homemade bulk italian sausage

We made lasagna this past week but didn’t find any bulk Italian sausage at the store. So, I thought I’d take a shot at making it myself. I combined a recipe from Alton Brown with another one I found online at Sausage Mania, added a little extra flavoring, and voila! It turned out very well and this will now be the default Italian sausage choice in our house. I didn’t make it into links (hence the “bulk” descriptor) but I have to admit that the ease and tastiness of this recipe made me think about getting a meat grinder and sausage stuffer for the Kitchenaid. Anyway, hope you like it!

Gina’s Bulk Italian Sausage

INGREDIENTS

1 lb ground pork
3/4 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp chopped parsley (I used about 2 tsp dry)
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp granulated garlic or garlic powder

DIRECTIONS

1. Toast fennel seeds in skillet or pot over medium heat, stirring constantly. Let cool, then chop seeds coarsely on the cutting board (or grind in a grinder).

2. Combine pork, fennel seeds, and all remaining ingredients in bowl. Mix well.

3. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours to let flavors develop. Form into patties to cook (or brown and crumble, as I did for the lasagna). Yum!

oven baked bbq chicken with mashed sweet potatoes

I went looking for a baked chicken recipe today and remembered that Paula Deen had one of her sons on her show demonstrating how to make BBQ chicken in the oven. I used the Deen Brothers’ recipe as a starting point and added a few modifications. I then found a recipe for whipped sweet potatoes (by Tyler Florence) to make as a side dish. I made a few small adjustments again, including mashing the potatoes instead of pureeing them since I don’t have a food processor. Both dishes came out great and will definitely be added to the repertoire!

Here are the versions that I made. Hope you like them!

Easy Oven Baked BBQ Chicken, adapted from the Deen Brothers recipe

INGREDIENTS

1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tbsp honey
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
zest of 1/2 of an orange (use the other half for the potatoes below!)
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (barely noticeable – add more if you like heat)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 (3 1/2-pound) chicken, cut into 8 pieces; or 1 pkg each chicken drumsticks and chicken thighs

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together all ingredients except the chicken. Reserve 1/2 cup of the barbeque sauce; set aside. Place chicken in large glass baking dish. Add remaining sauce from the bowl to baking dish, turning chicken to coat.

2. Bake chicken 45 to 55 minutes or until cooked through, basting with the reserved 1/4 cup sauce after 20 minutes and remaining 1/4 cup sauce after an additional 20 minutes (after it has been in there for 40 minutes). Remove from oven and let stand for 3-5 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Mashed (not Whipped) Sweet Potatoes, adapted from a Tyler Florence recipe

INGREDIENTS

4 large sweet potatoes, scrubbed
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup heavy cream + 1 cup half and half (use less liquid f your potatoes are medium sized)
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 orange, zested
2 packed tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prick the sweet potatoes all over with a fork, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Put them in a roasting pan and roast for 45 minutes – 1 hour until they are very soft. Remove the pan from the oven.

2. In a small sauce pot, over low heat, heat the cream and half and half with the bay leaves, then keep warm until ready to puree potatoes. Discard the bay leaves before adding to potatoes.

3. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, scoop the flesh into a large bowl. Season with salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, orange zest, and brown sugar. Mash them a bit with potato masher. Add 1/2 of cream mixture and 1 tablespoon of butter, stir well to incorporate. Add remaining cream mixture in installments, stirring well after each addition, until desired consistency is reached.

updated: “you STILL can’t spell…” chili

Four years ago, we were watching the 2005 Notre Dame-USC game (infamous for the “Bush Push”… cheaters) with some friends and I made a pretty good batch of chili, which I posted on the blog last year as part of the Wedding Gift Recipe Series. We were going to make a batch yesterday for this year’s game, but since the chili tends to jinx ND, we held off until today (though sadly, we still lost despite a fierce 4th quarter rally). I decided to make a slightly smaller batch and change it just a bit, and while nothing can make that loss any easier to take, this chili comes darn close. Thus, I present:

“You STILL can’t spell SUCKS without U-S-C” Chili

Ingredients:
1.5 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp oil

1 medium green pepper, diced
1 can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can light kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can great northern beans, drained and rinsed
1 28 oz. cans diced tomatoes
1 14 oz. can tomato sauce
1 small can diced green chiles
2 tbsp chili powder (I use Penzeys Spices Medium Hot Chili Powder)
1 tbsp dried basil
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp paprika
¼ cup white sugar
2 large bay leaves
1 tbsp cumin, add more to taste
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Crusty French bread or rolls
Shredded cheddar and/or Colby jack cheese
Diced onions
Chopped cilantro
Sour cream
Frank’s Red Hot sauce, to crank up the heat

Directions:
Heat oil in large Dutch Oven (at least 5-qt size). Add onion, cook 2-3 min, stir occasionally. Add garlic, cook 2 min. Add beef, brown and crumble. When pretty much browned, add everything else. Simmer for at least 1 hour; the longer the better. Taste; add salt/pepper if you think it needs it. Otherwise, serve with Chili Bar Additions and enjoy!

pork asado, filipino style

Today was a great day – I used two different dutch ovens to create two different braised dishes. MMMMM. The first one was a small batch of kare-kare, a Filipino peanut stew that I’ve written up before. The other was a batch of Pork Asado, which braises pork in a soy sauce and brown sugar liquid. A great day for Filipino cooking in this house, that’s for sure! Here’s the recipe for the asado:

Pork Asado, Filipino Style

INGREDIENTS

1 pkg country style pork ribs, with bone (my pkg from the farm had 4 big ribs)
2 tbsp olive oil
2-3 large cloves garlic, smashed and skins removed
salt and pepper
cold water
~4 tbsp soy sauce (I actually used 4 packets of sauce from chinese restaurant takeout)
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 to 1/3 cup dark brown sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. Season one side of ribs with salt and pepper. Heat oil in dutch oven over medium low heat. Add garlic to infuse oil; remove after it starts to smell good but before it starts burning. Set aside to add it back in later. Raise heat to medium high. When dutch oven is heated, add ribs, seasoned side down, to sear. Season top side with salt and pepper. Cook about 2 min until meat releases easily from bottom of pot, flip and sear other side for 2 min.

2. Add enough water to cover the ribs. Add garlic from before, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, and brown sugar. Stir to combine. Cover and reduce heat to low; simmer for 1.5 – 2 hours until meat is tender and falling off the bone. Taste sauce when almost ready to serve; if you want it sweeter, just add a bit more brown sugar.

Serve with prepared rice, slices of tomato, and a teeny bit of fish sauce (if you dare!). Enjoy!

pork loin roast, cuban style

My mom brought me a 3+ pound frozen pork loin when they came up for Easter (Let me explain. No, wait, it is too long. Let me sum up: they were moving and needed to clean out their freezer.), and when Mike came home with some fresh Honeycrisp apples, I went looking for a good pork roast recipe.

Of course, a few days later, we decided to use the apples for caramel apple sundaes… so I decided to try to take the pork in a different direction: towards a Cuban style roast, to be eaten for dinner and with enough leftovers for Cuban sandwiches (soon to be a follow up post, for sure).

I tried this recipe (from the BBC of all places), and it turned out great! I also served it with some lightly buttered gnocchi from the grocer’s freezer. The only change I’d make would be to make some gravy to pour over everything before serving… otherwise, this is a keeper!

Cuban Roast Pork
Copied from the BBC website; click here to get to the original post

Ingredients

3 lbs boneless centre pork loin roast, with skin on
6 cloves garlic
1 tsp. salt
2 tablespoons dried oregano
The juice of two oranges, one lemon and one lime, mixed together
1 cup diced onion
1/2 cup Spanish olive oil

Method

1. Mash the garlic and salt together with a pestle and mortar. Add the dried oregano, onion and fruit juice to the mix and stir thoroughly.

