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Rachael Ray

Outside-In Bacon Cheeseburgers with Green Onion Mayo

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Rachael Ray Guy Food Cookbook I have quite a few Rachael Ray Cookbooks in my cookbook collection. Okay, let’s be honest and have full disclosure here…. I have every single one except for the newest one, and that’s just a matter of time. She’s a favorite TV Personality and cookbook author, so if her name’s on it, I’m not just “in,” I’m “all in.”

The cookbook pictured here is just one of my favorites.

Guy Food: Rachael Ray’s Top 30 30-Minute Meals is filled with recipes you’ll use again and again – the Outside-In Bacon Cheeseburgers (with HEAVENLY Green Onion Mayo) is a classic example of why you need this cookbook.

Outside-In Bacon Cheeseburgers with Green Onion Mayo – by Rachael Ray

5 slices bacon, chopped
4 scallions, cleaned and trimmed
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
1 1/3 pounds ground beef sirloin
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, eyeball it
1 tablespoon steak seasoning blend or coarse salt and black pepper
1/2 pound extra sharp white cheddar cheese, crumbled
1 cup mayonnaise or reduced fat mayonnaise
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and pepper
4 crusty Kaiser rolls, split
4 leaves crisp romaine lettuce

Preheat grill pan over high heat.

In a medium pan brown bacon over medium high heat and drain on paper towel lined plate.

Brush scallions with a little oil and grill on hot grill pan 2 or 3 minutes on each side. Remove from heat to cool.

Combine ground beef with Worcestershire and steak seasoning or salt and pepper. Divide meat into 4 equal parts. Combine cheese crumbles and cooked bacon. Take 1/4 of the meat in your hand and make a well in the center of it. Pile in cheese and bacon, then carefully form the burger around the cheese and bacon filling. Make sure the fillings are completely covered with meat. When all 4 patties are formed, drizzle burgers with oil and place on hot grill pan. Cook 2 minutes on each side over high heat, reduce heat to medium low and cook burgers 7 or 8 minutes longer, turning occasionally. Do not press down on burgers as they cook. Transfer burgers to a plate and let them rest 5 minutes before serving.

Green Onion Mayo: Chop cooled, grilled scallions and add to a food processor. Add mayonnaise and cumin to the food processor and pulse the onions and mayonnaise. Season with salt and pepper, to your taste.

Pile burgers on crusty buns and top with crisp lettuce leaves and a slather of green onion mayonnaise. As you bite into the burgers, you will find a smoky, cheesy surprise at the center.

Below are just a few of the other recipes in this great little cookbook:

  • There’s a very manly chili recipe with some surprising ingredients that will be tried in this very kitchen this week!
  • Blackened Chicken Pizza
  • A recipe for Mahi-Mahi Fillets, grilled
  • Tenderloin Steaks with Gorgonzola and Roasted Potatoes with Rosemary
  • If you or your guy (or kids! – they always love them) have a thing for chicken tenders, there’s a recipe for pecan-crusted chicken tenders you’ll flip for
  • Cheddar and Chive Bread
  • Corn on the Cob with Chili and Lime
  • Grilled Halibut Tacos with Guacamole Sauce
  • A lot more!

If you love great food, and especially if you have a guy you love to cook for, you’ll want to grab a copy of Guy Food: Rachael Ray’s Top 30 30-Minute Meals right away. It’s just a little over $10 and these are recipes you’ll use all year long…. year after year.

The BEST Bacon is Made in the Oven-Baked Bacon (Here’s How)

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Oven Baked Bacon at 400 degrees

Oven-Baked Bacon

It’s already been established on the food blog that I’m a huge Rachael Ray fan. If she makes it, I buy it and use it. If she tapes it, I watch it and watch it. When I saw her bake bacon in the oven on an episode, I immediately bought her baking sheet (with a rack) and couldn’t wait to test the results.

The Rachael Ray Bacon Baking Sheet with Rack QUICKLY became one of my favorite things in the kitchen. How much did I love it? Well, I ordered a second one immediately.

I’ve used it most often for baking bacon but it is also ideal for roasting vegetables and, of course, the baking sheet itself can be used for anything, simply remove the rack.

The Best Oven-Baked Bacon

The basics (please read below for the whys and hows): Place your bacon onto the pan. Place into a cold oven and THEN turn on the heat to 400 degrees. Cook for 20 minutes.

