Sausage Pennette Rigate Florentine

Today was supposed to be a warm, sunny day so I was eager to open up the windows and let the fresh air into my house.  I tend to get chilled easily so, though the thermometer made it above 70 degrees outside today, I was cold.  It put me in the mood for a little comfort food.  I considered what I had on hand and decided to throw together a pasta dish.  What I came up with was Sausage Pennette Rigate Florentine.

Sausage Pennette Rigate Florentine sounds all kinds of fancy, doesn’t it?  If you make it for family and friends and they will think that you went to incredible lengths to make dinner.  In truth, this is another one of those dishes that is quite easy to make and it does not demand a lot of time in the kitchen.  You can easily add more vegetables according to what you have on hand or substitute your favorite pasta or pasta alternative.

You will notice that the one item not on my list of ingredients is salt.  I am a big proponent of using organic ingredients and heirloom varieties of vegetables.  Whenever possible, I try to buy local produce.  When you use these types of ingredients, you will find that your food naturally has more flavor and you will not have to add salt to “bring out the flavor.”

Sausage Pennette Rigate Florentine is like a carnival of flavors.  You get the sweetness of the tomato, the creamy distinct tang of bleu cheese, and the savory notes of the sausage and onion with the distinct hint of spinach.  The flavor will wrap you in comfort without leaving you with that heavy feeling you get after consuming a cream based sauce.

Sausage Penette Rigate Florentine

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 pound bulk sausage (I used maple sausage but any will do)
• 1 medium onion
• 3 medium tomatoes, seeds removed, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ cup chicken stock
• 12 – 16-oz fresh baby spinach, chopped
• 5-oz crumbled bleu cheese
• 16-oz dry pennette rigate pasta

Directions

1. Brown sausage in a large frying pan
2. Add onion, drizzle with olive oil and cook until golden brown.
3. Add tomato and garlic, mix well and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Add chicken stock, mix well and cover, stirring occasionally.
5. In a large pot, cook pasta according to package directions.
6. When pasta is almost done cooking, add spinach to meat mixture, stir to combine, cover and allow to cook for about 5 minutes or until spinach has cooked down and is limp.
7. Add crumbled bleu cheese to meat mixture, stir to combine, turn off heat and allow to sit on burner while cheese melts.
8. While the cheese is melting, drain pasta.
9. Add pasta to meat mixture and carefully stir to combine.
10. Serve hot.

What is your comfort food on a cool day?  Comment below and let me know!

Taco Loco Seasoning

It has been almost a full week since I posted a new entry.  No, it does not mean that we have stopped eating.  Rather, life threw a little curveball and grocery shopping got delayed by several days. 

Fritz & Hester Prynne

Anyone who knows me knows that my dogs are my babies.  We had planned to go grocery shopping on Wednesday evening.  I had one of my dogs (Fritz) at the vet for some annual shots and to have a bad tooth looked at.  The good news is that I had Mr. Fritz there on a Wednesday because the doggy dentist is at our vet that day.  The bad news is that he had to have oral surgery to remove a baby tooth that never fell out and was causing problems with his adult teeth.  He was so groggy and out of it when I took him home in the evening, I felt it was more important to stay by his side and comfort him than it was to go grocery shopping.  After a few sleepless nights spent worrying about my little boy, I was not feeling well so grocery shopping got put off for a few more days.  Once we were finally able to pick up some groceries, I was back in business in the kitchen! 

Our days have continued to get sunnier and warmer so I have been in the mood for a little lighter fare.  I have been studying Spanish so I have also been in the mood for Mexican food.  Turkey tacos sounded so good on soft tortillas with spinach and a little bit of shredded cheese.  The one thing that did not sound good was the pre-packaged taco seasoning.  You know the stuff I am talking about.  You rip open the little packet and dump it on your browned meat with a little water.  The problem is, I am not a big fan of salt and many varieties of taco seasoning are loaded with sodium.

