One-Pan Sage-and-Onion Chicken and Sausage

When Debbie, Natasha and Girliechef (of many names) started the I Heart Cooking Clubs, I looked forward to it but I had no idea who Nigella Lawson was.  (No, I have never seen any Food Network show except on the Internet)  I had to ask myself, what if she did not have a varied enough group of recipes?  At that moment, I realized, I had one of her cook books.  I had put it aside for a contest or give-away but had not really looked at it.  I had one of Gliada’s and didn’t see a need for it.

Nigella Express  I started to look through it, noting recipes, I wanted to make.  Then, I checked Food Network and found many more.  O.K., I should have done that a long time ago.  Never too late, fortunately and I am now a fan of Nigella’s and love many of her recipes.  She seems down to earth and mentions, at times, “If you can’t get such and such, use the frozen or the canned.”  What a pleasure, not having to search the stores for an ingredient, they may not have.

Last week, I had made a recipe for potatoes, onions, sausages and bell peppers and it was delicious.  I thought I would repeat it but while looking for a one pot recipe, this popped out at me.  Look at what Nigella titled it.  How did she know?   Does, the plastic bag count?

Bottom line:  I cheated and tasted this.  It is for the weekend but I had to try it.  It was delicious.  It sounded a bit weird, mixing chicken and sausage but it is not.  I substituted boneless chicken breasts for the chicken pieces.  I may still add some bell peppers for color and taste.  I did not use Worcestershire sauce and I don’t know what English mustard is so I used Dijon.  I guess, I should have looked it up in Bittman.  The man is a genius.

Let’s discover my recipe.

Recipe courtesy Nigella Lawson

6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 large onion or 2 small onions
• 1/2 cup olive oil (not extra-virgin)
• 2 teaspoons English mustard  ?
• 1 tablespoon dried sage
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 lemon
• 1 (4-pound) chicken, jointed into 10 pieces   cutlets
• 12 sausages (I had five)
• 2 tablespoons fresh sage leaves, chopped

Directions

Peel and cut the onion into eighths, and put into a freezer bag with the oil, mustard, dried sage, a good grinding of pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Cut lemon in half, squeeze juice into bag, and then cut the halves into eighths and add them. Squidge everything around to mix (the mustard needs help to combine) and then add the chicken pieces. Leave to marinade in the refrigerator overnight, or for up to 2 days.   Go back and read those words again – squidge everything– is that descriptive or not?

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Allow the chicken to come to room temperature in its marinade. ( I used a lower temperatuer.)

Arrange the chicken pieces in a roasting tin skin side up with the marinade, including all the bits and pieces, and tuck the sausages around them. Sprinkle the fresh sage leaves over the chicken and sausages and then put the tin into the oven to cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Turn the sausages over half way through to color them evenly.  (shorter cooking time for breasts)

Arrange the chicken and sausages on a large platter.

 

Roasted Salmon with Tamari Orange Marinade – Ruth’s Cook Book

I must admit that I am excited to share this with you.  I would guess that many of you know our friend, Ruth from “Once Upon a Feast – Every Kitchen Tells its Stories“.  She is the originator of  Presto Pasta Nights.  Many of us participate in this group, weekly sharing recipes.  Many of us, thanks to Ruth and her troops, are eating great pasta, these days.

 In 2006, Ruth wrote a cook book and she does discuss  it, on  her blog, yet observant person, I am, I did not notice it.  Yes, I am shamed.   Go to her site for other forms of the books at different prices.

 I immediately contacted her to acquire a copy of the book and here I am , making my first recipe.  The cook book is chock full of recipes from her family and through the generations.  I love it.  I plan to make several of the recipes and I plan to share them with you, as I do. 

 I suggest you check out this book and read the sample recipe and wonderful stories at Ruth’s blog.  I would not be surprised if you  decided to order one for yourself. 

   I stared out with this easy and delicious salmon dish and most likely will make most of the salmon dishes first.  We enjoy salmon and are always looking for a new twist in the recipe.  Ruth has several recipes that appeal to me.  Here is the first that I have made.

  Roasted Salmon with Tamari Orange Marinade
From The Healthiest Meals on Earth  Prep time: 5 minutes
Marinating time: 4 hours to overnight
Roasting time: 15-20 minutes (Ruth’s note: the author broils the salmon for about 15 minutes)
Broil time: (just to glaze the fish) – 3-4 minutes  

Serves 4

 Ingredients:
4 individual salmon fillets 
 Marinade:
1/3 cup dry white wine
2 tbsp low sodium tamari
1/3 cup orange juice 
1 teaspoon dried ginger
¼ cup green onions/scallions, chopped
1-2 tsp honey
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil  Directions:1. Combine all the marinade ingredients in a small bowl.  2Place the salmon, skin side down in a baking dish. Pour the marinade over the fish and cover. Marinate in the fridge for at least 4 hours. Overnight is fine too.  3. Preheat the oven to 450°F/220°C  4Remove the fish from the fridge about 30 minutes before roasting and place the salmon, without any marinade on a rimmed baking sheet- I always line mine with foil for easy cleanups. 5. Roast the salmon for 15-20 minutes or until the flesh is light pink throughout. Ruth’s note: In the meantime, place the marinade in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes to “cook” any fish juice and to thicken the marinade.  6. Turn the broiler on, brush some of the marinade in the pan over the fish and brown the top for a minute or two.    We enjoyed this salmon.  Rate this top notch.              

