Cheesy Sausage Ragu

I gotta tell you, I've missed my kitchen this week. As tired as I've been, I've been uber frustrated with the lack of cooking I have been doing. But, I've brought so much paperwork home with me every night that I just have not been able to spend time in the kitchen. I did work an extra hour off the clock tonight, but I didn't bring work home with me. Instead, I came home and went straight upstairs. I didn't use a recipe for this. It was born out of the ingredients of my fridge, things I needed to get rid of.

Cheesy Sausage Ragu

From me!

1/2 lb of your favorite pasta (I used Rigatoni but I think something smaller would work better)

1/2 roll sausage (I used hot Italian)

1 cup Marinara sauce

Garlic powder

Dried Basil

Dried Oregano

Dried Thyme

Dried Rosemary (Dear spice company, can you for consistency's sake, use the same shaker cap on your rosemary as you do on all other herbs/spices? That way when I open the cap I don't pour half the bottle into my sauce. Kthx)

Salt and Pepper

Worcestershire sauce (what, did you actually expect me to make a recipe without it??)

2 oz fresh mozzerella, chopped

1/4 cup mascarpone

Parmesan

Boil water. Cook pasta per package directions.

While pasta is cooking, brown sausage in medium skillet. Drain grease. Add marinara sauce to meat. Add spices and herbs to your taste. Be careful with the rosemary. It's tricky! Let this simmer until pasta is almost done. Just before you drain pasta, add cheese to sauce. Drain pasta. Mix pasta into sauce. Serve with grated Parmesan on top.

Note--You can change the cheeses in this. I happen to have fresh Mozzerella and mascarpone from another recipe. You could easily use shredded packaged mozzerella and cream cheese. You just want something melty/stringy and something smooth and creamy. I'm all about using what you have on hand. Same with the herbs--use what you've got.

We had breakfast for dinner tonight. It was delicious, but no recipes came out of it. Just a couple of eggs and some hashbrowns, nothing special. Just an easy, comforting meal after what was a very nervous day. I was not in the mood for cooking a big fancy meal. However, we can now breathe a big sigh of relief.

The problem--what to blog about tonight? Crap! So I went to the reserves for this one. It makes a great snack dip, something I like to keep in the fridge to dip celery and carrots in. It would also be good to take to a party as well, although you might want to make a double recipe if you are going to be entertaining.

Dill Dip

From A Recipe a Day

1/2 cup mayo

1/2 cup sour cream

1 handful dill

1 tsp seasoning salt

1/4 tsp onion salt

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 Tbsp dried minced onion

1 Tbsp dried parsley

1/4 tsp hot sauce

Mix ingredients together and chill. Serve with cut veggies. Also makes a good sandwich or cracker spread.

I got the picky kid to eat mustard!

Meet B.

He's basically at fault...er...responsible for bringing J. into my life. B. is my second cousin (or third, or something like that. Who knows really?) and J.'s best friend. Brother by a different Mother, if you will. And yes, I mean that in the cheesiest way possible. He was the best man at our wedding, and he continues to be the ultimate third wheel in our marriage (he even invited himself to our 1 year anniversary, but I nixed that pretty quickly). I would not have it any other way! We don't see him as much as we used to when we lived up north, but he comes down for a night or two about once a month. Tonight was one such night. I had a recipe up my sleeve that I wanted to try, and I had been planning on making it for J. and P. (see the Buffalo Chicken Mini Night.) I invited them over too and set to meal planning. I was a little bit nervous though, because B. is the second pickiest eater I have ever met (ironically, the 1st pickiest is my ex's best friend. Must be a side kick thing). J & P didn't come over, but B. was pretty thrilled with dinner. "What is the spice that is on this? It has a kick!" It took me a minute to realize he was talking about the Dijon glaze. He was so proud of himself when I told him he was eating mustard, and liking it!

Mustard Glazed Chicken

Adapted from Dinner for a year and Beyond

5 chicken breasts

Poultry seasoning (I used Pampered Chef Sun Dried Tomato Mix)

Marinade:

Juice of 1 lime

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

1/3 cup soy sauce

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

3 clove garlic chopped

1 cup chicken stock

1 cup red wine

Glaze:

3 tsp Dijon Mustard

Juice of 1 lime

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

1/3 cup soy sauce

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

3 clove garlic chopped

Mix marinade ingredients together in plastic bag. Place chicken in bag and put in fridge for at least 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place chicken in 9x13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle with poultry seasoning.

In a small bowl, whisk together the rest of the ingredients. Pour over chicken. Bake chicken for about 20-25 minutes, basting 2-3 times during cooking time. Serve in baking dish with a large spoon so guests can help themselves to the extra glaze!