For years, I have been making my own taco seasoning mix and I find that it works equally well on ground beef, ground turkey, pork, chicken and seafood.  It is just as convenient as the pre-packaged taco seasoning, plus you can customize it to your taste.  I normally mix up a double or triple batch and store it in a re-purposed spice container with the rest of my spices.  Try this recipe once and you will never be sorry that you gave up pre-packaged taco seasoning!

Taco Loco Seasoning

Ingredients

• 3 TBSP chili powder
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1.5 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp dried cilantro
• 1 tsp flour

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.
2. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.

Directions for Use

1. Brown and drain one pound of meat.
2. Add 2 - 3 tablespoons of spice mixture (depending on taste) and 1/4 cup of water to meat.
3. Simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Serve on tortillas or over a taco salad.

What pre-packaged food item would you like to replace with fresh?  Comment below and let me know!

Cheater Paella

As the days are gradually becoming longer and warmer, I find myself craving more seafood but I still want bold flavors.  After hemming and hawing over what to make for Sunday dinner this week, I settled on Cheater Paella.  I call it “Cheater” because I do not use the traditional cooking method – outdoor over a gas or charcoal grill or over a wood fire.  I also do not use a proper paella pan – I do not even own one.  Instead, I cook my Cheater Paella on my stove in my 12-inch sauté pan and a standard 10-in stock pot.  Last, some of my flavors are just a smidge off traditional and I use whatever rice I have on hand instead of searching out that medium-grain, rounded Spanish rice.  Even still, my Cheater Paella retains the essence of traditional paella with the convenience of cooking with what you have on hand in your home.

Paella is the type of dish that one looks at and thinks it is incredibly difficult to make because it has a long list of ingredients.  This could not be farther from the truth.  In fact, it is actually quite easy to make and alter according to your wants and needs. 

The one thing that I cannot stress enough is that it is absolutely OK to alter a recipe such as Cheater Paella.  Sometimes I do not have a specific ingredient on hand so I skip it or use an alternative ingredient that I already have in my cupboard.  Seriously, make use of what you have on hand!  If you have food allergies or picky eaters, make substitutions for those items so the resulting dish fits your needs. 

I often do not bother with exact measurements when throwing a recipe together.  In the case of my Cheater Paella, I use the measurements for the meats more as guidelines than as requirements.  My original recipe called for 2-pounds of chicken breast, 1-pound of shrimp and 1-pound of kielbasa.  At my grocery store, the kielbasa and shrimp came in 12-ounce packages, and I picked up a 1 ½ pound package of organic, free-range, hormone and antibiotic-free chicken breast.  Though the meat ingredients I picked up only totaled roughly two thirds of the amount called for in the recipe, the resulting dish was not lacking in any way.  Likewise, if I had felt like it, I could have substituted regular pork sausage or chorizo for the kielbasa, and clams for the shrimp.  Or, I could have substituted in all seafood instead of including chicken and kielbasa.  No matter what, it would have turned out delicious.

The evening before I planned to make my Cheater Paella, I took a few minutes to cut the chicken into 1-inch chunks and mix up the marinade.  Then, I mixed them together and stored them in a covered glass mixing bowl in the refrigerator overnight.  Seriously simple.  Immediately following that, I decided that I had enough time to clean my shrimp so when the time came to use it the next day, I could just grab it and toss it into the pan.  Easy peasy.

When you are getting ready to actually cook your Cheater Paella, I find it easiest to start by dicing your red pepper and onion, chop one bunch of fresh parsley, zest two lemons and mince three cloves of garlic and set them all aside so everything will be ready to add at the appropriate time.  Once you have done that, it is easy sailing.  Everything comes together in a snap and you end up with an incredibly simple dish that will have your family begging for more. 

Allow your rice to form a nice crust on the bottom!

