Sausage, Broccoli, Brown Rice and Parmesan Dinner

I truly had every intention of making this meal exactly as it was posted. It looked wonderful and sounded like something my husband would love. The recipe called for cheese filled chicken sausage. This is the second time that I have been on a mission for chicken sausage and I have yet to locate any in our local grocery stores! It's been quite frustrating! :) If anyone has any ideas, please feel free to share! I decided, instead, to go with a turkey Italian sausage (which is the same thing I substituted in the last dish as well). While the prep work on the meal was a bit more difficult using this option, the flavor was incredible. Looking at the pictures on Picky Palate, it seems that the sausage she used was cooked through, making it easy to slice and brown as part of her directions describe. My turkey sausage was uncooked and as I tried to slice it, it was sliding out of the casing. I was afraid that if I cooked it first (before slicing) it would dry out. Instead, I used a serrated knife and slowly cut my slices. My sausage pieces looked more like meatballs in my finished dish, but they held together well and the flavors worked really well together.

Sausage, Broccoli, Brown Rice and Parmesan Dinner

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1.25 lbs turkey Italian sausages, thinly sliced

4 cups broccoli florets, steamed until fork tender

4 cups cooked brown rice

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil into a large skillet over medium heat. Saute bell pepper for 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in garlic; cook for 1 minutes then add sausage slices. Cook for 5 minutes or until sausage is browned on both sides and all pink is gone. Add broccoli, rice and parmesan cheese. Cook for 2 minutes or so, then season with salt and pepper to your liking.

Source: Adapted from Picky Palate

Goulash

A short while ago, I was on bedrest awaiting the birth of my little girl. During this time, an amazing group of people stepped in to help us out with basic household tasks and meals. I was astounded enough that those I love and care about immediately came through to help us out, but I was even more awed by the complete strangers that insisted on helping out, without even meeting me or my family. They simply knew that help was needed and they did not hesitate to jump in. I cannot begin to thank these people enough for what they have done for my family. It was a difficult experience to have to sit and do nothing to take care of my family, and these people kept my household running, my family fed, and made us all feel such love and support.

One dish that was brought over during this time was a goulash. I had never before tasted, much less made, goulash. As we reheated the dish, a wonderful smell filled the house. This is comfort food at its best! My husband had seconds and asked me if I knew how to make it! While I don't have this particular recipe (which was delicious, by the way!) I had seen an episode of Paula Deen where she stated that her son, Bobby, requested her goulash on his birthday every year. Apparently it is his favorite of all of her dishes. With as many good things as she makes, I assumed if this was his favorite it had to be phenomenal! One thing I will make note of is that Paula says the recipe serves 6, unless Bobby is eating. Normally, I find that recipes don't make nearly the servings I would expect-- I guess we are big eaters! I did add a little extra macaroni to the goulash, but even with that, I would say that this makes way more than 6 servings. The recipe calls for 3 pounds of meat, which seems like a lot for only 6 servings, anyway. My husband and I both had a big bowl and I have a very large container of it left in the fridge.

Bobby's Goulash

2 pounds lean ground beef

1 pound ground turkey

2 large yellow onions, chopped

2- 15 oz cans tomato sauce

2- 15 oz cans diced tomatoes

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons Italian seasoning

3 bay leaves

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon House seasoning (recipe below)

1 tablespoon seasoned salt

2 cups elbow macaroni (uncooked)

In a dutch oven, saute the ground beef and ground turkey over medium-high heat until no pink remains. Break up the meat while sauteing. Spoon off any grease. Add the onions to the pot and saute until they are tender, about 5 minutes. Add 3 cups of water, along with tomato sauce, tomatoes, garlic, Italian seasoning, bay leaves, soy sauce, House seasoning, and seasoned salt. Stir well. Place a lid on the pot and allow this to cook for 15-20 minutes.

Add the elbow macaroni, stir well, return the lid to the pot, and simmer for about 30 minutes. (Paula doesn't say to, but I found that I needed to stir my goulash during this time. With the high sugar content of the tomatoes, it was starting to stick and burn on the bottom of the pot. I would stir randomly through this cooking time.) Turn off the heat, remove the bay leaves, and allow the mixture to sit about 30 minutes before serving.

Serve with garlic bread and a salad.

Source: Paula Deen Celebrates!

Raspberry Sorbet

I'm so excited that the weather is finally warming up! I was looking for a nice cold dessert to make to celebrate the heat and thought immediately about the strawberry sorbet I had made a bit ago. I had some raspberries in the freezer and decided that I would play with them to come up with a new variation. I normally would prefer to use fresh fruit to cook with, but when making sorbet I have found that the frozen fruit more than cuts the total prep time in half! I would much rather use that time playing with my little ones. :) The texture of this sorbet is so smooth and it is sweet enough to satisfy my cravings without compromising my diet! I'd highly recommend it and plan to play with other fruits through the coming months.

