I’m a pretty big fan of Giada de Laurentiis; in addition to learning a heckuva lot about Italian cookery from her, she’s just a big sweetheart.  Anyways — lazy cookery mode in still in full swing — I was thinking about what to make for dins tonight without taking up too much time (there’s Diablo III to play) and WHAMO! a pasta craving hit me.

I haven’t made stuffed manicotti in years, and was pottering about online for ideas when I came across a recipe of Giada’s.  I’m pretty sure I’ve made it before, but looking at the ingredients now, I’m shocked by the FAT content there must be in this recipe — FAT that I don’t particularly think adds any flavor.  We all want to enjoy full-flavored food (FFF), but this just sounds unnecessarily heavy and not that tasty.  So I’ve decided to fix it.

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At some point during the last year, when I was cranking out recipes like a hooker in heat, I came to the realization that I was cooking far too many things that ended in ‘burger.’  I do not wish to become a burger blog, but last night I was inspired to try Chef Anne Burrell’s turkey burgers, because they (1) received pretty decent reviews, (2) are Asiany and I like Asian things, (3) are made by Anne Burrell (and nothing she makes is bad).

This burger was like a good woman, deliciously moist and full of flavor.  Assuming you have a lot of the ingredients to hand, they’re very cheap to make and huge — I’m considering turning the four patties into 32 sliders and serving them at a cocktail party — and are sure to please everyone; I don’t even like water chestnuts all that much but found they added the most delicious crunch.  One thing to be careful of is flipping them; make sure the burgers have browned very well on one side before attempting to move.  They’re very loose (no egg or breadcrumbs in the batter).  Get the recipe here!