on for ages. (See example here) Ages.
I just like a bunch of complex flavors, that compliment one another, and sometimes they tend to take some... well, time to make. The end result is usually totally worth it, and I end up with something ridiculously scrumptious, but as complicated as the dickens. Not so here.

I found myself this evening staring at chicken thigh and drumstick quarters, completely dumbfounded as to what to make. I have a thousand dry ingredients, but none of them meshed, giving me culinary anxiety. I hummed and hawed, wondering how to turn these simple cuts of poultry into something fantastic and blog-worthy. I thought of Mediterranean chicken, but refused, simply because I wanted a knockout combo. A smack your auntie in the jowls kind of ingredient that would command attention. Alas, I found no such thing. However, when I saw the 2 kinds of olives in my fridge winking at me from a chilly afar, I succumbed to that first idea that popped into my noggin.

These already tasty veggies have no idea what's in store for them - Next level deliciousness. 

Pork Chops with Lavender Honey Dijon Mustard

Lavender. 

It doesn't connotate the manliest of visions. And truthfully neither does Dijon mustard, but take those things and add honey to them... well, now you're talking anti-manliness. That is okay however. Sometimes you need to add a gentler touch to pig parts to make them tasty, and that is exactly what we did with this recipe.

Now, just because the ingredients sound frilly, doesn't mean this dish lacks in flavor, in fact, it packs quite a frilly flavor-punch. The spicy dijon naturally goes with the honey, but I wanted to use some of the fresh and fragrant lavender growing in my sparse, not-taken-care-of garden. This herb also goes well with an obsession of mine; mustard.

Mustard is one of the simplest condiments, but the infinite variation of flavors that it can convey, along with tang, heat, sweet, texture, so on and so forth are amazing. If you don't believe me, head to a gourmet grocery store and check out the gourmet mustard section, look at all of the flavors, types, and marvel. Then look at the price tag. Some are just outrageously priced, for a simple mix of seeds or powder, vinegar, and seasoning or spice.

Caveman Wings with Sweet Thai Chili Sauce

Grunt, snort, ooga booga. I possibly thought about writing this entire post in caveman speak, but then I kinda realized that no one would be able to figure out what the heck was going on. But here I am, typing in plain old dumb English, just so you can make these massive wings and snarf down like a neanderthal. 

In this recipe, we talk turkey. Wings that is. Instead of your itty bitty chicken wings, we take these massive hunks of poultry appendage, and put them to good use. People usually scoff at

Triple Pork Fancypants Nachos

The name of the recipe screams knock your face off, slap somebody, gimme them pork slathered tortilla chips now, or else there will be dire consequences! So, yea, that's what you might say if you read the recipe title. Or, you may possibly ask, "Hey, these are nachos, there are no way they
could be fancy pantsed!" Well, guess what hombre,

Sweet and Savory Pork Tenderloin Sliders

Welcome to the new home of +The Saucy Pig! This is a work in progress, so please bear with me!

I wanted to bust out my first recipe for a competition that I am in this week, called the +Epicurious Elite Eat!
I won my first round yesterday, making these awesome nachos, which happens to be the second recipe on the blog!

If you haven't noticed before, pork tenderloin is almost custom made for sliders. How so? Well, they are