Bacon in the oven simply tastes better and I have to admit, I was surprised just how much better. I also love that it doesn’t curl up – especially useful for breakfast wraps, crispy homemade bacon bits for salads, and BLTs.

(Continued below the goodness….)

Oven Baked Bacon at 400 degrees for 20 minutes

Oven-Baked Bacon at 400 degrees for 20 Minutes

While I, of course, use my baking sheet with rack for cooking bacon in the oven, it isn’t a necessity. You can put your bacon directly on a foil-lined baking sheet and you’ll do just fine. I have experimented for months with oven-baked bacon (I love my life) and these are my tips of the trade:

  • Buy good bacon. The whole bacon is bacon premise is incorrect and when you try different brands you’ll see what I mean. Smithfield and Oscar Meyer are the two I buy the most frequently.
  • Don’t pre-heat the oven. I mean, you CAN, but putting the bacon into a cold oven, then turning on the heat, seems to cause the bacon to render its fat more slowly (which is a delicious thing) and more evenly, as in less instances of a slice of bacon that’s half crispy and half fatty.
  • Baking Times Vary. Not only do oven temperatures and personalities vary, people’s individual preferences vary too. My husband likes for his bacon to be crisp whereas I like for mine to bend if you hold him out like a diving board. Use 400 degrees and 20 minutes as a “guide,” not as an “absolute.” Use this approach, but check the bacon at the 15 minute mark – unless you like yours to bend even more than I do, it will not be ready to eat at this point, but you’ll get an idea of how much further you want to go.
  • Keep Time. When you discover your favorite time frame for baking the bacon just as you like, write it down and put it someplace you’ll ALWAYS know where it is. On the refrigerator, in a frequently-used recipe box, or tattooed on your arm – this is vital information, treat it as such!

Not even remotely and ad and I have not been paid to say anything (if only I were paid to talk, I’d talk all the way to the bank!), but I highly recommend this Oscar Mayer Naturally Hardwood Smoked bacon, pictured below. Extraordinary and worth the extra pennies.

Oscar Meyer Baon

I just realized I don’t have a category for bacon on the food blog. What kind of madness is this?! I’m about to take care of that irresponsible oversight…

Done.


The Way to this Rachael Ray Collector’s Heart….

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Rachael Ray Measuring Cups and Dokkie

My husband went and did it again… he proved to me, for the billionth time, that I didn’t just marry a great guy, I married my hero. I wrote a post on my food blog a while back about a gorgeous set of Rachael Ray measuring cups. I wondered how in the word I didn’t already have them… given how I collect all things Rachael Ray and am in love with the colors.

Well, not only does he apparently read my food blog (awwwww), he takes hints even when they weren’t intended to be hints!

You guessed it.. I now own the gorgeous measuring cups and a ridiculously beautiful Purple Rachael Ray Moppine Towel as well.

In the pictures, here, the purple measuring cup looks more gray, but it is unmistakably a beautiful purple. One of our cats, sweet Dokkie, seems to be inspecting the colors above, doesn’t she??! When you’re a cat mom who is also a food blogger, you do not…. absolutely do NOT…. take photos of anything without help from at least one little Nosy Parker.

Some might would shoo the cat away and take professional-level pictures but not me. I simply take what I consider to be the cutest picture!

Rachael Ray Mopine and Measuring Cups

Rachael Ray Moppine Towel and Measuring Cups

As you can tell, the purple moppine towel is absolutely gorgeous – such a deep, bold shade of purple. I love the way Rachael Ray Moppine Towels (Amazon link) are made – you can put both of your hands into the hand pockets, allowing the rest of the moppine towel to cover your forearms, protecting you entirely from the hot deliciousness you’re removing from the oven. When you click through the link Rachael Ray Moppine Towels (Amazon link), you’ll see the WIDE array of colors available. I’ve had the red before as well and it’s also a beauty.

You can find the gorgeous Rachael Ray Measuring Cups on Amazon, too.

Rachael Ray Measuring Cups and Dokkie

Rachael Ray Measuring Cups and Dokkie

Last-Minute Gift Idea for Cooks in Your Life: Rachael Ray Moppines

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Rachael Ray Moppine

A while back (actually quite a while, I believe) I wrote a review or Rachael Ray’s Moppines. Loved them then, loved them now. This morning, while thinking of great last minute Christmas gift ideas for cooks, I thought of these moppines and how much I love them. I checked Amazon and, sure enough, if you order them asap, they’ll arrive before Christmas.

