Monthly Archives: January 2013

Sausage Bake

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sausage bake cut

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Using a casserole pan approx 11×13, butter the bottom and sides. Using 2 Pillsbury crescent rolls (I used the reduced fat type), unroll and lay out the dough flat against the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Poke holes in the dough using a fork to help it from puffing up with baking. Pre-bake in the oven for 30 minutes, until lightly golden brown.

1lb italian sausage- mild or spicy depending on taste
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 oz sherry
¼ tsp crushed red pepper flake
¼ c maple syrup

Brown sausage in a pan with casing on over medium-high heat. You don’t really need any oil in the pan, because the fat will render from meat for it to cook in. When the sausage is almost done browning, add fennel seeds.

Deglaze the pan with a splash of sherry, then place the sausage with any liquids in the food processor. Pulse until the sausage is in a medium crumble, then add the red pepper flake and maple syrup and pulse to combine.

In a medium sized bowl, wisk together:

2 whole eggs
1 C egg whites (liquid)
2 C half and half or heavy cream
2 C cheese (reserve 1/2 C to top casserole) You can use cheddar, mexican blend, provolone, gruyere, or any type of cheese you have in your refrigerator.

Once browned, remove the pan from the oven and place the sausage crumble on top of the flat crescent rolls. Then pour in the egg mixture and sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the top.

sausage bake

Return the casserole back into the oven for an additional 50 minutes at 350 degrees.

Let the casserole set and cool and bit prior to serving. The casserole can be cut into little breakfast squares or be cut into larger pieces.

Granola Crusted Challah French Toast

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french toast final

12 oz Bob’s Red mill honey oat granola (you cab use any granola that you like)
12 oz corn flakes or special k cereal
1 tsp cinnamon
½ C light brown sugar
1 tsp sea salt

Pulse in a food processor until small crumble forms. You don’t want it to be too fine, you still want to be able to see oats.

Reserve 1 cup of the crumble for other dishes, I will be using it for my banana crepe dessert.

1 loaf of challah bread, cut into 1/2 inch slices (The bread can be cut into triangles, if the pieces are too large)

bread cut

Break 6 whole eggs into a large bowl.
Wisk eggs together with 4 cups of half and half or heavy cream, 1 tsp cinnamon and a pinch of salt.

Starting on high heat, melt 1 stick of salted butter in a cast iron pan.

Dip bread into egg mixture and then dip into the crumble. Don’t leave the bread in the egg mixture for more than a few seconds on each side, because the bread will get too soft and tear.

Place the french toast in the pan. Be careful not to burn outer crust/granola, cook either side on high to sear and create a crust on either side, then reduce the heat to medium-low.

french toast cooking

When cooked through and browned on either side, remove from pan and place on a paper towel or brown paper to remove excess butter.

Add butter as needed for additional batches of french toast as needed.

This french toast can be made a few hours in advance and be kept warm on a pan in the oven on low heat prior to serving.

For serving a larger group, you can have multiple pans going to cook the french toast quicker, rather than doing many batches in the same pan.

I am all about speedy cooking and efficiency. I want things to go smoothly and this tip will help. This keeps things moving, so you aren’t waiting for things to brown.

Serve the french toast with powdered sugar and berries.

Tip: If you don’t have a sifter, you can use a slotted spoon to dust the french toast with powdered sugar.

Roasted Fennel, Parsnip and Turnip Soup

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soup

This soup was created after I was looking to make something with the assorted vegetables I purchased at the grocery store.  I had purchased fennel, parsnip, turnips and garlic, and was looking to create something for lunch on a cold winter’s day.

5 parsnips
6 turnips
1 medium fennel
1/2 C olive oil
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp pumpkin oil
1/4 C raw pumpkin seeds
2 garlic bulbs
1 tsp garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tbsp dry vermouth
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
3 C vegetable broth

Peel parsnips, cut into large pieces and place into a roasting pan. Wash and halve the turnips and add them to the pan. Cut the entire fennel, including the greens and add it as well. Toss the vegetables in 1/2 C olive oil and 1 tbsp salt.

Cut the bottoms off of the garlic bulbs (this is the part with the roots) and slightly break apart each bulb and place into a piece of aluminum foil Drizzle the garlic with olive oil and 1 tsp of salt. Pinch the foil almost closed and add it into the roasting pan. This way you can roast two things at once.

roasted turnips

Place the pan in the oven and roast for 1 hour at 400 F.

I created a quick vegetable broth to use as a base for my soup, but you can easily use just packaged broth. I used leftover leek greens and onions skins and covered them in water in a medium sized stock pot. I covered the mixture and simmered it for about an hour, then removed the leeks and onions.

When the vegetables were finished roasting, I removed them from the pan in small batches to puree in the food processor. Take the garlic bulbs out of the foil and remove the cloves from the bulb and add it into the food processor to be blended in with the vegetables. You may need to use a little vegetable broth to help blend up the vegetables. Once pureed, add into the stock pot. If you didn’t make your own broth, just add it to the pot now.

Once all of the roasted vegetables are pureed and added to the broth, add 1 tbsp of olive oil, garlic powder, pumpkin pie spice, dry vermouth and cayenne pepper.

For serving, garnish with pumpkin oil and raw pumpkin seeds.

Caramelized Eggplant Caponata

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2 medium white eggplant (you can also use Japanese eggplant)
1 leek
1 Spanish onion
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp red hot pepper sauce
1 C sweet vermouth
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 pint roasted cherry tomatoes (cut in half, season with salt, cook for 1 hour at 200 F)
1/2 C marinated green pitted olives
2 tbsp caramelized peppers ( I used jarred peppers)
Salt

Dice the eggplant into small pieces and place in a strainer. Sprinkle the eggplant with salt and place a heavy dish on top of the eggplant to weigh it down. This will help to remove some of the liquid from the eggplant.

Thinly slice the leek (only the white and light green part) and onion. Leeks need to be soaked in a bowl of water to remove any sand or dirt that may be between the layers of the leek.

In a preheated, cast iron pan, saute the leek and onion with 2 tbsp of olive oil over high heat. After 1 minute, reduce the heat and add a pinch of salt.

Once the onion and leek start to caramelized, add the pepper sauce and cook for an additional 2 minutes.

Deglaze with 1/2 C of sweet vermouth, let the liquid cook out a bit, then remove from heat and place the leeks and onions in a separate bowl.

Add the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil back into the pan and add the eggplant and cook over medium-high heat. Add garlic powder, roasted cherry tomatoes, olives, and leek and onion mixture. Deglaze with remaining sweet vermouth and reduce heat to low, until liquid evaporates.

This dish is great to serve with toast and crackers, like pita chips or to be used as a topping.

Sweet Orange Beet Salad with Pumpkin Seeds

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orange beets

I decided to try roasting orange beets instead of the traditional red beets for this sweet and earthy salad.  They were a great alternative and gave they salad a great, summery color.

Preheat the oven at 375 F.

Rinse the beets and place in a cast iron pan and coat with olive oil.  Loosely cover the pan with aluminum foil and roast for about 2 hours.

Remove from oven and uncover.  When cool to the touch, peel the skin off each beet and dice.

Place diced pieces into a bowl and add the following:

1/2 tsp Manuka honey
1 tbsp fig infused, white balsamic vinegar
1 tsp raw pumpkin seeds
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp blood orange oil olive

Toss the beets in the dressing to combine and serve warm or cold.