Raspberry Sorbet

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup light corn syrup

3 tablespoons lime juice

1 bag frozen raspberries

In a small saucepan, combine the water and sugar and boil until the sugar is completely dissolved (making a simple syrup). Set aside. In a food processor, process the frozen raspberries until completely pureed. Add the corn syrup, simple syrup, and lime juice. Pour into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer directions.

Source: Adapted from Cuisinart

Chicken Scallopine

This chicken dish does not disappoint! If you have something coming up that you need a special dish for (you know-- like any day that ends in a 'y') I would highly recommend it! It came together much easier than I had expected and really presented well. By pounding out the chicken, it cooked quickly and stayed very moist. It had a great flavor and reminded me a lot of a dish that I used to get in an Italian restaurant. So good! I served it with linguine as was recommended, but I think it would go really well with most any pasta. Make sure that you use a white wine that you would drink on its own. The wine flavor was very prominent in the sauce, so it is important to get a wine that you enjoy. You won't use the whole bottle to make the dish, so you might as well enjoy a nice glass with your meal!

Chicken Scallopine
1 pound linguine
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
flour
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons butter
12 ounces white mushrooms, sliced thin
1 cup dry white wine
chicken broth (optional)
1 lemon
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 heaping tablespoon capers
fresh parsley

Cook pasta according to package directions (al dente). Flatten chicken breasts to uniform thickness. Salt and pepper both sides, then dredge in flour. Heat butter and oil in large skillet over medium heat. Fry chicken breasts until golden brown (2-3 minutes per side--though mine took a bit longer than that). Remove to a plate and set aside.

Throw mushrooms into the pan and stir. Immediately pour in wine, then squeeze juice of 1/2 to 1 lemon. Stir to deglaze the pan, then cook vigorously for 1 minute, until sauce reduces. Reduce heat to low. Pour in cream and stir, then add capers and parsley, stirring again. Turn off heat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Place pasta and chicken on platter and cover with sauce. Generously sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Source: The Pioneer Woman

Creepy Clowns!

My husband would probably not be too thrilled with me if I stated on my blog that he was deathly afraid of clowns, so I will instead state that he has some serious 'clown issues'. It all started long before I knew him-- something about a funky crayon holder and picture in his room that he never told his parents about his fear of. Needless to say, I don't quite let him live this one down! At our cake decorating class this week, we learned how to make clown figures. Obviously, I had to take advantage and surprise him with his very own clown cake. Mean, I know. I just couldn't help myself!

(He forgave me for the cake, as long as I agreed to let him have a piece that "didn't have a creepy clown on it!")

Beijing Beef

I was craving Chinese food the other day and figured it would be a great opportunity to try a recipe off of a new blog that my sister found. She called me as soon as she found the Blog Chef site as she knew I would love the types of recipes that were posted. This is the first one I tried and I am thrilled that I did. The beef had a really nice texture after being fried (although not the healthiest option!) and the vegetables were nice and crisp. The sauce had a great flavor but I would probably go ahead and double it (the sauce only) the next time I make it. My husband and I both are big 'sauce' people and when I served it, I wished I had extra to spoon over the rice. One other change-- I was out of green peppers when making it, so I went ahead and used only red. It still tasted just as good, but wasn't quite as colorful! :)

Beijing Beef
1lb steak (sliced into thin strips)
6 tablespoons cornstarch (for dusting)
oil (for frying)

Marinade:
1 egg
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Sauce:
4 tablespoons water
4 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons vinegar
¼ teaspoon crush chili pepper
2 teaspoons cornstarch

Vegetables:
1 teaspoon garlic (minced)
1 medium red bell pepper (diced)
1 medium green bell pepper (diced)
1 medium white onion (sliced)

Cut beef into thin strips . In a bowl or sealable bag combine all marinade ingredients and mix well. Add beef slices and marinate for 15 minutes. While beef in marinating mix all of the sauce ingredients together in a bowl and refrigerate. When the beef is done marinating coat the beef slices with 6 tablespoons of cornstarch. Remove any access cornstarch and deep fry (either in a deep fryer or wok) beef slices in batches until floating or golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Add a couple tablespoons of oil to the wok and add minced garlic and stir fry for 10 seconds. Add red and green bell peppers and onions and stir fry for 2 minutes. Remove vegetables and set aside. Pour sauce into the wok and heat until boiling. In a serving dish add beef and vegetables and coat with the sauce.

Source: Blog Chef

Chocolate Overdose Cake

I am not exhaggerating at all when I say that I LOVE chocolate. This does present quite a problem as I try to lose the rest of my baby weight! :) If you were to tell me that for the rest of my life I was only allowed to make one type of cake, this one would be it! It is a layer of the best brownies I have ever eaten (almost a fudge-like consistency), a layer of creamy chocolate mousse, a layer of rich chocolate cake, topped with a delicious ganache topping. Drooling yet? It really almost sounds 'too' rich, if that is possible, but the combination was perfect and it made an ideal dessert for special occasions.

