Gumbo

I had a hankering for gumbo the other day.  I'm not sure where it came from since I've never made it before, but while sitting at work it entered my head and I couldn't shake it.  So I gave it a go.  I'm not sure how this would compare to real Lousiana gumbo, but all-in-all it was pretty tasty.

  
What You'll Need:

• 8 tablespoon butter, divided
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can Rotel
• 4 cups chicken stock
• Dash of cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
• 6 tablespoons flour
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 1 pound smoked sausage, sliced
• 1 pound cooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
• Rice
• Optional - 1 cup celery, chopped.  I despise celery, but I know it's supposed to be in gumbo.  So if by chance you like the yucky stuff, then go right ahead and throw it in there with the green peppers and onion.  
• Also optional - 1 cup okra, chopped.  I really enjoy fried okra, but don't like it when it gets slimy.  I didn't have any on-hand so I didn't include it.  If i did, I may have, but that slime factor might have thwarted me as well.  Use at your own discretion. 

What You Do:

In a large pot melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat.  Saute pepper and onion until onion is translucent.  Add garlic for a minute.

Add chicken stock, cayenne pepper, Worcestershire, salt, pepper and Rotel.  Bring mixture to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer.

Brown sausage in a skillet.  Drain and add to pot.

Melt remainin butter in skillet, once melted add flour and whisk until roux is fully mixed.  Continue cooking 8-10 minutes, stirring constantly. Be careful not to burn! 

Add the roux to the pot and bring to a boil, again stirring constantly.  Reduce heat and let simmer for 45 minutes. 

Cook rice while gumbo is simmering. 

Add the shrimp right before serving.

Serve over bed of rice.

Tortellini Soup

I've been in a soup mood here lately.  I'm sure it might have something to do with the fact that it's been below freezing temperatures for weeks now.  Or maybe because January is National Soup Month!  Whatever it is, I've been trying my hand at some new recipes.  This one is definately a keeper. 

What You'll Need:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 whole onion, chopped
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 15 ounces, canned diced tomatoes (I like the italian seasoned variety)
• 1 pound hot sausage
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 package tortellini (11 ounce)
• 3 cups fresh spinach, chopped
• Parmesan cheese

What You Do:

In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat.  Add the garlic and onion and saute about 5 minutes.

Add the oregano, broth, tomatoes and salt and pepper.

Bring soup to a boil and simmer.  While soup is simmering brown sausage and drain.

Add sausage to soup pot.  Bring back to a boil. 

Add the tortellini and cook according to package directions.

One minute before tortellini is done, add the spinach.  

Remove pot from heat, season with additional salt and pepper.  

Serve topped with grated parmesan cheese.   

Corn Chowder

Oh dear.  Oh my.  This soup is lip-smacking, mouth-watering scrumptious.  With the weather being slightly cooler  down right chilly here recently, I felt like whipping up a nice warm chowder.  And this one, well simply put, it satisfies.

What You'll Need:

• 1 lb hot sausage
• EVOO
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, diced
• 4 potatoes, diced
• 1 clove garlic, diced
• A few dashes of Chipotle Tabasco Sauce
• 4 cups fresh corn
• 1 can diced green chilies (optional)
• 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• salt and pepper, to taste

What You Do:

Slice corn kernels off cob.  Or, if you're like me, open the freezer and pull out a bag of corn from the summer when you had way too much sweet corn on your hands and let thaw.

Brown sausage over medium heat and drain off grease.

In a large pot, over medium heat, drizzle a few tablespoons of EVOO.  Throw in diced onion, garlic and potatoes.  Add butter and melt.  Add chilies and corn

Pour in chicken broth and cream.  Add salt, pepper and sausage.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat.  Simmer for 30 minutes and serve.  

Italian Sausage Quesadillas

I've been thinking about making these for a while and finally got a chance to test them out earlier this week.  Verdict being, very good!  Next time I think I'll add some sliced fresh mushrooms as well. 