Cilantro Rice

Adapted from Aggie's Kitchen

1 cup minute rice

2 cups cold water

3 cloves garlic, chopped

Large handful of fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

2-3 green onions, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Worcestershire sauce

Splash white wine

Make rice according to package direction, with the addition of garlic. Fluff with a fork. Toss in cilantro, onions, salt and pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and white wine.

Cinnamon Apples

Recipe by Me!

5 Small to Medium apples (I used Honeycrisp because that's what I had, Golden Delicious would be better for this though)

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp cinnamon

1 Tbsp Nutmeg

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/4 cup real maple syrup

2 Tbsp butter

Peel and slice apples.

In large mixing bowl, mix sugar and spices. Toss with apples. Add Maple syrup, toss to coat.

In skillet, melt butter. Add apples. Cook until tender and sauce is thick and bubbly.

Lazy Saturday

Until graduation, I had worked every single Saturday for the past 2.5 years. It was great money, and great experience, but no one likes working their weekend away. Now that I'm working full time during the week, I finally get to have some time to myself on the weekend. Still, my Saturdays are usually packed full. I'm always running around--I often go home on the weekends, especially if J. has drill. And lately, if I don't go north, then my weekends have been swamped with moving.

Today I've just been lazy. We had several Scrubs reruns on our DVR, and even though it's almost 3, I'm still in my PJs! Gotta love it :)! Jordan was craving soup, so I decided to throw together his favorite. The last time I made this soup, he ate 3 bowls in one sitting! That time though, I was anxious to try out my new "boat motor." This time, I left the potatoes chunky, so the soup was MUCH heartier. Perfect for a cuddly fall day!

I got the base for this recipe from one of my favorite B-town moms. I added cheese and fresh herbs, and took out potato flakes, but the main recipe was all D. This is also another one of those recipes where I throw in whatever I have around. Use whatever spices or herbs sound good to you. I used dill today, but I would keep that to a minimum. It was good but a bit strong for this soup.

Cheesy Potato Soup

Adapted from D.S.'s Recipe

3 Idaho Potatoes, diced (I leave peels on, it's up to you really)

4 Tbsp butter

1/2 yellow onion, diced

3 medium carrots, diced

1/4 cup flour

1 pint boiling water

1/8 cup chicken bouillon (You could use 1 pint chicken stock instead of water and bouillon)

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup milk

1/4 tsp Tabasco sauce

1/4 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Salt, pepper, garlic powder, to taste

Fresh herbs of your choice (I recommend parsley, basil, rosemary, and thyme)

1 1/2 cup cheese (Cheddar usually, but smoked gouda would be good, or anything sharp and meltable)

In large pot, cover potatoes in water. Bring to boil, then simmer for 20 minutes.

Melt butter in stockpot over medium heat. Add onions and carrots, saute for 10 minutes.

Add flour to onions and butter and cook for four to five minutes, stirring until flour is absorbed.

In a small bowl, combine water and chicken bouillon. Stir until no lumps remain.

Add to onion mixture.

Add milk and cream, stirring until smooth and lightly thickened.

Add Tabasco, Worcestershire, spices, and herbs.

Reduce heat to med. low, and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep milk from scalding.

Drain potatoes, then put back in pot to let them steam out a little bit before adding to soup.

Turn the heat under the soup off, but leave pan on warm burner. Add cheese a handful at a time to the soup, stirring each handful all the way in before adding the next.

Mash the potatoes a little bit to break them down, then carefully add them to the soup.

Serve!

Stay tuned and you might get a treat later this evening...

Leftovers for Lunch!

I recently fell in love with French cooking. Or rather, the idea of French cooking. More specifically, Julia Child's French cooking. I read Julie & Julia, then My Life in France. I just fell in love with Julia's world, most of all, the food. I've been dying to move into our house and get my kitchen situated so I could learn to cook like her. I'm going to ask for her book for my birthday, and a Le Creuset French Oven for Christmas.

I don't think I'm going to try her aspics though. *shudder* Sorry Julia.

I came across this crockpot recipe and I was so excited! I knew it wasn't EXACTLY coq au vin, but I thought it would be pretty close, and something that I could let simmer all day while I was at work.

However, I was impatient and didn't take the skins off the chicken, so the broth was suuuuuper greasy, and full of slimy skin. Ooooops! Not exactly appetizing. The dish was kind of bland, it needed more veggies, maybe some carrots and carrots. Something to give it texture.

Because it wasn't exactly a hit, we had a ton of chicken leftover. I hated to throw it away, so I pulled the larger chunks of chicken out and put it in the fridge for the night. The next afternoon I made a rockin' chicken salad with the ingredients of my fridge.

Fruity Chicken Salad

2-3 Cups shredded chicken breast

1 cup halved red grapes

1 diced apple (I like Honeycrisp)

1/2 -1cup Mayo (I don't like much, just enough to hold everything together)

Sundried Tomato Spice Blend

Salt & Pepper

Garlic Salt

Handful Fresh Dill and Parsley, torn