 Cheater Paella

Serves 8

Marinade Ingredients

·           2 tablespoons olive oil

·           1 tablespoon paprika

·           2 teaspoons dried oregano

·           Salt to taste

·           Pepper to taste

Other Ingredients

·           2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces

·           4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

·           2 cloves garlic, minced

·           1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

·           2 cups uncooked medium-grain white rice

·           ½ bunch Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped

·           1 quart chicken stock

·           2 lemons, zested

·           1 medium onion, diced

·           1 red bell pepper, diced

·           1 pound kielbasa or other sausage

·           1 pound raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

Directions

1.     In a medium bowl, mix together all marinade ingredients.

2.     Chop chicken then add to marinade and mix well, making sure to coat all pieces.  Cover and rest in the refrigerator for at least one hour, though longer is better.

3.     Heat 2-tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

4.     Add garlic, red pepper flakes and rice and cook, stirring to coat rice with oil for 2 – 3 minutes.

5.     Add parsley, chicken stock and lemon zest and bring to a boil then cover and reduce heat to medium-low.  No need to stir.  You want it to form a nice crust on the bottom.

6.     Simmer for 20 minutes.

7.     Meanwhile, heat 2-tablespoons of olive oil in a separate skillet or pan over medium heat.

8.     Add marinated chicken and chopped onion and cook for 5 - 7 minutes. 

9.     Add kielbasa and chopped bell pepper and cook for 5 minutes.

10. Add shrimp and cook until they are cooked through and no longer translucent.

11. Top cooked rice with meat, seafood and vegetable mixture and serve hot.

Note:  I did not want to waste my lemons after completely zesting two of them so I sliced what was left and added it to a couple of pitchers of water.

What is your go-to recipe when you crave seafood?  Comment below and let me know!

Garlic Rice

Last week, I promised to post my recipe for Garlic Rice.  This is one of those recipes that is widely consumed in the Philippines.  Every family seems to have their own recipe for it and it is commonly eaten alone as a breakfast item.  The garlic flavor is just enough to be pleasing without detracting from any accompanying dish if you choose to serve it with one. 

Garlic Rice is another one of those recipes that is quite easy to make.  Since I was serving mine as a side to Filipino Barbecue Chicken, I reserved a small amount of chicken, finely chopped it and seasoned it with salt pepper and garlic powder and let it rest in the refrigerator overnight.  You do not need to season and rest the chicken for this recipe.  However, since I already needed to allow the chicken for my Filipino Barbecue Chicken to marinate overnight, I went ahead and let this rest along side it.  Additionally, if you are serving your Garlic Rice as an accompaniment for a pork or beef dish, you can substitute pork or beef in place of the 2-tablespoons of chicken.  If you are a vegetarian or if you just do not feel like adding any meat, by all means, just omit the meat from this recipe altogether.  In other words, do not be afraid to alter the recipe to fit your ingredients and needs.  It is that simple.

Cook the garlic until it is golden brown.

Garlic Rice

Serves 4

Ingredients

·        2 tablespoons vegetable oil

·        1 ½ tablespoons minced garlic

·        2 tablespoons finely chopped chicken

·        4 cups cooked white rice

·        Garlic salt to taste

·        Ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1.   Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

2.   Add the garlic and chicken and stir until the garlic is golden brown.

3.   Add the cooked white rice and stir well.

4.   Season with garlic salt and pepper to taste and stir well.

5.   Cook until rice is heated through.

How do you feel about eating a dish like this as a breakfast item?  Com

Day of Valor - Philippines

This week, we are observing Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor) which is a public holiday in the Philippines.  It marks the day in 1942, in the Japanese occupied Philippines, that Major General Edward P. King, of the US Army, was forced to surrender more than 76,000 Filipino, Chinese and American troops to the Japanese.  The surrendered soldiers were made to hike 90 miles to Camp O’Donnell, during which, thousands of prisoners died due to starvation, disease and dehydration.  Despite the hardships, this event played a pivotal role in preventing the Japanese from taking control of all US bases in the Pacific during WWII and it eventually led to the liberation of the Philippines.

After celebrating Easter last weekend and Día de Malvinas last week, I decided that I have had more than enough pork to last for quite some time.  Therefore, when searching for Filipino recipes, I wanted to find something that was chicken based.  I was having a hard time deciding on what to make when I came upon a Filipino barbecue recipe on myfilipinorecipes.com.  The recipe I found was actually written for barbecue pork skewers but I decided to substitute chicken.