What You'll Need:

• Tortillas
• Extra-Virgin Olive OIl
• 2/3 cup Mozzarella Cheese
• Bunch Chopped Cilantro
• 1 lb Italian Sausage
• 2 Roasted Red Peppers, cut into strips
• Red Onion, cut into strips

What You Do:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place tortillas in a single layer on a well-oiled baking sheet.  Brush each round lightly with EVOO.  Bake for 8 minutes, or until golden brown. 

Squeeze italian sausages out of their casings and cook in pan over medium-high heat.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add red onion strips for the last 5 minutes. 

Place one tortilla on baking sheet, add cooked sausage and onions, red pepper and mozzarella cheese.  Top with another tortilla.  Bake for 10 minutes. 

Serve with marina sauce for dipping.

Spicy Sausage Cheese Soup

It's been a while since I've posted a recipe on here.  It's not because I haven't been cooking, I have.  I've just been really bad about writing down my recipes and taking pictures of the finished product.  Here is a recipe (sans photo) that I really liked.  Hubster even gave it an A+!

What You'll Need:

• 1 pound pork sausage
• 1 whole large onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 whole medium jalapeno, diced
• 2 small chipotle peppers, packed in adobo (rince the sauce off if you want to cut down on the heat!)
• 1 can of beer
• 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1 can cheese soup
• 1 cup corn
• 1 cup peas
• 2 potatoes, diced
• salt and pepper to taste

What You Do:

Heat a large pot and add sausage. Cook until brown, remove and reserve the grease.

Add onions, garlic, jalapeno and chipotles to pot and cook in the sausage grease until soft. Add potatoes.

Add sausage back into pot and pour in one bottle of beer. Simmer 5-7 minutes, letting the alcohol cook out.

Stir and add chicken broth. Simmer for 10 minutes, letting liquid reduce a little more.

Reduce heat, add remaining veggies and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add cheese soup and heavy cream, simmer until potatoes are tender and serve.

Shrimp & Sausage Pasta

What You'll Need

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 can diced tomatoes (I recommend the Italian seasoned kind)

1 can tomato sauce

4 green onions, chopped

1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deviened

1 pound smoked sausage, sliced

1 pound spaghetti or linguini

Fresh basil, chopped

Red pepper flakes, to taste

Salt & pepper, to taste

Parmesan cheese, grated

What You Do

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add garlic and saute for a minute.  Add tomatoes, tomato sauce and green onions.  Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.  Simmer over low heat.

Fry up sausage and add to sauce. 

Cook pasta for 5-7 minutes, it should still be firm.

Add shrimp to pasta sauce for a minute or two.  Add spaghetti to pot.  Toss, and throw the entire mixture into a baking dish.  Cover and bake for 15 minutes.

Serve and top with grated Parmesan cheese.

Not Quite Chili

Do you ever have a hankering for a specific food, but can't make it because you are missing a vital ingredient and a trip to the store is just not feasible?  It happens to me a lot it seems. 

Do I let it get me down?  For goodness sakes no!  I perservere, endure the hardship and forge on anyway!  Just like Martin Luther King Jr. did in his crusade for equal rights! 

Okay maybe that's a little dramatic, but I did overcome an obstacle the other day when I really wanted chili only to find when I went down do the pantry that I didn't have any chili beans.  Oh, the shame!  What kind of pantry doesn't have chili beans?  Mine, apparantley.

To be honest, I actually don't even like beans in my chili.  Hubby likes them; he says chili isn't chili without beans, but oh did I show him!  I decided chili doesn't really need beans and prove it I did!  He gave this recipe an A and my lovely baby sister gave it an A+!

So I'm sharing with you, my friends, my new favorite recipe for chili... I like to call it Not Quite Chili.

What You'll Need: 
1 lb Hamburger
1 lb Chorizo
1 Diced Onion
1/2 Diced Green Pepper
2 Cloves Garlic
1 Quart Stewed Tomatoes (I used a jar from the summer that we canned, you could use store bought as well)
1 Cup Chicken Broth
1/2 Can of Beer
Few Dashes of Chipotle Tabasco Sauce
1 Cup Uncooked Rice
Lime Pickles, sliced
Grated Cheddar Cheese

What You Do:
Brown the hamburger and chorizo over medium heat in large stock pot.

