Lamb Surprise Burgers

My first attempt at cooking lamb was less than successful. In fact, it made me doubt if I even liked the stuff. I baked the lamb in a tomato and Greek yogurt sauce. In my opinion, it was pretty much disgusting. My family ate it, but agreed the flavor was not right.
Needless to say, I was a little hesitant about giving lamb another shot. So, I decided to seek a little guidance from my beloved cookbooks. I landed on the "Prosciutto Lamb Burgers" in Giada's Kitchen by Giada DeLaurentis. I had the grocery list ready to go. And then it snowed. A foot of the cold white stuff put a quick stop to my grocery trip. However, mom had already thawed the lamb, so I had to just improvise.
It was a success! Everyone enjoyed the burgers, even me.
Here is what I came up with:

ingredients:
1lb. ground lamb
2 eggs
1/2 cup italian breadcrumbs
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon each oregano and parsley
1/2 onion (chopped)
4 slices mozzarella cheese
12 pieces fresh baby spinach
4-6 slices bacon
*toothpicks
preheat oven 375 degrees
combine lamb, eggs, breadcrumbs, parmesan, herbs, and onion in a large bowl. mix together with hands. separate into 8 thin patties.
place 1 piece of mozzarella and several pieces of spinach between 2 patties. pinch sides together. repeat, creating 4 stuffed patties. wrap bacon around each patty. secure with a toothpick. (depending on size, you may need more than 1 slice of bacon to get around the patties.)
sear burgers on medium-high heat. about 3 minutes per side. transfer patties to oven safe dish (if you have an oven safe skillet, like cast iron, use it to help reduce dishes). bake for approximately 20 minutes. *use a meat thermometer for safe and accurate doneness*
remove toothpicks.
serve and enjoy.
*the ground lamb, spinach, eggs, bacon, and herbs can all be purchased from kiss my grass farm in season. (kissmygrassfarm.net)*

Hello

Hello there! My name is Lydia. I am beginning this cooking blog as an addition to my folks' website (www.kissmygrassfarm.net) for their farm. They produce fresh fruit, veggies, eggs, and meat.
I guess I've always been a little food obsessed. My mom says that when I was little I would just walk around and steal food off of her plate and everyone else's. I still think food tastes better off someone else's plate. Mom would have me in the kitchen all the time when I was growing up. I would help her make apple butter, breads, ice cream, and just about anything else she was cooking up. We usually had a garden in the back yard. My brother and I each had our own smaller gardens and got to plant whatever we wanted. Mine was usually full of corn, tomatoes, and strawberries (still 3 of my faves). I have always loved looking through cookbooks. As a teenager I didn't really enjoy cooking, but I would still flip through cookbooks and fantasize about someday creating those meals.
A few years ago I started cooking again. I am officially addicted. I still love to look at cookbooks, but now I not only make the food, I change the recipes to suit my taste (and the tastes of my friends and family). Every week I peruse my cookbook collection and pick different meals to prepare. And every Tuesday is grocery day. I like to perfect meals I already know how to make and also to challenge myself to master ones that seem impossibly complex. Sometimes it's a major success and sometimes it's dog food. Either way, I enjoy myself and learn something.
My blog will share my own recipes, variations of other's recipes, my favorite kitchen gadgets and feature lots of locally grown products.