Filipino Chicken Barbecue is an incredibly easy recipe to make and it requires very little hands-on time.  You do want to set aside some time the evening before so you can mix everything up and allow the chicken to marinate overnight.  I mixed all of the marinade ingredients in a standard 8-cup mixing bowl and combined well with a whisk.  Then I cut the chicken into strips and mixed them in with the rest of the ingredients.  From there, it went into the refrigerator to sit for 24 hours and soak up all of the yummy flavors.

It is worth mentioning that this recipe is not for vampires or someone who does not like garlic.  Also, if you have a big presentation to make at work or school the next day, you may want to wait and make this another day.  If you have to work closely with people you don’t like very well, go ahead and make this.  They will probably keep their distance.  Additionally, if you are like me and you LOVE all things garlic, this recipe is definitely for you.  It calls for one head of garlic, crushed – Not one clove, ONE ENTIRE HEAD OF GARLIC!!!  Anything made with that much garlic is A-OK in my book.

I also want to note the importance of pre-soaking the bamboo skewers in water for at least 30 minutes.  Your recipe will still come out fine if you forget to pre-soak.  If you do soak your bamboo skewers prior to grilling on them, they will not turn to charcoal on your grill and the meat will be easier to remove from them when it comes time to eat.  Obviously, this is not an issue if you use metal skewers. 

We absolutely loved our chicken skewers.  By marinating for a full 24 hours, the flavors were able to fully develop and mingle.  I served ours with a side of Garlic Rice (recipe to come).

Filipino Chicken Barbecue

Serves 6 – 8

Marinade Ingredients

·        1 head garlic, crushed

·        ½ cup soy sauce

·        ½ cup banana ketchup or tomato ketchup

·        ¼ cup 7-Up, Sprite or other non-diet lemon lime soda

·        3 tablespoons lemon juice

·        ¼ tablespoon ground black pepper

·        3 tablespoons brown sugar

·        2 tablespoons peanut butter

Other Ingredients

·        2 pounds chicken thighs or breasts, cut into strips

·        8 Bamboo skewers, pre-soaked in water for 30 minutes

Marinate for at least 24 hours.

Directions

1.    Mix all marinade ingredients in a bowl, whisking to make sure that the peanut butter is fully incorporated. 

2.   Reserve 1/3 cup of marinade and store in a covered container in the refrigerator.

3.   Add chicken to the remaining marinade and stir to make sure all pieces are fully coated and submerged.

4.   Place marinade/chicken mixture in the refrigerator and allow to rest for at least 24 hours.

5.   Preheat and clean grill.

6.   Using the pre-soaked bamboo skewers, skew the chicken.

7.   Discard the marinade that the chicken rested in.

8.   Place chicken skewers on the grill and baste with the reserved marinade as they cook.

9.   Serve hot.

Ready for the grill

What is your favorite cuisine?  Comment below and let me know!

Don't Cry for Me, Argentina!

This week, we are observing Día de Malvinas, Day of the Veterans and Fallen of the Malvinas War (aka: the Falklands War), which is a public holiday observed on April 2, in Argentina.  It is a day set aside to pay tribute to Argentina’s fallen soldiers and citizens who were killed by the British during the occupation of the Falkland Islands which began April 2, 1982.

In reading about Argentina, I learned that cooking almost always includes asado, roasted meat.  The options out there for roasted meat recipes from Argentina are amazing.  Knowing that not everyone loves chicken as much as me, I decided to look at pork and beef recipes.  In the end, I decided to go with Bondiola, braised pork. 

Normally, I would have made this entirely on the grill but our poor little grill is on its last leg and we have not yet had a chance to look at options for replacing it.  It has lived a good life considering the fact that I grill year-round no matter what the weather.  Yes, often in the rain and, on many occasions, in snow.