While the meat is cooking, chop up the onion, green pepper and garlic.  Add to the pot once the meat is browned.  Cook for a few minutes.

Add tomatoes, beer, chicken broth and Tabasco sauce.

Let simmer over low heat for at least 20 minutes.  The longer the better though; let the flavors all meld together.  I had it simmering for about an hour.  It should be fairly watery right now, but that's okay.

Add uncooked rice to pot.  Let simmer for another 20 or 30 minutes.  The rice will soak up the excess juices and should thicken up nicely.  If it's too thick for your liking you can add some water.

When serving, sprinkle in some grated cheddar cheese and sliced Lime pickles.

You MUST not skip this step.  I'm telling you, this may just be the MOST important part of chili.  And that's ANY chili.  And they must be Lime pickles. Dill, Bread & Butter, Gherkin, Sour... any of those just won't do.

Trust me on this. Everyone I've ever had over for chili looks at me like I'm crazy when I tell them they have to do this.  And then they try it and instantly fall in love with me. 

I'm not kidding, how do you think I landed my husband?

**If your local grocery doesn't carry lime pickles (Shocked, I am not.  I've never seen them in a store around us,) you can make them yourself.  I will post a how-to on that before the summer.  Make sure your spring gardening plans include cucumbers!

Zuppa Toscana Soup

I’m really not a huge soup fan. I don’t care for broth, which hinders my soup liking a lot. Even when I’m sick, I just don’t like it. Basically the only soups I like are creamy ones; cheesy potato tops the list. But there is one out there that has stolen my heart. It’s Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana soup. I could seriously eat a whole pot of it and still want more.

I’ve tried mastering the recipe and just haven’t been able to get it right. Last night I think I finally did it! Hubby even gave it an A+! Yes, I make him grade my recipes… he thinks I’m a dork, and I own that.

These are the cast of characters (minus the water I forgot to put in the picture).

Ingredients:
1 lb Italian Sausage
4 strips smoked bacon
3 cups water
4 cups chicken broth
3 large potatoes
2 garlic cloves
1 onion
2 cups kale
1 cup heavy whipping cream
Salt & pepper
Parmesan cheese

I started off by browning the bacon and sausage, seperately of course.

While it was cooking, I chopped up the potatoes, garlic and onion and added those to a large pot.

Then I added the chicken broth and water, letting it simmer over medium heat.

When the sausage and bacon are finished, add them to the pot. Simmer until potatoes are tender.

While simmering, chop up the kale.

Add to pot (I think you are catching on to the pattern here, right?)

Then add the cream, season with salt and pepper, and heat through.

Lastly, and this might be the most important part, so do not forget it… add parmesan cheese to each individual serving. You won’t regret it, I promise.

I served the soup with garlic bread sticks. A salad would’ve been awesome as well, but I was out of lettuce. Oh the shame!

Enjoy!

Experimentation

I had a friend come over the other night to do me a huge favor, I told her I’d make her supper for helping me out. One problem… I haven’t been grocery shopping and the pickings in the kitchen were slim.

Since she’s such a great friend I thought I’d make her my guinea pig and just throw some stuff together. She’s always honest and I don’t have to worry about her sugar coating it and telling me it tastes good when it really has the flavor of an old shoe.

So what I came up with was Pizza Burgers!

Ingredients:
1 pound of hamburger
1 pound of Italian sausage
¼ onion, chopped
¼ green pepper, chopped
7-8 tablespoons pizza sauce
Grated Parmesan cheese
Sliced Mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Chop up onion and green pepper, mix with hamburger and Italian sausage. I also threw in a few shakes of seasoning salt. Make 7 – 8 patties. Cook in frying pan until almost done. Spoon approximately a tablespoon of pizza sauce on top of each patty. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top and then add the slices of mozzarella. Let cheese melt and serve on a bun.

Verdict was…. Good!

I didn’t take any pictures of the food, so instead here’s a picture of Jenny and myself. Thanks for being my taste tester!