I will admit that I was a bit intimidated by the recipe. It is long and has many steps involved. Once I forced myself to break it down and work on one layer at a time, however, it was much more accessible. I will warn that it is really best to divide this dessert into two days, starting the day before you want to serve it. Once you assemble the cake, before you spread the ganache, you have to let it cool for at least an hour. I worked up to that point, chilled it overnight, then finished it the following morning. Please do not let the length of the recipe put you off... it was very time consuming but SO worth the effort!

Chocolate Overdose Cake
For the brownie base:
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons cake flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped fine
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
1 1/8 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the chocolate mousse filling:
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, broken into 1/2-oz. pieces
1 7/8 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon sugar

For the chocolate cake:
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/8 cup Dutch-processed cocoa
1/4 cup hot water
7/8 cup sugar, divided
7/8 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, soft

For the ganache:
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
18 ounces semisweet chocolate, broken into 1/2-oz. pieces

To make the brownie base, line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with a round of parchment paper and spray the sides with nonstick cooking spray. Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. In a medium bowl, combine the cake flour, salt and baking powder. Stir with a fork to mix. Melt the chocolate and butter in a large heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of almost-simmering water, stirring occasionally, until smooth. When the chocolate mixture is completely smooth, remove the bowl from the saucepan and gradually whisk in the sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking after each addition until thoroughly combined. Whisk in vanilla. Add in the flour mixture in two additions, folding with a rubber spatula until completely homogenous. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth with a spatula. Set aside, prepare the cake batter, and bake the two layers at the same time.

To make the cake, line the bottom of a 9-inch round cake pan with a round of parchment paper. Grease and flour the sides of the pan. Combine the chocolate, cocoa and hot water in a medium heatproof bowl; set the bowl over a saucepan containing 1-inch of simmering water and stir with a rubber spatula until chocolate is melted, about 2 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of sugar to the chocolate mixture and stir until thick and glossy, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove bowl from heat and set aside to cool. Whisk flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl; set aside. Combine buttermilk and vanilla in a small bowl. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the eggs and yolks on medium-low speed until combined, about 10 seconds. Add remaining sugar, increase speed to high, and whisk until fluffy and lightened in color, 2 to 3 minutes. Replace whisk with paddle attachment. Add the cooled chocolate mixture to the egg/sugar mixture and mix on medium speed until thoroughly incorporated, 30-45 seconds, pausing to scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Add softened butter one tablespoon at a time, mixing about 10 seconds after each addition. Add about one third of the flour mixture followed by half of the buttermilk mixture, mixing until incorporated after each addition (about 15 seconds). Repeat using half of remaining flour mixture and all of remaining buttermilk mixture (batter may appear separated). Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add remaining flour mixture; mix at medium-low speed until batter is thoroughly combined, about 15 seconds. Remove bowl from mixer and fold batter once or twice with rubber spatula to incorporate any remaining flour. Pour into prepared pan; smooth batter to edges of pan with an offset spatula.

Bake the brownie and cake layers at the same time: the brownie for 25-30 minutes and the cake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of each comes out clean. Transfer the pans to a wire cooling rack. Allow the brownie to cool completely in the pan. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then invert onto the wire rack and allow to cool completely.
Once the brownie layer has cooled, run a knife around the edges to separate it from the pan. Remove the sides of the springform but leave the brownie layer on the springform base. Form a ring of parchment paper around the brownie layer and extending up the sides of the springform pan - reclose the springform so that the parchment is fitted tightly to the sides.

To make the chocolate mousse filling, place a stand mixer bowl and whisk attachment in the freezer or fridge. Heat 1-inch of water in the bottom half of a double boiler over medium heat. Place the semisweet chocolate in the top half of the double boiler. Tightly cover the top with plastic wrap and allow to heat for 8-10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir until smooth. Transfer the melted chocolate to a stainless steel bowl and set aside until needed. Place heavy cream and sugar in the well-chilled bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the chilled whisk attachment. Whisk on high speed until stiff peaks form, about 1 1/2 minutes. Remove the bowl from the mixer. By hand, whisk to combine 1/4 of the whipped cream into the melted chocolate until smooth and completely incorporated. Add the combined whipped cream and chocolate to the remaining whipped cream and use a rubber spatula to fold together. Spread the mousse over the top of the brownie base evenly. Use an offset spatula to smooth the top. Place the cooled cake round over the mousse, pressing down lightly. Chill for at least 1 hour.

To make the ganache, heat the heavy cream and the butter in a saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil. Place the semisweet chocolate in a 3-quart stainless steel bowl. Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Chill 1 cup of ganache for 1 hour. Allow the remaining ganache to come to room temperature (about 40 minutes). Remove the springform ring and parchment collar from the assembled cake. Carefully transfer the cake to a serving platter, removing the springform base and parchment round. Use a spatula to smooth the room temperature ganache over the cake top and sides, covering evenly. Place the chilled ganache in a pastry bag fitted with a shell tip and pipe a shell border around the base of the cake. Pipe 12-16 rosettes around the top of the cake to indicate servings. Serve chilled and store leftovers in the fridge. Cut the cake with a hot, dry knife.

Source: Annie's Eats, originally adapted from Confections of a Foodie Bride