I said before that Bondiola is braised, which sounds kind of fancy schmansy but really it is not.  All it means is that a combined cooking method is used.  First, the meat is seared at a high temperature to brown the outer layer then it finishes cooking at a lower temperature in a liquid.  This is an excellent method for cooking cheaper, tougher cuts of meat because the long, slow cook in liquid helps to break down the tough fibers into something that almost melts in your mouth.

Be sure to sear the pork prior to adding the liquid.

Because my poor, little grill is ailing, I decided to pan sear my pork roast in the frying pan on high heat with a little olive oil.  I cannot express how important this step is because a good sear helps seal in the juices as the meat cooks.  After searing the meat, I set it aside for a few minutes so the pan and the burner could cool while I prepped the vegetables. 

For my Bondiola, I went with Méxican grilling onions because my local grocery store did not have any other type of small onions in stock this week.  I added a couple of cloves of garlic, simply because I tend to add garlic to everything.  (Seriously, is there anything in the world that cannot be made better with garlic?  I don’t think so.)  I also added a 28-ounce can of sweet potatoes in syrup.  If you do not like sweet potatoes, you can add pretty much any kind of fruit in syrup or, I suppose, any kind of fresh fruit and some honey or maple syrup.  What I am getting at here is that you want something sweet and you want to use a bit of that sweet syrup in the dish as well. 

One other thing that I did a bit different with this recipe is that instead of a stout or “black” beer that would normally be used, I just used a regular 16-ounce can of beer in the recipe because that is what I had on hand.  If you have not guessed yet, I am a big fan of making use of what you have around so nothing goes to waste.  Using a lighter beer in the recipe will alter the flavor a bit but the resulting dish is still amazing!

The really nice thing about Bondiola is that while it may sound complicated it is really quite easy.  Searing the meat does not take very long.  Once you have everything in the pan, for the most part, you can just let it do its thing.  It should take about 3 hours to cook over medium heat.  You want the liquid to cook down quite a bit so you are left with a nice sauce.  I do pop my head into the kitchen at regular intervals just to make sure that the liquid has not completely cooked down.  This was not a problem for me but if you are cooking at too high a temperature, you do run the risk of evaporating all of the liquid so do check back a few times during the process to make sure you have not done this.

My Bondiola turned out full-flavored amazing.  I served it alongside the roasted vegetables, which literally melted in our mouths, and with a side of rice.

Ready to cook for 3 hours.

Bondiola

Serves 6 - 8

Ingredients

·        1 3 to 4-pound pork shoulder

·        Salt to taste

·        Pepper to taste

·        1 tablespoon olive oil

·        6 Méxican grilling onions or other small onions, cleaned

·        2 cloves of garlic, whole

·        1 28-ounce can of sweet potatoes in syrup

·        2 tablespoons sweet soy sauce*

·        1 bottle stout or black beer

Directions

1.   Preheat oil in pan on high heat.

2.    Season pork with salt and pepper.

3.   Sear over high heat until pork forms a golden crust on all sides.

4.   Remove pan from heat and set aside while you prepare vegetables.

5.   Add onions, garlic and sweet potatoes to pan.

6.   Drizzle meat with sweet soy sauce and 2 – 4 tablespoons of the syrup from the sweet potatoes then add the entire bottle of beer.

7.   Cover and cook for 3 hours over medium heat.  (If you are worried about doneness, use a meat thermometer to check that the internal temperature of the pork reaches at least 145°F.)

8.   Remove pan from heat and remove pork to a serving platter and allow to rest for at least 15 minutes.

9.   Slice pork across the grain and serve with the roasted vegetables and topped with liquid remaining in the pan or slice thin and serve as a sandwich.

*NOTE:  If, like me, you have trouble finding sweet soy sauce in your local grocery store, you can easily make your own by following any online recipe or by using the same recipe as I used on epicurious.com.  It was super easy to make and I was done, start to finish in about 10 minutes.  I made mine a couple of days in advance and stored it in a glass jar in the refrigerator.  Sweet soy sauce is sweeter and much thicker than standard soy sauce.

Allow the pork to rest for at least 15 minutes.

What is your favorite international recipe?  Comment below and let me know!

The liquid reduces by quite a bit.