Suzee's Sausage Cassoulet

I was perusing food blogs today, loving all the "classics" on the project food blog, and I came upon a blog which posted about Pam Anderson's Perfect One-Dish Dinners. That post inspired this post - I haven't read the book, but wanted to mention it because it was so highly recommended.

This delectible dish was conceived when it was reasonably cool out (this morning),  but whew, the oven just heated the apartment to almost unbearable. This would be fabulous in a crock pot too, though not an all day affair.

Here are the ingredients:
1 lb sausage (I used chicken sausage here, but I would definitely change to sweet italian sausage next time)

4 plum tomatoes chopped (or a pint of grape tomatoes - today I only had 2 plum tomatoes, so I added 8 oz of tomato sauce)

1 large onion cut in 1 - 1.5" chunks

4 large garlic cloves, sliced (not too thinly)

3 T olive oil

1.5 T balsamic vinegar - if you have the good stuff, don't hesitate to use it - it's only a small amount and it makes a huge difference!

2 t dried thyme

3 small bay leaves

s&p

1 can cannellini beans drained and rinsed

1 10 oz pkg frozen spinach

1/2 C water

Adjust oven rack to lowest position, and heat to 350. Mix all ingredients up to and including the salt and pepper in a dutch oven. Roast about an hour, until the tomatoes break down and make a nice sauce.

Remove from the oven, add the beans, spinach and water, and simmer on the stove top for 5 minutes or until heated through.

Serve in a bowl or on a plate - your choice, but add a light drizzle of fruity olive oil over the top - it makes the beans sing :) Enjoy with crusty bread and a nice Rioja :)

Mikey's Izmir Kofte

I met my friend Mike back at my first job in NYC. See him above? He's the one in the middle of Damian and Jocy. He's a project manager, and a fabulous story teller. Although I haven't had the pleasure of partaking in his cooking, I hear via the grapevine it's amazing :) When I was working on the Project Food Blog, and before I got axed, I asked Mike for some tips and perhaps a recipe for something Turkish, which is his background. He sent me this recipe, and it sounded so fabulous I needed to make it :)

1 lb ground beef

1/2 lb ground lamb
1 cup large onion, minced as tiny as you can (I actually grated the onion - seemed easier)
1/4 bread crumbs (I use Panko) (me too!)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 bunch italian parsely - minced (you need about a handful, not more)


Mix all of the ingredients lightly in a large bowl.

Make thin eggshaped meatballs (2 inches long, 1/2-3/4 inch wide) - Form a normal meatball, then Roll it in the palm of your hands to get the shape.


2 lbs of russet potatos (sliced into steak fry shapes - 1/2 inch think, 1 inch wide)
8-9 plum tomatoes (quarters, length wise)



Sauce

8 oz crushed tomato
medium sized shallot minced
4 large cloves of garlic minced
1/2 teaspoon oregano (dried)
1/4 teaspoon basil (dried) - double it if you use fresh
2 tblspoons butter
2 - 3 T olive oil

In a small sauce pan, melt butter and 2-3 tblspoons olive oil on high heat

Add garlic and shallots, cook for 1 minute

add crush tomatoes and seasonings

Let cook on medium heat for 10 minutes.



In a medium to large size square pyrex dish (lasagna tray is a good substitute), place alternating meat, potato, tomato pieces the length of the tray (direction of line not important)

Once you fill the tray out, pour your sauce over it

Cover dish with tin foil

Cook in pre-heated 350 degree oven for 45 minutes (it's done when the potatoes are tender). (I cooked for 55 minutes, but my potatoes didn't soften - I'll cook the left overs for a while to get them soft)(plus my oven is a million years old)

Can be served with white rice or as is.

The flavor was amazing! Do try this dish - it has a pleasing flavor - I'm looking forward to the leftovers!

Suzee's Maple Apple Crisp

To earn my keep when I went for a quick trip to NH, I made Ann a big 'ole apple crisp! We stopped at a farm stand for some apples and I got a 1/2 peck of courtlands. She was a little short on brown sugar for my regular recipe, so I had to improvise a bit. So, I used brown sugar and white sugar to make up the sugar component of the crumble topping. And, as there was no molasses, I added a few tablespoons of maple syrup to the apples instead of sugar. Oh yeah - that's a keeper!!!