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  This seems very fitting for Simple Supper Saturday

 

Tomato Mac and Cheese – My Girl Paula

I am some hours late in getting my contribution to My Girl, Paula,  This was a week, we could choose any recipe and I love these.  There are so many recipes, I don’t get to and this is the perfect way to accomplish some cooking, I have wanted to do.  I made this recipe and Vidalia Onion Pie in Sweet and Savory Says it All.

This recipe caught my eye because of the tomatoes on the top of the macaroni and cheese.  We like tomatoes and I thought it would add some pizzaz to the recipe.

I did make changes in Paula’s recipe. I decreased the butter and cheese.  My gut feeling is that the recipes come out just fine without all those calories.  This tasted rich and tasty.  

Tomato Mac and Cheese  adapted from Paula Deen               6 servings    

 

1 tablespoon margarine

2 cups uncooked  Tinkyada, gluten free elbow macaroni

2 tablespoons minced onion                                        

3 tablespoons gluten free flour mixture

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 tablespoon dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 1/2 cups one percent milk

2 cups shredded Cheddar, divided

2 ripe tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices

Method:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Spray canola or olive cooking oil on a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish.

Bring 6 cups of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the macaroni and cook until al dente. Drain and set aside.

Melt the margarine  in a large saucepan, over medium heat.

Add the onion and cook, stirring constantly, until tender.

Add the flour, salt, dry mustard, and paprika; mix well.

Stir in the milk and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes.

Add `1 3/4 cups of the shredded cheese and stir until melted.

Toss in the macaroni and pour into the prepared dish.

Cover the macaroni with tomato slices and season salt and pepper, to taste.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes.

The last few minutes, top with the remaining cheese and return to the oven until the cheese melts. Serve hot.

Enjoy!    

Blond Brownies

Hubby who is infamous for not liking brownies, does like blondies so when I found this Betty Crocker recipe for Blond Brownies with absolutely no chocolate, not even a single chocolate chip, I decided to make it.  This recipe makes a lot of blondies or brownies and is easy to put together.

Blondies: 

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup margarine, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour mixture

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Method:

Preheat oven 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, beat sugars and margarine with vanilla and eggs.  Beat with electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Stir in dry ingredients.

In a 13 x 9 pan, lined with parchment paper, spread the batter evenly.

Bake for 22 minutes or until golden brown and until a toothpick inserted in the center, comes out clean.

Cool and enjoy.

I do not know if this was so crumbly because it is gluten free.  This is not a problem, I usually have with gluten free cakes.  These blondies crumbled easily and it took some maneuvering on my part, to get them on a plate.  They were good as far as taste goes but texture was a failure, in my eyes.

I also think they should have had more brown sugar and less white sugar for a better flavor.  Just an opinion.

Baking Up A Storm

 We went to my son and his delightful family’s home for the weekend.  We brought some cookies, most , I baked last week and a few from the freezer.  A freezer is invaluable.    Since, I have not been home to blog and I am still not settled, I thought I would show you a few.  I can’t locate my brownie pictures but this is an idea of the fun I had baking.

The first are chocolate chocolate chip cookies.  Following these are chocolate circles decorated for the kids, made from Reeni’s delicious cake.  Recipe to follow in a separate post.  We must have pumpkin so here are some plain pumpkin muffins without any frosting, for a change.  Here comes white chocolate orange cookies.  Yeah for the Blondies and finally is more of Reeni’s recipe with a different topping.

I hope this makes up for the lack of posting.  I will attempt to catch up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tips for Cooking Acorn Squash

I  came across a nice tutorial and I thought it would be good to share a few of these, with you.  They helped me, when I was making my apple stuffed acorn squash.

1.  Save seeds to toast, like one does with pumpkin seed.

2.  To make cutting the squash in half, easier, when it is uncooked, pierce the skin, in a few places and put in the microwave.  Heat for 2 minutes on high.  Let it stand for a few minutes, before halving it.

3.  Do not boil acorn squash.  It damages both flavor and texture.  Stick with baking.

4. When you cut it in half, start with the stem end rather than the diameter.  (My goof)

5.  To allow the squash to sit squarely on the surface, cut a thin slice from the bottom.  (This did not work for me since I scooped a hole in the bottom and if I cut a piece off, I would have ended up with a large hole.  Learn from my mistakes.)

6.  The deeper, the orange color of the flesh, the sweeter it is.

These are a few hints to make life easier with acorn squash although, it is really easy, in the first place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apples to Acorns BSI

I want to give a thank you to Megan from MegaNerd Runs.  I have not made acorn squash in a long while, thinking I preferred butternut squash.  How wrong I was.  This was delicious and I am thrilled that Megan is smart enough to know it so I could find out.  Check out Megan’s blog on Monday to see all the entries.  I bet you will find some nifty recipes.

