Summertime is burger time. And it’s so easy to throw a few beef patties on the grill. Not much is required in the way of embellishment, yet they have a big happiness return.
What’s the magic ingredient? Fat, of course. Beef burgers are high in fat, which guarantees flavor and juiciness. And because fat enhances flavor, it also makes anything else you put in or on the burger taste better, too.
Heartbreakingly, as you decrease the fat content in a burger, its flavor tends to go bye-bye, too. This is a real problem if you want to dig into a delicious burger and still want the blood to continue sailing through your arteries. The solution? Turkey.
I know. I know. You’ve tried turkey burgers and it was like eating wet cardboard. Hah! But you haven’t tried my turkey burgers...
Let’s start with the basic ingredient — ground turkey. While researching this recipe, I discovered that the labels on ground turkey can be quite confusing. You’d figure that a package labeled “lean” would mean what it says. Weirdly, it turns out that the calories and fat in a 4-ounce portion of “lean” ground turkey can range from 120 calories with 1 percent fat to 160 calories with 12 percent fat (which is as rich as a lean beef burger). As always, it’s best to read labels and not rely on words such as “lean” or “white meat” when looking for healthy choices.
Or, better yet, grind your own turkey. Start by buying a small package of turkey tenderloins, the flap of meat that lies just under the breast. As little as a 1 1/2 pounds of turkey tenderloins can be ground to produce six burgers. Cut the tenderloins into 1-inch cubes and freeze them for 30 minutes. Pop them in a food processor and pulse until they achieve a medium-grind consistency.
Now we come to the crucial part of the recipe, the part I call Turkey Helper. The blandest and driest of white meats, turkey cries out for flavor and moisture. Happily, any number of vegetables can answer this call, including sauteed onions, bell peppers or mushrooms, shredded raw Napa cabbage, or carrots.


Three simple ingredients — a marshmallow, a piece of chocolate and two graham crackers. The symbol of summer and campfire snacking.

Out on the grass between classroom buildings and the baseball field at Kyrene Centennial Middle School, a group of 7th graders were measuring indoor temperatures of their model homes for an urban heat island project last week.

On April 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the Phoenix Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public another opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs.

Arizona shoppers are getting a bit of a financial reprieve as prices for meat took an unexpected -- and potentially unexplained -- drop during the first quarter of the year.

Pressure cookers never really did much for me. They seemed fussy — and scary! All those stories about explosions...

This week's "Jack the Giant Slayer," a 3-D retelling of the Jack and the Beanstalk legend, contains all the elements of the classic tale: farm boy, beans, giants, etc. But along for the ride is a new character, Princess Isabelle, played by Eleanor Tomlinson.

After “A Walk to Remember,” “The Notebook,” “The Last Song,” “The Lucky One,” and “Dear John,” Nicholas Sparks is obviously running a campaign to become president of sappiness. His novels have inspired a number of hokey adaptations chock-full of one-dimensional archetypes and scenes ripped off from other romances. This guy loves seeing people get caught in the rain more than Michael Bay marvels at the sight of explosions. The latest picture from the novelist turned producer, “Safe Haven,” is every bit as cheesy and mushy as one would expect. It’s about as original as a Lifetime movie designed to brazenly manipulate our emotions. Maybe I’m becoming easier to manipulate, but this melodramatic cornball kept me completely invested from beginning to end.

After “A Walk to Remember,” “The Notebook,” “The Last Song,” “The Lucky One,” and “Dear John,” Nicholas Sparks is obviously running a campaign to become president of sappiness. His novels have inspired a number of hokey adaptations chock-full of one-dimensional archetypes and scenes ripped off from other romances. This guy loves seeing people get caught in the rain more than Michael Bay marvels at the sight of explosions. The latest picture from the novelist turned producer, “Safe Haven,” is every bit as cheesy and mushy as one would expect. It’s about as original as a Lifetime movie designed to brazenly manipulate our emotions. Maybe I’m becoming easier to manipulate, but this melodramatic cornball kept me completely invested from beginning to end.

Super Bowl Sunday surely is one of the meatiest eating days of the year. But it’s still somewhat surprising the lengths some people will go to push their game day feed over the top. Last year, for example, some enthusiastic carnivores went as far as to build football arena replicas out of deli meats, cheese and bread.

Legend Cleaners

The Arizona Biltmore and Shred-It Phoenix are hosting a “Shred-A-Thon” on Saturday, Feb. 2, with all proceeds going to Desert Labrador Retriever Rescue of Phoenix.

Trying to save money on food?

Much as I love mashed white potatoes, my favorite “potato” is the sweet variety.

The Phoenix Public Works Department will partner with Keep Phoenix Beautiful and other local organizations for the “I Recycle Phoenix Festival” from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Dec. 28 at the Christown Spectrum Mall, at 19th Avenue and Bethany Home Road.

With Hanukkah stretching over eight nights, there’s plenty to celebrate. And often plenty of leftovers.

The nice thing about cooking a monster brisket for Hanukkah — aside, of course, from the fact that the meat can be mouth meltingly delicious — is that it is a dish you can mostly ignore as it cooks.

Few foods are as satisfying as a golden potato pancake that is soft and tender inside, but crispy outside. But this simple dish so often is bungled. It can be undercooked, overcooked and/or soaked in grease.

After numerous incarnations in film, theater, television, opera, and radio, Leo Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina” has become one of the most heavily adapted novels of all time. Unless somebody can do something really original with the material, there isn’t much need to revisit “Anna Karenina” again. The latest version from director Joe Wright makes a few attempts to reinvent the exhausted story, such as setting a majority of the narrative in a theater house. While this direction is ambitious, it still doesn’t make the material particularly fresh. If anything, Wright’s distracting staging customarily makes the whole film feel overblown and pretentious. Much like Lars von Trier’s stagy “Dogville” from almost 10 years ago, Wright’s “Anna Karenina” is too self-righteous and in love with itself for the audience to love it back.

Even if you avoid baking all year long, there’s a very good chance the allure of the holidays will seduce you into having a go at a batch of cookies.

The key to a great food experience around the holidays is extending it as long as possible.

With its robust blend of sweet, creamy, spicy and smoky flavors, this soup is perfect for a chilly fall afternoon. The beautiful orange color, the subtle smoky-spicy flavor of the chipotle, and the satisfying creamy texture make this recipe a perfectly seasonal lunch or appetizer. Consider topping the soup with seared shrimp or shredded pork for a quick weeknight dinner.

Glynis Abapo knew just what she wanted her dream wedding cake to be: simple. Three or four tiers. A rich, white confection with white peonies and peony petals cascading down the middle.