Speaking of love, I’ve got NOTHING but mad love for Amazon, too.

Since reviewing my own red moppines, A LOT of gorgeous new colors have been added to the Moppines Collection – meaning you can go all matchy matchy with anyone’s kitchen color scheme.

  • brown
  • mustard
  • celery green
  • blue
  • brick red
  • smoke blue
  • orange
  • purple
  • red
  • burnt orange
  • lavendar
  • green

And they are all gorgeous. Click here to take a closer look.


Balsamic-Drizzled Tomato, Mozzarella, and Basil “Salad”

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Rachael Ray Balsamic Drizzle

I’m over the foodie moon in love with Rachael Ray’s Balsamic Drizzle (Balsamic Reduction). It’s HEAVENLY on chicken but my favorite way to use it is shown here: a Balsamic-Drizzled Tomato, Mozzarella, and Basil Appetizer that is beautifully delicious (and deliciously beautiful) with pasta, pizza, or even on its own.  It even makes a delicious (and filling) lunch all by itself.

One of the coolest things about this appetizer/lunch is it needs no recipe. It’s kind of refreshing to break away from “exacts” every now and then, isn’t it?

For this Balsamic-Drizzled Tomato, Mozzarella, and Basil Appetizer, simply round up your ingredients:

Fresh Mozzarella

Layer your basil on the plate or platter, then arrange the tomato slices and slices of Mozzarella on top. Drizzle the entire production with the Balsamic Drizzle. This beauty makes a perfect appetizer, quick lunch, OR a replacement for tossed salad with pasta or pizza.

Balsamic Vinegar Drizzled Tomato, Mozzarella, and Basil Appetizer


One of My Favorite Cookbooks: Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals 2

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Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals 2 Cookbook
 

Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals 2
If you’ve read the food blog for any length of time you know I collect cookbooks as eagerly as a Reality TV Star collects compliments.  I’m so bad, I even have cookbook collections within my cookbook collections. The following are a few of these “extra special” collections..

  •  Rachael Ray
  • Michael Symon
  • Food Network-Related
  • Cooking Channel-Related
  • Cooking Light
  • Christmas-Themed
  • Thanksgiving-Themed
  • Gluten Free

Before I had to give up gluten/wheat, Cookie cookbooks, Bread cookbooks, Pie cookbooks, and Cake cookbooks were on the list. But I don’t want to think about that now. Some wounds never heal.

I take a great deal of pride in my Rachael Ray cookbook collection. I’m a huge fan of Rachael Ray’s and actually collect just about all things RR, not just her cookbooks.

The cookbook pictured above is one of my favorites: Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals 2. Like each of her cookbooks, this is one I turn to again and again. I’ve memorized which recipes are in which cookbooks, so retrieving them is quick and easy.

Some of my favorite recipes from this cookbook are:

  • Sirloin Burgers with Mushrooms, Swiss, and Balsamic Mayo
  • Black & White Shakes
  • Spinach Artichoke Pasta Salad
  • Red Bean Salad
  • Root Beer Floats
  • Philly Steak Sandwiches
  • Ice Cream Sundae Sandwiches (use gluten free cookies to make it gf)
  • Fried Mozzarella Bites (I use gluten free breadcrumbs)
  • Burrito Bar
  • Special Fried Rice
  • Sausage Calzones (use gluten free pizza crust to make it gf)
  • Warm White Beans with Thyme
  • Balsamic (or Honey) Glazed Vegetables
  • Green Bean Salad with Red Onion and Tomato
  • Crispy-Topped Baked Beans with Bacon
  • Mexican Chunk Vegetable Salad
  • Rio Grande Spice Rub Strip Steaks
  • Honey Mustard Barbecued Chicken
  • Butter Bean Salad
  • Corn on the Cob with Chili and Lime
  • Maple Mustard Pork Chops with Grilled Apples
  • Emmanuel’s Baked Artichoke Hearts
  • Fresh Oranges with Lime Sorbet
  • Meatball and Macaroni Soup
  • Southern Green Beans
  • Winter Vegetable Stew
  • Spanish Beef and Rice
  • Mexican Rice
  • MANY More!