The Feast of San Gennaro

Rick and I made our way down to the Feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy this past weekend. I was really pleased that despite fabulous weather, it was relatively quiet. I say relatively because last time we went, it was so jammed I was seriously concerned that if anything happened, we would not be able to get off Mott Street. People were shoulder to shoulder and belly to bum that day. This day you could see sunlight between you and the people around you :) We walked from the Canal Street station over to Mott Street and started north searching for a nice place to eat. There are more than 30 restaurants which open sidewalk seating for this event, and I can't say as I've ever had anything but amazing Italian food in Little Italy. So we stopped at the first locale which had open seating, Puglia, and ordered a nice bottle of chianti. We had a few sips and fresh Italian bread appeared - warm and inviting. Not too crusty, and perfectly poofy! The waiter came by, and we ordered dinner. He asked us if we wanted an appetizer, and I asked him how the antipasto was. Very good he said - and seriously, this was the best antipasto I've ever had. There were rolled meats like capicola ham, salami and some other kind of mild ham. Then slices of pepperoni, pieces of fresh mozzerella and imported provalone which was almost the texture of aged cheddar (so amazingly delicious)! This all laid on a bed of fresh lettuces, cucumbers, tomatoes and roasted red peppers dressed in a fabulous fruity olive oil and a smooth sweet balsamic vinegar. Sprinkled on top were black olives and pepperoncini and a stuffed cherry pepper. You all know I don't love all this stuff, but all together, in the beautiful weather, with the gorgeous wine, and fresh bread, it was heaven!

Rick's chicken parmesean roll was really good - they used fresh mozzerella, and the marinara sauce was to die for - simply fabulous! I had the lobster ravioli with vodka sauce - it was very good, but that marinara out shown everything during the entrees! Next time I'll be diving into the spaghetti and meatballs!!

Jackie Warners's Protein Shake

Did you ever watch that show on Bravo - "Workout"? What do you think - do you like Jackie better with short hair or long hair? I say she looked fabulous in short hair, and she just looks contrived in long hair :(

Anyway - here is the protein shake Jackie uses for pre or post work out as she describes in her new show Thintervention.

1 scoop protein powder
1t Glutamine Powder (amino acid which breaches blood brain barior according to Jackie)
1t BCAA Powder (branch chain amino acid)
1T L Carnitine (fat burner)
1/2 T Flax Seed Oil (be sure to shake the oil first)
1 C frozen spinach
1 C frozen berries

Blend!

Football Snacks with Apple and Prociutto

I love pork products. I was reading a note from my friend Jenny, and she commented how they ate a lot of pig when she was a kid. I love that. None of that "the other white meat" crap. Just "I like me some pig!" Please - I love bacon, ham, sausage, pepperoni,  and sweet sopressata.

But for some reason, I really struggle with prociutto. Perhaps it's because I'm in the USA and not in Italy? I have yet to taste some that doesn't have a rank flavor and a texture so delicate that it's impossible to keep it in one slice. Am I just buying the wrong brand???

I came upon an idea to have pear with prociutto, and I thought, hmmm... A nice twist away from the usual melon/prociutto combo (which I've tried before, and don't care for).

Well, I didn't have pear, but I did have honey crisp apples, and a sweet onion that needed some cooking love. I used one of those apple slicers - the round one that cores it too, and then I took each slice and cut it in half again for a thinner slice. Then I combined slices of apple wth slices of smoked gouda, and topped that with a little swath of procuitto. I think I would like this better if there was a bit of ham on it instead of the procuitto - something saltier to go with the sweet apple and rich smokey cheese. But if you are a procuitto lover, perhaps this is for you.

Next I caramelized some sweet onion - sautee on low with a little butter and a cover and keep tossing around for a bit. Perhaps for 20 - 30 minutes to really get them rich and sweet. Add a little water if the pan happens to get dry. Don't let them burn.

Then I layered the onion slices on the apple, and wrapped with procuitto. I baked them in a snuggly dish for about 25 minutes on 350. I thought perhaps if the procuitto was crispy, that I'd like it better. The answer was no. This time I was craving a bit of bacon, and perhaps a few crumbles of bleu cheese.

At any rate, there some football snacking ideas here - options, options, options....
What sounds good to you???

Today Is Voting for Challenge 1!

OK - Voting is OPEN for the first challenge for the Project Food Blog!! Please vote for me! My post can be found here.

Voting Opens 6AM Pacific Time September 20th through 6PM Pacific Time September 23rd - Just click that cute little widget with my picture on the left hand side. Thanks for your support!!