2. Heat the oil in small saucepan, add the mix to the oil and whisk.

3. Pierce pork roast as many times as you can with a sharp knife or fork.

4. Pour garlic mixture (save a little for roasting) over the pork, cover the meat and leave it to stand in the refrigerator for two to three hours.

5. To cook: Preheat oven to 450°F.

6. Place the pork skin side up in an open roasting pan.

7. Place pan in oven and reduce temperature to 350°F.

8. Occasionally baste the remaining marinade over the roast while it cooks. It takes about one and a half hours for a three-pound roast to cook.

“I’m so sick (of my dissertation)” beef and lentil soup

I held off as long as I could, but I finally had to include my dissertation in the name of one of my dishes. Today was one of those great writing days… you know, the ones where you think that banging your head on the keyboard will produce better results than you staring at the screen, rewriting the same paragraph 10 times. Gotta love it.

In order to feel like the day wasn’t a total waste, I decided to multitask and make some beef and lentil soup for dinner. Since I had a full afternoon of pulling my hair out writing and theorizing ahead of me, I figured it would be great to let some soup stock simmer away at the same time. So, I pulled out some soup bones from Anderson Farm (which had quite a bit of meat on them), made a slow simmering stock for 5 hours, took the bones out, shredded the beef, and added carrots, celery, tomatoes, and lentils. Served with a great piece of bread, this meal is definitely a winner. (And definitely the most productive thing I did all day.)

Here’s the recipe!

The “I’m so sick (of my dissertation)” Beef and Lentil Soup

INGREDIENTS

(for the stock)
3+ lbs beef soup bones (meaty if possible, if not, get some chuck roast)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
inner leafy core (or 3 ribs) of celery, chopped
3 medium carrots, halved
3 quarts water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp sage

(for the soup)
1 15 oz can fire roasted tomatoes (or roast your own, or just add fresh, chopped ones), slightly drained
1 cup dry lentils, soaked and rinsed
1 tbsp oregano
4 medium carrots, peeled and chopped into rounds/bite sized pieces
3 ribs celery, chopped into bite sized pieces
salt and pepper to taste

crusty bread and butter

DIRECTIONS

1. For the stock: Heat oil over medium heat in a large dutch oven (at least 5.5 quarts). Add onion, cook 2 min. Add garlic, celery, and carrots, cook 2 more min, stirring frequently. Add soup bones; lightly sear if they have meat. (If using chuck roast, add now, sear lightly.) Pour water over all, add salt, pepper, and spices. Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat to maintain simmer. Skim off scum and fat as needed; simmer for at least 3 hours, longer if you have time. Make sure meat is tender.

When the stock is simmering, this would be a good time to soak your lentils in cold water. If you think of it later, drain them and add new water to rinse again. I soaked mine the entire time the stock was cooking.

2. For the soup: After stock is done, remove meat and veggies, and strain the stock with a fine grained colander (or through cheesecloth if you’re really fancy… I don’t do this but some do). Pour anywhere from 8-10 cups of stock back into pot; freeze any excess for another time. Wait until meat is cool enough to handle, separate and shred. Add back into stock. Add lentils, tomatoes, and oregano, place over medium to medium high heat until boiling. Cover and reduce heat to maintain simmer, about 40 min (longer if you want thicker soup). Add carrots and celery, simmer another 15-20 minutes until veggies are tender.

Serve with crusty bread and butter… mmmmmm! Great for when you’re sick, or just when you’re sick of something (like a dissertation!).

ginger people’s ginger chews

When I was in WI last week, Masako shared some Ginger People Ginger Chews with me, and I have to say that I am absolutely smitten with them. They are so dang tasty that I am probably going to order some directly from their website. Here is the link if you want to check them out:

http://www.gingerpeople.com/ginger-chews/original-ginger-chews-3.html

They have the consistency of… a caramel? But the best part is the taste – a wonderful sweet-spicy flavor that is totally addictive (if you like ginger flavored things). I can’t wait to get more!

potato smash soup

My good friend Kelly shared this recipe with me long ago, though it used to be called “Mashed Potato Soup”. It was renamed by someone at one of the potlucks we took it to, and the name stuck. Though we haven’t made this vegetarian dish in a while, it’s one of our favorites, and I’m going to whip up a batch tomorrow night for my lovely hosts here in Madison.

