We moved, and then I made: Sausage, Potatoes, Peppers and Onions

Hi folks!  Bonjour amis!   

Big news!  We have moved from the Rocky Coast of Maine, back to our roots. It happened a year ago, and we have been settling in nicely.  

Funnily enough, our darling friend MS found our house for us.  Not only did she find the house, she also knocked on the owners door and made an offer they couldn't refuse.  So here we are in SC!

I have been wanting to roast some sausages recently, so I took some time during our latest snow storm to look up some recipes.  I decided on a combination of a couple of them.  However, before  I got started, the afore mentioned darling friend and her equally darling daughter came by for a glass of wine.  When I told her what I was doing, she made a fantastic suggestion!  She suggested that I sauté each layer before putting them in the roasting pan.  She has made this several times, being of Italian descent. 

I decided to thickly slice the potatoes rather than dice them up.  I felt like I would like big chunks of all the ingredients.  I didn't get a picture of the sausage being sautéed, but I will say that MS said to prick the sausage so all the juicy delicious fat landed in the sauté pan, rather than on the cutting board when I sliced them up.  So I did that and then I placed the sliced potatoes in the fat. And as always, I seasoned EVERY layer with kosher salt and pepper. 

I flipped them over after about 5 minutes and let the second side brown up as well.

Then I placed the potatoes in the bottom of the pan.

And plopped the sausage on top.

Then I started sautéing the chunks of pepper and onion.  

Side note:  I just remembered that the peppers were supplied by MS.  I'm feeling rather inadequate right now.  Did she make this dish or did I?  First she buys our house for us, and then she is cooking for us.  What a friend!!

I didn't let the veggies get too soft, just a little wilted.

I sprinkled Penzeys Pasta Sprinkle over everything.  Guess who introduced me to Penzeys Spices.  Yup, MS.  If you don't have this, any Italian seasoning will work.

I roasted them at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, then pulled the pan out and mixed everything up.  I put it back in the oven for another 20 minutes.  It was out of this world delicious!

And below is a glimpse of my very handsome hand model.  

A bientôt!  See you soon.

Burgers for Dinner

UD's favorite meal is a burger.  Every time!  Under any and every circumstance.  So here's your burger baby.

Start with about a pound of 85% ground chuck.  Add a couple of tablespoons of steak sauce, freshly ground black pepper and a couple of large pinches of kosher salt.

Grate a quarter of an onion right over the hamburger.  Then you will get all the onion liquid, along with the grated onion.

Mix everything together and separate into two even sections.

Pull the two even sections out and flatten to about a 1/2 inch.

Then I cut those in half, just for the ease of flipping them in the pan.

Once that is done, I wrap it and put it in the fridge for an hour or so.  This will get all the flavors mixing and mingling.  This step can be passed over in the case of sever hunger pains, or excessive drooling from your loved one.

Next get your sides ready.  I am going with grilled corn-on-the-cob and some pickles.

Slather (great word, huh?) the corn with softened butter and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.  Wrap it in foil and it is ready to go on the grill.

I chose multigrain bread, because healthy options are always at the top of my mind.  Really?  I like to scoop out the inside, because less bread and more beef is a winning combination.

More slathering, because healthy options are it tastes sooo good.

Cook the burgers over medium to medium high heat.  Leave it for 5 minutes without touching.  They will get nice and brown on one side and then you can move onto the next side.  Probably another 5 minutes will do nicely.

While they are cooking, start grilling the corn.  After 5 minutes or so, add the bread to get a nice buttery toast to it.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, I have discovered some leftover bacon from breakfast the day before.  Oh boy, did that made me happy!  :)  It is already cooked, so I just placed it on the burgers to warm it up a touch.

When the burgers are cooked, remove them to a plate to rest.

And put the bacon to the side also.

Next bring in the toasted roll.

And start assembling.

A little spinach on the top for good measure, and a little color.

And away we go!

It is great to be back.

A bientôt!

Cockles and Muscles Alive Alive Ho!

UD and I have been craving steamed muscles.  So the other night we finally partook.  There is a wrench in this story, however.  Dr. M told UD that he is diabetic, and therefore has to start choosing better carbs, and a healthier diet in general.  Hence the following:

Steamed Muscles in Wine and Butter Sauce:
This was going to be our meal, rather than an appetizer, so I bought 4 lbs of muscles.  I soaked them for about 10 minutes in 2 tablespoons of flour and enough water to cover.  That will make them spit out the sand.  If some of the muscles are open, and don't close if you tap the shell, they are most likely dead.  Don't take any chances, just throw them out.

While the muscles were soaking, I got together a loaf of multigrain bread (good carbs), some compound garlic butter I had frozen, and some chives.

I cut the loaf in half vertically, and then horizontally.  Later I froze the half I wasn't using, which will be great for another time.  I mixed the chives into the softened butter, and spread it liberally (not endorsed by Dr. M) on the bread.    I put them on a foil lined baking sheet, and set it aside.

Next I pulled out some dry white wine, chicken broth, butter, garlic (smashed) and onion (chopped), along with red pepper flakes for a little kick!

Then over medium heat I melted the butter.

Once that was melted, I added the onion and sautéed until the onion was soft.

Next I put in the garlic and 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes.  I sautéed that until the garlic was a little golden and the red pepper had a chance to wake up!

Next came a half a cup of wine and a half a cup of chicken stock.  Once that came to a steady simmer, I added the muscles.

I covered the pot and let the muscles steam for 5-6 minutes, stirring lightly halfway through.

The oven was preheated to 375 degrees, so I added the chive and garlic bread and let that bake for 8-10 minutes, or until golden and oh so delicious.

Lastly, I placed the muscles and that delicious broth in a big "sharing" bowl and wedged in some toasty bread.  The only thing missing was the song Molly Malone in the background!

So the good is the fact that we used multigrain bread.  The bad is that we used the butter liberally.  But this is a meal that we would consider just OK for the new diet.  You will see a lot better choices in general, with an occasional dab of butter.  Let's face it folks, everything tastes better with butter.  :)

A bientôt!  See you soon.

Update on the Pretty Pot of Parsley

The little sprout heads are popping up!

Now they are coming fast and furious.  Being a novice, I put the whole packet of seeds in this one tiny pot.  Sister E nicely but firmly instructed me to weed them out as they grow.  Oil well ...  Live and Learn.  :)

A bientot!  See you soon.

Kale Chips

I have been hearing about Kale chips on the Food Network for many a moon now.  The general thought it that it is a nice healthy alternative to potato chips.  What is not to like about that?  Read on.

Start with a bunch of fresh kale.

It needs to be de-stemmed.  Is that a word?

Rinse it well and then dry as thoroughly as possible.  I love salad spinners, and since there are just two of us, I use the smaller version.  It spins out so much water.

Pat it dry with paper towels.

Sprinkle it lightly with extra virgin olive oil and salt.  Place the kale on a cookie sheet that is lined with parchment paper or foil.  Bake it at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

In the end, the kale was mostly crispy, a few pieces were less so.  Maybe I had a little too much EVOO.  But it definitely had a nice texture.  My problem was that I didn't really taste much more than EVOO and salt.  Which is quite delicious, but really not what I was going for.  The kale actually had little flavor.  I guess I just rather skip the potato chips!

A bientot!  See you soon.