I’m actually making the Mexican Rice for supper tonight. It’s outstanding.

With such an overwhelming passion for cookbooks, I spend a great deal of time on Amazon. I’ve recently discovered something that has been a real game-changer: Used Cookbooks. I have had great success with these – I always “mark” the results I want with “Like New” and each time they have been, indeed, like new.  If you look, you can even find NEW cookbooks at Used cookbook prices.

My Motto: Money saved on one cookbook means money I can spend on the next.

Find Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals 2 on Amazon, it’s easily one of my favorites in my collection.

Also See:

Rachael Ray Cookbooks

Just two of MANY Rachael Ray Cookbooks in my collection.

Cookbook Review: Rachael Ray Top 30 30-Minute Meals Comfort Food

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Rachael Ray Cookbooks

Two of My Rachael Ray Cookbooks

I have collections within my cookbook collections (as you’d expect from a Crazy Cookbook Lady). I have Michael Symon cookbooks, Food Network cookbooks, Gluten Free Cookbooks, Cooking Light cookbooks… and you’d darn well better believe I  have a Rachael Ray cookbook collection.  It may or may not require it’s own shelf.

It does.

One of the coolest little cookbooks in this collection is pictured here. It’s the Rachael Ray Top 30 30-Minute Meals Comfort Food cookbook and it’s a lot of yum for such a little guy.

Like all Rachael Ray cookbooks, Comfort Food reads just as you’d expect a Rachael Ray cookbook to read – just like you’re watching a 30 Minute Meals episode.

From the Back Cover:

Curl up in front of the fire with the delicious homespun fare of Rachael’s comfort food. Treat yourself with these Top 30 meals, a collection of her greatest hits. The perfect way to unwind after a busy day―you deserve it!

Rachael Ray Top 30 30-Minute Meals Comfort Food Cookbook
Rachael Ray Comfort Food
Recipes from the 30 Comfort Food Meals Include:

  • Chunky Guacamole
  • Pork Chops with Golden Applesauce
  • Rosemary Grilled Chicken and Wild Mushroom Sauce
  • Chili Mac
  • Super-Stuffed Monte Cristo Sandwiches
  • Quick Creole Shrimp with White Rice
  • Turkey Corn Chili
  • Quick Potato & Carrot Latkes
  • Chicken, Corizo & Tortilla Stoup
  • Everything Jambalaya on White Rice

Each meal takes 30-minutes or less to prepare and the ingredients are easy peasy to find. This particular cookbook wouldn’t be a great investment for vegans or vegetarians (unless you’re adding to a collection, of course) but it’s a can’t miss for everyone else.

The little spiral-bound, hardback cookbook is also available for Kindle or, of course, the free Kindle reading app.

See Rachael Ray Top 30 30-Minute Meals Comfort Food for more information.

Cookbook Review: Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals

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Rachael Ray 30 Minute Meals Cookbook

Rachael Ray’s First Cookbook: 30-Minute Meals

Given the fact that I collect cookbooks and all things Rachael Ray, you’d better believe I have a Rachael Ray cookbook collection I wouldn’t take anything for! The cookbook pictured here, Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals is her first. You could say it’s the book that launched a mega Food Network star.

Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals has Rachael Ray’s trademark personality and originality and is filled with quick and easy recipes you’ll make over and over again.

If (like me) you are a cookbook collector, this is one I know you’ll want to add to your collection. What cookbook collection would be complete without every Rachael Ray cookbook, after all?? Even if you aren’t a collector, you’ll enjoy the simplistic recipes in this one.

Recipes Include:

  • Greek Dinner Salad
  • Enchinada Enchilada Red Sauce
  • Blue Moon Burgers
  • Zesty Chicken Cutlets Parmigiana
  • Quick Marinara Sauce
  • Big Belly Beef Stew
  • Greek Wraps with White Bean Hummus
  • Linguine with Red Clam Sauce
  • Linguine with White Clam Sauce
  • Fajitas
  • Spinach with Nutmeg and Garlic
  • Pizza Recipes
  • Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
  • Tomato and Onion Salad
  • Spicy Beef Balls
  • Mini Meatball Soup
  • White Lightning Chili
  • Quick Jambalaya
  • And a lot more…

Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals doesn’t have any pictures of the recipes, but the recipes make up for it. The best thing about this book, in my opinion, is the fact that it’s a solid addition to any cookbook collection.