The original recipe is made in the slow cooker. I will attempt a stovetop version tomorrow, which I’ll also outline below. Yay cooler weather!

Potato Smash Soup

INGREDIENTS

3 1/2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch cubes
1/2 cup chopped yellow or red sweet pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons bottled roasted garlic
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
4 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup whipping cream, half and half or lite cream
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (4oz)
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
sour cream (optional)
shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. In a 4 to 6 quart slow cooker combine potatoes, sweet pepper, garlic, and black pepper. pour broth over all.

2. Cover; cook on low-heat setting for 8-10 hours, or on high-heat for 4 to 5.

3. Mash potatoes slightly with a potato masher when done. Stir in whipping cream, the 1 cup shredded cheddar, and green onions.

4. To serve, ladle soup into serving bowls. top with sour cream and additional cheddar cheese. Have some crusty bread to tag along!

** For the stove top, I think I’ll just combine everything from step one into a big stock pot and let it boil for about 25 minutes until potatoes are tender. Then continue on to step 3.

Makes 6 servings.

get to know your local meat farmer

A few weeks ago Mike and I went to a farm with 2 of his coworkers and picked up a 1/4 cow of grass fed/pasture raised beef. We met the farmer, his wife, son, and daughter-in-law, learned about their farming practices and the challenges they face, enjoyed the amazing food samples they prepared for their open house, got a tour of the farm, and picked up extra beef, pork, and chicken a la carte from the farm’s frozen inventory. It was such a great and eye opening experience that I would highly recommend for everyone who cares about where their food comes from. Support your local farmers!

Our farm is the Anderson Farm in Arkansas, WI. If you are in the Twin Cities metro, check them out – they’re only about an hour and a half from St. Paul.

buffalo chicken dip

Last week we were visiting Mike’s family in OH. We arrived late on Friday night and I (not surprisingly) was hungry. Mike’s brother, Joe, had some of this dip in the fridge, so we heated some up and WOW it was super tasty! Joe was kind enough to share the recipe and his modifications, and then I just made some today for Browns-Vikings season opener. I think this is a new favorite game food option – thanks Joe!!

The original version and Joe’s rendition both are slow-cooker prepared; I was running late this morning so I made mine on the stovetop and then finished it off in the oven. You can find the original All Recipes version here.

Joe’s “Go Big or Go Home” Gameday Buffalo Chicken Dip, slightly modified

INGREDIENTS

1 pkg boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 tbsp olive oil
dash garlic powder
dash black pepper
~1/3 cup water

2 8-oz packages light cream cheese, softened
1 cup Ranch or Blue Cheese dressing
1 cup Franks Red Hot pepper sauce (for a medium level of heat; 3/4 cup for mild)
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (freshly shredded if you have time)

Various dipping options – celery sticks, Tostitos Multigrain chips, green peppers, cucumbers, whatever you like

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oil in large skillet (with higher sides than just a frying pan) over medium high heat. Season one side of chicken with light sprinkle of garlic powder and black pepper. Place spiced side down in pan. Cook 3-4 minutes for a light sear, season other side in same manner w/garlic and pepper, then flip. Cook another 2-3 minutes, then add 1/3-1/2 cup water to pan. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for ~10 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Let cool.

2. When chicken is cool, drain the simmering liquid and shred with forks or fingers. Return to skillet, add hot sauce and place over medium heat until heated through. Stir in cream cheese and ranch dressing. Cook, stirring until well blended and warm. Mix in half of the shredded cheese and stir.

3. Now, choose where you want to finish the dip – slow cooker or oven. If you use the slow cooker, transfer the mixture, sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top, cover, and cook on Low setting until hot and bubbly. Serve and enjoy.

For the oven method, preheat to 350. Add the rest of the cheese to the skillet mixture, stir, then transfer to 8×8 glass baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes. Take out, stir if needed, and serve.