Italian Sausage and White Bean Stew

It’s been a long time since I’ve tried a new recipe. I’ve had my eye on this one ever since Kate posted it, and I finally got around to making it today. It did not disappoint — it was super tasty and easy, like chili. Next time I will probably make a double batch.

My mods:
::Used a 15oz can of cannellini beans because my supermarket did not carry 19 oz cans.
::Used hot Italian turkey sausage instead of sweet. Decreased amount to about 10 oz (about half the package) to compensate for less beans.
::Tripled garlic because we love garlic.

Chicken Salad Croissant Sandwiches

This yummy and easy recipe came from a colleague, who brought these sandwiches to a potluck a few months ago. When I made them over the weekend, I scaled down the recipe to use two cans of chicken, and there was enough (and then some) to stuff six large croissants. For a potluck, mini croissants would probably work best.

3 cans (12.5 ounces each) cooked chicken, drained (I bought the 6-pack of Costco Kirkland Canned Chicken Breast)
1 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice (I used bottled)
1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon curry powder or to taste
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Mix and refrigerate above ingredients. Before serving inside croissants, add:
1 1/2 cups red grapes, sliced in half (I omitted these completely)
1/2 cup toasted almonds (I used sliced almonds from the baking aisle and didn’t bother toasting them)
1/4 cup chopped green onions

Enjoy!

Red Bean Chili

I learned recently that Hubby loves chili. I have only eaten it once in my life — just a few bites at a potluck last year — and I can’t even remember how it tasted. So I was searching for a “good,” simple chili recipe without exactly knowing the definiton of “good.” Luckily, I came across Smitten Kitchen’s post on a Red Bean Chili recipe adapted from Real Simple magazine. Kate raved about it as well, so I decided to give it a try.

It was fabulous. Hubby really liked the flavor, and I thought it was very good too (even though I’m not a huge chili fan in general). Best of all, it was super easy! Now I just need to find two things: a less expensive source of chili powder (because the 1/3 cup used almost my entire jar from McCormicks), and a great cornbread recipe to go along with the chili!

Spice-Rubbed Baked Chicken

A couple of weeks ago, we saw an old episode of Everyday Food on PBS that included Spice-Rubbed Grilled Chicken. It looked delicious, but we don’t like to grill on the stove because it makes a huge mess. So I adapted the recipe for baked chicken. We used about four pounds of chicken drumsticks and baked them for 30 minutes at 400 degrees. Then I lowered the temperature to 350 and baked them for an additional 30 minutes. The flavor was good and the chicken was tender and moist, but I didn’t enjoy it as leftovers so unfortunately this one is not a keeper.

Sweet and Sour Pork Stir Fry

Recipe from the January/February 2009 issue of Everyday Food (found here).
Mods made for a doubled recipe
:: 2 lbs boneless pork chops instead of pork tenderloin
:: Several hours prior to cooking, seasoned the sliced pork with salt, pepper, and garlic powder
:: 20 oz can of pineapple chunks
:: doubled marinade ingredients
:: 2 fresh broccoli crowns instead of frozen broccoli florets
:: 2 large bell peppers were sufficient even for a doubled recipe
:: green parts of scallions only

While the sweet and sour sauce doesn’t taste like the ones served in restaurants, it is still quite good. I think it is a little off because I can taste a hint of the rice vinegar; Hubby thinks maybe adding sugar would have helped. The rice vinegar taste did go away completely the following day, though. Next time we will probably experiment with the sauce, but we were definitely pleased with this recipe because the flavor was good and it came together relatively quickly. We also liked having our meat and veggies all together in one dish. Yay, a winner!

Baked Ziti with Spinach and Tomatoes

I came across the Baked Ziti recipe via one of Minty’s Flickr photos last month. It was pretty tasty and would definitely be a good option if you need to feed a crowd. Below is the recipe, with my notes in brackets.

3/4 pound hot Italian sausages, casings removed [increased to 1 lb]
1 medium onion, chopped
3 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 28-ounce can diced peeled tomatoes [on top of this, added a 14-oz can of diced tomatoes]
1/4 cup purchased pesto sauce [used entire 7 ounce package]
[Added 1 13-ounce can of mushrooms, drained]

10 ounces ziti or penne pasta (about 3 cups), freshly cooked [increased to 1 lb]
8 cups ready-to-use spinach leaves (about 2/3 of 10-ounce package) [used 5 cups of fresh bagged baby spinach. Could have used 6 or 7 cups.]
6 ounces mozzarella cheese, cubed [used about 5 ounces of shredded mozzarella]
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 ounces)

Heat heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add sausage, onion and garlic and sauté until sausage is cooked through, breaking up meat with back of spoon, about 10 minutes. [We cooked the onions and garlic by themselves, then removed them from the pan. Then we cooked the sausage. I was worried about the garlic burning if we left it in with the sausage.] Add tomatoes with juices to pan. [Added the onions and garlic back in at this point, and also added the can of mushrooms. Simmer until sauce thickens slightly, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Stir in pesto. Season sauce with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to simmer before continuing.)