Buying Used Cookbooks on Amazon

Normally, when I buy cookbooks, I’ll buy them new – whether it’s on Amazon or elsewhere. However, if I’m ordering an older cookbook, I’ll buy them off of Amazon used. I’ve done this dozens of times and have not had a single bad experience. A lot of the used book dealers do this for a living and they greatly depend on positive feedback. So, if they say the book is “like new,” they mean it. You can find used cookbooks on Amazon for PENNIES.

With the money saved, you can buy kitchen gadgets, dishes, and new cookbooks. Make no mistake about it, it’s a wonderful system – and one I highly recommend!

Review: Rachael Ray 3-Tier Wooden Stacking Salt Box

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Rachael Ray 3-Tier Wooden Stacking Salt Box

Rachael Ray 3-Tier Wooden Stacking Salt Box

Everyone knows I collect Rachael Ray kitchen tools, dishes, gadgets, and cookbooks. Strangers on the street stop me and ask what color mopines I have. Okay… not really. I got going and couldn’t stop.

Rachael Ray, Wolfgang Puck, Pioneer Woman, and Curtis Stone are four names that you’ll see throughout my kitchen and dining room. They’re excellent products – from cookbooks to, well, mopines, I’m a huge fan.

The beautiful Wooden Stacking Salt Box, shown here, isn’t my newest Rachael Ray kitchen tool, but it is one of my favorites. And, like the garbage bowl and food mover, I use it several times a day EVERYDAY.

Features:

  • Store table salt, gourmet salts, herbs and favorite seasonings in this stylish stackable salt box
  • Convenient stacking design with top lid allows for easy and moisture-free storage of three different salts or seasonings
  • The salt box is distinctly crafted from gorgeous acacia wood in a natural tone
  • Handy and beautiful, the box looks great left out on the table or countertop
  • Hand wash and then dry the salt box immediately for best care

This beautiful salt box looks great sitting on the counter and, more importantly, is ridiculously convenient and even fun to use…. to the tune of EVERYDAY!

Click through the following link or the picture below for a closer look – Wooden Stacking Salt Box.

Rachael Ray Garbage Bowl… Wouldn’t Take Anything for Mine

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Rachael Ray Garbage Bowl

Rachael Ray Garbage Bowl

My family knows me. They know the good, the bad, and the… well, never you mind about the rest.  Knowing me like they do, they know that, whether it’s birthday, anniversary, Mother’s Day, or Christmas, buying me anything with Rachael Ray’s name on it is a very safe bet.

I’ve collected Rachael Ray cookbooks, dishes, and kitchen tools for as long as I can remember. The bright, happy, vivid colors combined with unsurpassed durability and functionality rock my culinary world.

I even buy Rachael Ray products for my daughters – in each one’s kitchen colors. Not only do I know they’ll use (and love) them daily… I know they’ll think about me each time they do.

Win, WIN!

Rachael Ray Garbage Bowl

Fun and Functional

This beautiful purple Rachael Ray Garbage Bowl was actually given to me as a gift a few years ago.  I recently came across the pictures in my iPhone and realized I’d never written a review on this kitchen favorite.

Duh on me!

When the garbage bowls first came out, in spite of being a Rachael Ray Kitchen Tool junkie, I never bought one for myself because (to be honest) I wasn’t sure I’d even use it. I thought, “Yes, it’s beautiful and yes, it’s Rachael Ray… but I just toss my trash in a Kroger bag as I cook.”

Fast Forward to today… I have used this bowl every single day since receiving it two years ago. Every. Single. Day. It’s just unspeakably convenient to throw peels, cans, rubber bands, foil, etc into as I’m cooking.  Grabbing the bowl before I start baking or cooking is as automatic as putting on a seat belt when I get in a car.

Not only is the bowl, somehow, just fun to use, it also looks a heckuva lot better sitting on the counter than a grocery bag. What’s more, there’s  no “seeping” through or “spilling out” like you get with a grocery bag.

Sloppy.

The great looking Rachael Ray Garbage Bowl is available on Amazon in the following colors: purple, red, orange, dark green, green, and blue.

Click through for more information about what will become your next favorite kitchen tool. When you click through, you can even see a short little video of Rachael Ray explaining where the idea of the Garbage Bowl came from.

Rachael Ray Garbage Bowl