Tag Archives: sausage

Girlfriends– a source of inspiration

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I am blessed in my friendships— I have such wonderful friends around the globe.  I’ve been helped out of many a mess; shared in fun times; been proud of their accomplishments (I truly have some super-women friends); and inspired by so many of them.  One area (not surprisingly) in which I have been inspired, is in my cooking and baking.  I love cooking with friends too — my house or theirs, I find it a fun thing to do together with a glass of wine or cocktail in hand and fresh news to share. 

Two of my girlfriends are a constant in inspiration and cooking camaraderie.  One (AK) has 3 kids and one (SO) 2 kids— all that eat well (as in, they like our food).  I love when we can all get together and cook/eat/play.  We always have fun.

Recently for SO I tried out one dish that AK had cooked for my family- stuffed pork roast— which is stuffed with stuffing (as in traditional Thanksgiving-style sausage stuffing).  I think my girlfriend made it better than I did, but it was still quite good.  I was too afraid of getting the stuffing mushy that I erred on the side of too little stock to moisten the stuffing so it was too dry. The pork itself was great. 

I also introduced SO and her girls to kale chips which my boys and I love. I made some with sesame oil, canola oil and salt and some with olive oil, salt and pepper.  The boys were cheerfully exclaiming, “kale chips!” when they saw them.

Simple Sausage Sage Stuffing
4 links, casings removed, Italian sweet sausage
1-2 stalks celery, diced
1 small onion, diced
4 cups croutons
Handful fresh sage, chopped
Approx 1 cup chicken or veg stock
salt & pepper

In a large stock pot sauté the sausage until cooked.  Set aside. Then sauté the onion and celery in olive oil (or sausage fat) until onions are translucent.  Add sausage back in with croutons, sage, ½ tsp salt and pepper. Mix well and slowly add stock until stuffing sticks together nicely but isn’t too mushy.  Add more salt if necessary.  Let cool then stuff your meat/bird. (Tie if necessary to keep in the stuffing.)

I’d never stuffed anything with this type of stuffing besides a turkey or chicken.  Now, I figure I’ve tried something new thanks to my friend.  And this is only one of many dishes/desserts these two are introducing me to…and inspiring me to do it too.

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Stuffed Chicken Breast

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Though chicken can seem boring at times, it’s versatility can make it wonderful.  Chicken goes with so many different types of cuisines and flavors.  It’s just about putting a bit of effort into changing it up from time to time.  The supermarket had thin sliced chicken breasts on sale, so I bought some to stuff; they’re not worth the price difference otherwise.  I’ve never actually made stuffed chicken breasts before but enjoyed them many times.  My husband ended up coming home just in time to make these too!  Wonderful thing about stuffed chicken breast is how versatile they can be: you can make all different kinds of stuffings — all types of vegetables or like this one, sausage and vegetable stuffings.  It doesn’t take as long as one might expect too. 

Sausage, Mushroom, Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast

8 pieces of thin sliced chicken breast or 3-4 pieces of regular breast, sliced lengthwise

1/2 med onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 Italian sweet sausage links, removed from casing (slice lengthwise and separate)

8 Crimini mushrooms, diced

1/3 package frozen organic spinach (thawed) or

                        4 oz. fresh spinach, steamed and chopped (squeeze out excess water)

Handful or two of shredded flavorful cheese (we used Quattro Formaggio from TJ’s— Asiago, Fontina, Parmesan, and Provolone)

Salt and pepper (check before salting as it might not need any)

2 Tbsp melted clarified butter for oven roasting

Tbsp olive oil for sautéing

Optional breaded coating:

Panko or regular breadcrumbs

3 Tbsp flour

1 egg

Preheat oven to 350F. Sauté onions with olive oil and when nearly clear, add garlic and sausage.  Using a flat wooden spatula, break up the sausage as it’s cooking.  Once it’s brown add mushrooms and continue to sauté until mushrooms are tender.  Add spinach and mix well.  Pour into a metal bowl and chill (in a pile of snow if you have as much as we do!) for a few minutes. Mix in the cheese and check for seasoning.  Put Tbsp of stuffing mixture on chicken breast and roll. (Optional bread crumb topping would be done now.  First dip piece in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs.)  Put clarified butter in bottom of pan so chicken doesn’t stick and pour a little over each roll.  Pop in oven for 20 minutes and serve with your favorite sides.  We served it with harvest grains, broccoli and snow peas.

My sons all loved this dinner, although my middle son complained about mushrooms being in it before he’d even tried it.  He ate the entire dinner anyway. The boys ended up eating the chicken like sushi rolls with their fingers (no grandparents around to disapprove). 

 

Bonus:  I had leftover stuffing mixture that I turned into a layer of lasagna the next night.

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Chicken, Andouille and White Bean Stew

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Wish I had more time— to write among other things!  I tried writing this post last night near midnight after I had just finished filling out paperwork for my 6 year-old’s new school.  One thing I loathe when they get back to school is all the papers that come home— flyers and notices.  Last year all three were in the same school and I’d get everything in triplicate.  Now a different school along with the original, different schedules (not even on the same holiday schedule which will be tricky!), different lunch programs (it’s tough navigating that without dealing with two different providers) and I’m sure more papers coming home.  It takes up so much time— time to fill out, time to sort, time to throw away.

I was too tired to write last night and then today, when I finally got the chance, I got consumed by news of the earthquake in New Zealand where I have many loved ones.  I am putting off laundry yet again to write… for those wondering how I find the time! 

Last night I created a new recipe based upon a Southern or Creole-style dish.  I would have loved to have made gumbo but didn’t have any okra or filé so it wouldn’t have been authentic.  (Funny I got introduced to and fell in love with gumbo while working in Wellington, NZ)  And I didn’t want to overdo it with spices for my kids by serving red rice… so I went with plain white rice.   

 

I used organic free range boneless chicken thighs that I cut into smaller pieces.   This is a great way to stretch out your budget and reduce your cooking time.  I used chicken Andouille sausage which I like because it means less “meat” in our diet but you can use the more traditional made from pork.  Most of my vegetables and herbs were from our CSA and the organic white beans were canned.   It was a pleasant moment when I sat down to eat and watch the children dig in with such gusto.  My middle son asked if it was “chili” I replied that it was “chicken and sausage chili”.  They all loved it but my 6 year-old said it was a little spicy for him— that was mostly the Andouille.  I think it took me about 20 minutes of prep and active cooking and another 10-15 of simmering.   So, at least I found the time to do this.

Chicken, Andouille and White Bean Stew

  • 3-4 chicken thighs, skinned and boned, cut into 2 inch pieces
  • 2 Andouille sausage links, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
  • 1 can Cannellini (white kidney) beans
  • 3-4 tomatoes, peeled (or one can) and crushed
  • 1 med onion, diced
  • 1 lg or 2 sm celery stalk, diced
  • 1 sweet green pepper, diced
  • 1 sweet red pepper, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 1 Tbsp basil, chopped
  • 1 Tbsp parsley, chopped
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

Brown chicken and set aside.  Heat olive oil in pan and sauté onions and celery until clear.  Add garlic and peppers and cook until soft.  Add paprika and chili powder stirring for one minute.  Add tomatoes, chicken stock, chicken, sausage, beans and herbs. Cook for another 5 minutes stirring occasionally.  Cover and reduce heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes.  Serve over rice.

As I mentioned, it was delicious and the boys gave it thumbs up but with a bit of extra milk and water drinking to counter the heat.  I ate some leftovers for lunch today— even better which is often the case with tomato-based foods.

 

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