Preheat oven to 375° F. Lightly oil 13 x 9-inch glass baking dish. Combine pasta, spinach, mozzarella and 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese in large bowl. Stir in hot tomato sauce. Transfer mixture to prepared baking dish. Sprinkle remaining 2/3 cup Parmesan cheese over. Bake until sauce bubbles and cheeses melt, about 30 minutes. [While baking, I covered the dish with foil for the first 15 minutes to prevent it from drying out too much.]

Beef Stroganoff

Last weekend we made Beef Stroganoff using the recipe from Cook’s Illustrated/America’s Test Kitchen, and honestly I wasn’t impressed at all. The beef turned out quite bland, and overall there wasn’t much flavor. But on the upside, I was happy that it was at least edible and not disgusting!

Enchiladas

Last weekend we made The Pioneer Woman’s Favorite Enchiladas, and wow, they were good. Really really good. They are somewhat time-consuming to make, but Hubby and I thought they were well worth the effort. This is an excellent cold-weather/comfort food dish! I have posted Ree’s recipe below, with my notes in brackets, but if you intend to make them you should check out Ree’s website with the photo tutorial of this recipe.

THE SAUCE
1 tablespoon canola oil [I used olive oil because that's what I have]
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 large (28-ounce) can enchilada or red sauce [I used Las Palmas enchilada sauce]
2 cups chicken broth
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper [omitted the pepper, because I bought picante/hot enchilada sauce and there was plenty of heat in it for me]
2 tablespoons chopped Cilantro [omitted from the sauce]

In a large saucepan over medium heat, add oil and flour and whisk together to make a paste, cooking for 2-3 minutes. Pour in the enchilada sauce, chicken broth, salt, and pepper [if using], and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30 to 45 minutes. [If using cilantro in the sauce, add it right before you are about to use the sauce in the "Assembly" part of the instructions.]

THE MEAT
1 1/2 pounds ground beef [I think 1 1/4 pounds would be enough]
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 4-ounce cans diced green chilies
1/2 teaspoon salt

Brown meat with onions in a skillet. Drain off fat. Stir in 2 cans diced green chilies and season with salt. Set aside.

TORTILLAS
10 to 14 corn tortillas [I bought 20 tortillas that were each about 5 inches in diameter. I used 19 tortillas, and would have certainly used the last one if I could have fit it in the pans! So, I recommend buying extra tortillas.]
½ cup canola oil

Heat canola oil in a small skillet over medium heat. One by one, using tongs, fry tortillas oil until soft, not crisp—about 30 seconds per side. Remove to a paper-towel lined plate. Repeat until all tortillas have been fried. [I'm not a fan of frying tortillas in oil. So I heated them in a non-stick skillet with no oil. For the second batch, I skipped this step entirely. Next time, I may just heat them in the microwave with a wet paper towel over them.]

ASSEMBLY
Sauce (above)
Meat (above)
Tortillas (above)
3 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese [We bought a Mexican grated cheese mixture with cheddar jack and jalapenos. We only used 2 cups.]
½ cup chopped black olives
1 cup chopped green onions [didn't measure; just chopped the whole bunch]
½ cup chopped cilantro [again, just chopped the whole bunch. We love cilantro so we used it all here.]

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Pour ½ cup red sauce in bottom of baking pan. Spread to even out.
Dip each tortilla into red sauce, then remove to work surface. Spoon meat, a little grated cheese, a little black olives, and green onions in the center of tortilla. Roll up and place, seam down, in baking pan. Repeat until pan is filled. Pour extra red sauce over enchiladas. Top with remaining cheddar cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly. Sprinkle chopped cilantro over enchiladas before serving.

Sirloin Steaks with Mushroom Sauce

This week we made Sirloin Steaks with Mushroom Sauce from the September 2008 issue of Cooking Light. Initially I wasn’t too impressed because the steaks lacked deep flavor, but the leftovers tasted tons better after the sauce had a chance to seep into the meat overnight. I think this quick recipe is a keeper!

Farfalle with Zucchini

Recipe found here. A simple and delicious summer dinner.