I left work, went shopping for groceries, rushed into the house and tried to beat the clock and have dinner ready for hubby.  I had picked up chicken cutlets, thin cut, so I could wrap them around something and acorn squash.   The only problem was, I did not have a clue what I was going to wrap in that chicken, nor what I wanted to stuff the squash with, other than something sweet

Off to the computer to see what I could find.  Looking at acorn squash recipes, the answer came quickly, apples.  We love apples.  I had absolutely no luck  with the chicken.  Certainly, it is not like all the blogs and the entire Internet had nothing good to eat.  Nothing appealed to me so I left it to “fate” and my refrigerator.

You will have to wait to find out about the chicken but let’s talk squash.  I found a recipe for  sweet and cinnamony apples to fill the cavity of the acorn squash.  I also found a page of suggestions as how to handle acorn squash.  It helped me to race through this recipe without mishap.

Apples to Acorns     (adapted)

Ingredients:

• 1 medium acorn squash
• 1 tart apple, peeled, cored, and cut into small chunks
• 1 Tablespoon gluten free flour (I used soy)
• Salt and black pepper, to margarine
• 2 Tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preparation:

Keeping in mind that I was in a major hurry, I pierced the acorn squash and I microwaved it for ten minutes.  I had a small squash.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place apples in a mixing bowl.

Transfer the squash shells to the prepared baking dish.

 Spoon the apples into the squash cavities . 

Combine the margarine, brown sugar, and cinnamon.

 

 

Stir over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved.

Brush over the exposed flesh of the squash and then drizzle what remains over the apples.

Bake for 20 minutes, uncovered.

Yield: 2 servings

Recipe Source: Judy Gorman’s Vegetable Cookbook by Judy Gorman (MJF Books)

 

 

This was a pleasant surprise which went quickly, thankfully to the microwave.  Baking this will more than double the time .  If I had, had the time, I would have baked in the oven but this worked beautifully for this rushed occasion.

The apples were sweet and worked well with the squash.  I could see using this filling with Butternut squash, as well.

When the squash is cool enough to handle, cut each one in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and fibrous tissue.

Butternut and Sweet Potato Soup – Nigella

Butternut and sweet potato soup              (adapted from Nigella Lawson)                                                         

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 diced butternut squash 

2 sweet potatoes

3 cups hot  or vegetable stock                                                                                        

1 tsp ground cinnamon

grind of pepper

4 tsp buttermilk

To make:

1  Put the diced butternut and sweet potato in a saucepan with the hot vegetable stock and both spices.

2  Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Add some pepper to taste.                                                                               

3  Puree the soup in a blender – you will find that by removing the centre nozzle on the lid and placing a hand or tea towel over the top, you will not get a build-up of pressure or an explosion of soup on your walls.

4  Pour the blended soup into two bowls, garnishing each bowl with swirls made with the buttermilk.

 

Spiral Veggies and Cheese

Spiral Veggies and Cheese                                                                                                                                                       serves 4

8 oz. spirals or other medium pasta shape, uncooked

1 cup broccoli florets

1 cup carrots, thinly sliced diagonally

Vegetable oil cooking spray

2 tbsp. oil

2 tbsp. dehydrated onion, minced

2 tbsp. flour

2 cups skim milk

1 1/2 cup shredded Havarti cheese

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Prepare pasta according to package directions.

Five minutes before pasta is done, add carrots to pasta.

Cook 3 minutes; add broccoli to pasta.

Cook remaining 2 minutes.

When pasta and vegetables are done, drain well. Lightly spray a 2-quart casserole dish with cooking spray; set aside.

Preheat oven to 375-o F.

In a medium saucepan, melt margarine over low heat.

Add onion and saute about 2 minutes.

Stir in flour and continue cooking and stirring until mixture thickens.

Add milk and cheese and cook until cheese is melted. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Mix pasta and vegetables with sauce.

Transfer to casserole dish.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until heated through.

  

Hurry-Up Sunday Breakfast – Oh, That Cheese

On Sunday, I wanted to make my hubby a potato frittata with cheddar cheese but was under time restraints.  I made a compromise that turned out to be easy and delicious.

2 large white potatoes      

4 eggs or egg beaters

1/2 cup whipped cream cheese

 1 or 2 onions, sliced thin

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon Salt Sense or Salt

1 teaspoon dehydrated or frozen parsley

Microwave potatoes for a few minutes.  You want to cook them half way.  Each microwave is different- thus you have to determine the time with your particular oven.  Mine only took four minutes.

In a large skillet, fry sliced onions and thinly sliced potatoes.  Fry until potatoes and onions are lightly browned.

Since we are not layering and baking this in the oven, it is really simple. 

Pour eggs over potatoes and onions.  Mix gently.

Drop three tablespoons of cream cheese over top of egg and mix it in.

I ended up, at the end, mixing in again so it was not like an omelet.

Flip into a serving plate.  Cut into two portions.  Serve.  Eat.  Enjoy.

It tasted heavenly.